Looking at the Photos of George Grantham Bain

George Grantham Bain (1865-1944) was a famed American news photographer based primarily in New York City. He first worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and United Press in the late 1890s before starting his own company, Bain News Service. Today, he is famed for his wonderful and often candid images of newsworthy subjects large and small, including sports stars, suffragette protests, daily New York life and battles.

Bain’s original photos are usually small, postcard or snapshot size, and easily identified by his name or ‘Bain New Service’ rubber stamped on back, often with the date. Many have the stamp or tags of the Culver News Service, a photo service that acquired his archives. As shown in many of the below images, he typically a caption and serial number on the glass negatives with the writing appearing on the photos.

The following images of early 1900s sports and non-sports subjects should explain why he’s so popular with collectors today. Some of these images are scans of the original glass negatives owned by the the Library of Congress. As a collector you can find his originals for sale on eBay and at many auction houses.

And some non-sport images by Bain:

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About David Cycleback

David Cycleback is an art and artifacts historian and an internationally known authentication expert. He has authenticated artifacts for major institutions, was a writer for the standard academic reference Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Photography, and teaches courses in art authentication. Reprinted by Beijing's Three Shadows Art Center, his guides "Judging the Authenticity of Prints by the Masters" and "Judging the Authenticity of Photographs" were the first comprehensive books on the subjects published in China. He can be reached at [email protected].