Chicago Sun-Times sells its photo archives

"A photograph is a single moment, framed and frozen, yet individuals looking at it sometimes each see something different.

• More than simply conveying a time, a place, a mood, an event, an association, those actually in a shot can peer into the picture and beyond its margins. The photographer spots features and flaws unnoticed by others, the image accompanied by the circumstances of capturing it.

• Others bring their own context, memories and aesthetic values.

Sun-Times Media management looked at the photos in its extensive archives, including shots from the Chicago Sun-Times and the late great Chicago Daily News, and what it saw was an untapped asset.

• No media company these days can afford to overlook an asset, and sure enough this one has been sold.

The company confirmed as much Friday, although it declined to share any details beyond the fact that the transaction did not include the papers' intellectual property. That means the company still owns all the copyrights, although that's

• only useful if all the aging pics no longer in its physical possession were
• painstakingly digitally scanned and properly cataloged for later use.

Open questions include when and with whom the deal was done, the value of the deal, how many photos are involved and whether Sun-Times Media gets a share in subsequent revenue from peddling the photo.

• Pics already are showing up on eBay from a pair of sellers from Arkansas with the user names "narfrontrunners" and "lexibell."

Photos on the block include vintage pictures of sports icons Michael Jordan and Ernie Banks, apparently straight from the file cabinets."...

• Chicago Tribune column by Phil Rosenthal, "Sun-Times media's photo sale puts focus on maximizing assets," 12/20/09, via romenesko twitter

There have to be thousands of baseball-related photos.......ed.

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