Images of the Past: The Collectors

C&NW photo "Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley train, pulled by Sioux City and Pacific locomotive #9 at Hot Springs, SD station, approx 1900.

David Fransen

Now that digital cameras and camera-equipped cell phones are in the hands of anyone who can afford one, pretty much any chemically-processed picture developed on a slide or printed on photo paper can be considered old. But if an old photo is interesting enough in the right way, it may attract the interest of a collector.

Collectors of historical images delight in acquiring old photos, separating the ordinary from the extraordinary, and sharing the stories that the old photos might tell. Images of the Past: The Collectors is a new 30-minute SDPB TV documentary profiling several South Dakota collectors. Learn the surprising stories behind their found images and explore new online communities of South Dakotans who share their passion for history in pictures.

Premieres Thursday, May 2 on SDPB1.