All images on this site are copyrighted.
Photographic prints sold through Wolfgang's Vault are intended for private use only. Your purchase of photographic print(s) does not convey any rights with respect to the copyright of the image. Reproduction, publishing, posting, broadcasting, transmitting or distribution of any purchased photographic print(s), in any commercial or editorial manner, is strictly prohibited.
What are the different categories of photographs that I see on your site?
There are four categories of photography here at the Vault:
- Fine Art Prints are the highest quality photographic prints in the Vault, primarily Silver Gelatin, C-Print and Digital Prints (photographs), created with painstaking attention to detail and the craft of printing. These prints are mainly the prints of the master photographers in the vault, including Jim Marshall, Baron Wolman, Michael Zagaris, Joe Sia and Gene Anthony.
- Bill Graham Archive PrintsThe Bill Graham Archive is composed of two primary sources. The first contains very special prints of original concert photographs taken by BGP staff photographers at shows from the early 1970s to today. The second source is Bill Graham's personal collection of original vintage prints by some of the great photographers of the '60s, '70s and '80s.
- Premium Vintage Printsare from the archives of our master photographers Jim Marshall, Baron Wolman, Michael Zagaris, Gene Anthony and Joe Sia. Most of these photographs were printed within a year of the original negative.
- Promo Prints were part of the press kits handed out to the media as advance advertising for concert tours and record releases.
What are the different print types I see on your site?
There are many different ways to produce a photograph by using different papers, inks and production methods. Our prints are all one of the following:
- Silver Gelatin, also referred to on the site as "SG", prints are more commonly known as black and white prints. The term is derived from the gelatin emulsion in the photographic paper, which contains light-sensitive silver salts that react to light exposure. Silver Gelatin photographic papers are available in a wide range of tones and surfaces, from fibre-based to resin coated.
- C-Print (Chromogenic prints) are standard color prints made from color negatives. The term chromogenic is from the Greek and means color-forming. C-prints are called color-coupler prints, which refers to the chemistry of the process in which colored dyes are coupled with light-silver compounds.
- Cibachrome is a standard color print made from a color slide. The term Cibachrome refers to the trademarked photographic paper Cibachrome as well as the process of making prints with such paper. Cibachromes can generally be distinguished from C-prints on the basis of the ultra-glossy, almost mirror-like reflective quality of the paper and a standard black, rather than white, border. Cibachromes are also distinguished by the especially vivid colors of these prints, which are due to the Azo dyes in the emulsion layers of the cibachrome paper. Cibachrome is a registered trademark of Ilford Photo Corp. Ilford has now renamed the process "Ilfochrome".
- BG Archive Prints are high-end photographic prints created with a Polielettronica Laser Lab 76 printer on Fuji Crystal Archive Super Type C Paper. The archival stability for these photos is rated over 100 years in ideal conditions.
- Lightjet prints represent the evolution of photographic processes, combining digital resolution and sensitivity with traditional chemical processes to produce a superior archival photograph. Lightjet prints are created using digital negatives and a laser lightsource to expose photosensitive paper. Lightjet Prints have a tremendous dynamic range and color saturation, and have received very good archival ratings from the Wilhelm Institute.
- RC Prints, which is short for Resin-Coated prints, are color or black and white photographs printed on a photographic paper that has been coated with polyethylene on both sides. All color photographic papers are printed on RC Paper, and Black and White prints can be printed on either RC or fiber-based paper.
- Dye Transfer Print. Once considered the most archival and valuable of color photographic prints, the dye transfer print has a richness of color, depth and fidelity superior to other color photographic processes. Unfortunately, this particular process was also very expensive and labor intensive, and, as a result, the pioneering producer, Kodak, ceased production of all dye transfer print materials in 1994. Since no other company produces these materials, only vintage dye transfer prints are available today.
- Reproduction. A reproduction is produced using offset printing on glossy, non-photographic paper. The process is used often for pieces that are mass-produced in large quantities and is not a "photograph" in the classic sense of an image printed by an enlarger on silver gelatin emulsion paper.
How are the Concert Photos produced?
Producing a fine art, high quality, archival photographic print requires the same level of skill, experience, and specialized equipment needed for traditional darkroom printing. We use a very reputable printer in San Francisco to print our color photos. Using a Polielettronica Laser Lab 76 printer made in Italy, the photos are printed on genuine photographic paper (Fuji Crystal Archive Super Type C Paper), which utilizes a traditional chemical process. Our Concert Photos are truly beautiful photographic prints, featuring great life expectancy with color that is rich and continuous in tone. The archival stability is rated over 100 years in ideal conditions.
Our archival ratings are based on research provided by the Wilhelm Research Institute.
Where does The Vault get its Concert Photos?
This exceptional collection of rock concert photos was created by a group of staff photographers working under contract for Bill Graham Presents. As owner of the BGP Archives, we own all rights to these images, some of which extend from the 1970s. You can be certain that a Concert Photo with our stated production specifications will never be available from anyone else at any other time.
How long will it take for my print to arrive?
The Silver Gelatin and color photographs in our Fine Art and Concert Photos collections represent the gold standards of photographic reproduction, and require a high degree of printmaking skill using archival quality paper and inks. This careful attention to detail allows us to provide a premium work of fine art. Please allow 10 days to ship after your order is placed.
All Vintage Prints and Promo Prints are already in stock, and will ship within three business days of when your order is placed.
Where does The Vault get its Vintage Prints?
Our Vintage Prints date from 1990 or earlier, and many of them were produced within one year of the original negative. Each print in The Vault is a slice-of-life view of the rock concert phenomenon taken by legendary photographers like Gene Anthony, Michael Zagaris, Baron Wolman, Jim Marshall and Herb Greene who did more than document the era, they lived it. The subtle signs of aging in some of these prints only add to their veracity. The slight yellowing of a Silver Gelatin print and almost imperceptible loss of true color in color prints are the gentle patina born of age that help make these in-concert shots, portraits and backstage candids of early rockers and their milieu so outstanding.
Tell me more about your Promo Prints
Promo prints are mass-produced photographs of the band or artist that are included in press kits provided to the media. Also called 'publicity stills,' some of these pictures may be familar to aficionados who remember them from magazines or advertising appearing around the time of specific record releases. Many, however, are never-before-seen shots that will thrill the true fan. The Promo Prints in the Vault's collection hail from the 60s through the new century and are truly exceptional portraits of contemporary performers and legends.
Do you license images from the Concert Photos collection for other uses?
We license the use of our Concert Photos originals to television, film and other agencies for advertising or other purposes. Please Contact Us for more information about this new opportunity.
If I'd like a photograph of an artist that I don't see listed in the Concert Photos, is it possible you might have one that is not yet online?
The Concert Photos available at this time are those that we considered to be the very best of the entire collection. Please let us know via the Contact Us page if your favorite artist is not represented. We will consider all requests as we add Concert Photos in the future.
Are there other sizes available for Concert Photo and Fine Art prints?
At this time Concert Photos are only available in two sizes, 11"x14" and 16"x20". If there is sufficient demand for additional sizes, we will make new sizes available.
How should I care for my photograph from The Vault?
It's best to frame your print with a glass or plexiglass protective covering. There are UV-filtered frames available which further protect your print from fading. It's also a good idea to keep your print out of harsh or direct sunlight.
Bill Graham's New Year's Eve parties were famous in the Bay Area, their association with the Grateful Dead cemented in history and their continuation in one form or another long after Winterland's demise fortunate and welcomed. Father Time, aka Bill Graham with silver wig jammed over bushy black eyebrows, made his grand entrance from the back of the hall at midnight, barely skimming the heads of revellers on his way to the stage and perched on a different vehicle each year. Motorcycle, sled and giant joint were just a few of the conveyances, and when he wasn't "... Pushing some button that's going to do something... " he got "... To experience for just a few seconds something that the performers see year round..."
Young sons David and Alex came with Graham to the Winterland new year's shows, but Graham was always the very last to leave after the bash. "It became a big thing with me... I would get very ponderous... and it would be the end of my year." After Winterland closed in 1978, the tradition continued at other venues: in 1983, Father Time rode a giant mushroom to the Oakland stage, in '85 a 20-foot pink birthday cake made the trip in honor of the Grateful Dead's anniversary, and in '88 Graham came in, or was it out, on a mirrored ball. Thankfully, the tradition of Father Time did not retire after Graham's tragic death in a 1991 helicopter crash. In 1996, Peter Barsotti and BGP created an eight-foot tall Father figure for the 1996-97 San Francisco New Year's Eve outdoor celebration designed to float heaven-ward at the stroke of midnight.
Our Premium Vintage Prints came directly from the archives of 5 of the top rock ‘n' roll photographers in the industry. These outstanding prints are a window into the lifestyle of the time in which they were taken, down to the very paper and process. Most of these prints were created within a few years of the negatives dating as early as 1959. The print varieties represented range from the rarest-of-rare Dye Transfers, to Silver Gelatin, to everyday RC.
All orders are shipped from our facilities in San Francisco via United Parcel Service (UPS) or United States Postal Service (USPS, International orders only). With UPS we offer online tracking of your order while it is in transit to you. Our shipping costs for this service include insurance for the full value of your purchase. USPS shipments are uninsured and cannot be tracked.
All orders placed on this site are subject to product availability. Please allow seven days for our photographic prints to ship (these products are produced to order and require a high degree of printmaking skill and attention to detail). All other items are shipped within three business days of when your order is placed. We do not ship on Saturdays, Sundays or national holidays. All shipping delivery times are in addition to this order processing time.
If your order is going to be delayed due to out-of-stock items, weather conditions or any other factors, you will be notified by email within 48 hours of your order being placed. You will be given an approximate ship date at that time and will have the option of canceling your order, or retaining the order with its new ship date.
Depending on your location and the shipping service you selected, your order will take from one to ten days to be delivered once it has shipped.
Shipping costs are calculated by our website checkout pages after you enter your Ship To address. In the case of the USA and Canada, a zip or postal code is required before shipping options can be calculated. Your order is placed only after you have had a chance to review the information entered, including shipping costs.
Free UPS Ground shipping is offered on all domestic orders over $50. To qualify for free shipping, you must select the desired free service in the checkout process.
We take great care to ensure that your order is carefully packaged so that it arrives in the same mint condition in which it left our facilities.
Most historic series posters are of a size to fit in flats. Posters shipped in flats are surrounded by 2 chipboard inserts. Oversized pieces require tubes and we ship in tubes with a .187 wall – the thickest tube used for such shipping. All photographic prints are shipped in highest quality heavy-duty reinforced cardboard flats. If you have ordered more than one printed item, the items will be packaged together and separated by high quality interleave paper to prevent scratching.
Please see the HELP section of the website for more Purchase, Return and Exchange information.