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Thread: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

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    AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    NEW YORK—Even though it’s only been a couple of weeks since the Armory Show hitched up its wagons and left New York City, there’s a real sense of anticipation about the AIPAD Photography Show happening this week...

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    Re: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by cyrus View Post
    NEW YORK—Even though it’s only been a couple of weeks since the Armory Show hitched up its wagons and left New York City, there’s a real sense of anticipation about the AIPAD Photography Show happening this week...
    I have been fortunate enough to have been granted a sponsorship this year and have been there since last night and will continue to be there throughout the entire run of the show. The show looks better this year than it ever has. Because there are less galleries, more galleries can buy bigger booths and display larger works, which are what's selling very well right n ow.

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    Re: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    Well, it seems as though this has been one of the worst AIPAD Photography Shows in recent history. There are several factors that could have contributed to this, a new organization running AIPAD, fewer galleries, much much much less black and white work than ever exhibited at an AIPAD Photography Show before and so on. A lot of galleries that I spoke with were extremely dissappointed with their sales, and others said the show was "good, not great." Apparently, AIPAD needs to go back to being a traditional photography show that exhibits a wide range of vintage work... contemporary and AIPAD just don't go together.

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    Whatever David A. Goldfarb's Avatar
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    Re: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    I suspect the economy is a larger factor than aesthetics. There was still lots of good work there. I was looking mostly at albumen prints.

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    Re: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by David A. Goldfarb View Post
    I suspect the economy is a larger factor than aesthetics. There was still lots of good work there. I was looking mostly at albumen prints.
    I wonder then, how the Armory Show, which exhibits contemporary art, did better for its galleries. It's way out in the Piers and wasn't during the same time as auctions... there are a number of contributing factors besides just the economy, which is doing just fine in NYC compared to other areas of the country. There was a lot, a LOT more color work than ever during this show.

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    Whatever David A. Goldfarb's Avatar
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    Re: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    Real estate may be holding up better in NYC than in the rest of the country, but Wall St., which is much of the NYC economy, isn't so exuberant at the moment. That usually means that institutional purchasers that depend on income from endowments like museums purchase with some degree of caution as well.

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    Re: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    I hear mixed reviews of AIPAD this year, but such disappointments as exist don't seem to be the result of economic worries. The photography auctions and Christies' photobook auction were quite solid--jaw dropping in some cases. No sign of a recession in the fine-art photography market yet, at least not that I can detect.

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    Re: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Hyde View Post
    I hear mixed reviews of AIPAD this year, but such disappointments as exist don't seem to be the result of economic worries. The photography auctions and Christies' photobook auction were quite solid--jaw dropping in some cases. No sign of a recession in the fine-art photography market yet, at least not that I can detect.
    Christies had a couple of record breaking sales last week. Main street and wall street are very different. All of the other art fairs this year have done great... the recession that's effecting many americans today hasn't come to the art market. There has been an art bubble since 1980 and it shows no signs of popping any time soon. Art fairs are a form of media. Media must, absolutely must in order to survive, stay up to date with the latest trends and keep its audience in the know, otherwise it becomes irrelevant.

    I have seen, for a very long time, two different markets inside of the photography collectors market whose tastes are extremely divergent. Exhibiting at shows such as the defunct Photo SF and Photo LA allowed me to really talk with people one-on-one as to what their interests are. The reaction to a very large cover of my next issue, which is an image of Jill Greenberg's from her End Times series, was right down the line. The younger, more trendier crowd loved it and wanted to pre-order it. The older crowd, the traditional AIPAD crowd, didn't like it at all but loved other issues I've done -- specifically with black and white photography as a mainstay.

    The market has always been split between old and new collectors, but the split, I've recently realized is very large. I think if someone tries to cater to both markets, they will ultimately fail. The problem with that is, I believe, the people who run AIPAD and I'm not talking about the new managment company, are too afraid to exclude dealers of contemporary photography, just as, in the end, Stephen Cohen was too afraid to exclude dealers of vintage photography.

    I believe there is room in NYC for a contemporary fine art photography art fair... something that distinguishes itself as something. Armory did it... and they've got 50,000 people a year and almost 200 galleries.

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    Re: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by FocusMag View Post
    The reaction to a very large cover of my next issue, which is an image of Jill Greenberg's from her End Times series, was right down the line. The younger, more trendier crowd loved it and wanted to pre-order it. The older crowd, the traditional AIPAD crowd, didn't like it at all
    Well, David, this is interesting, but I suspect you have a questionable sample. I've seen a lot of discussion about Jill Greenberg's End-of-Time work, and none of it could be segmented along generational lines--or even along the lines of contemporary photographry vs. traditional. These images seem to evoke powerful reactions, and are loved and hated for an entirely different set of factors, ones that are hard to figure out. Probabaly more female viewers hate these images than male, if you ask Greenberg's galleries, but a large percentage of male viewers hate them as well. For some reason, I have a hunch that dog owners hate the work and cat owners find it interesting. Even if that correlation is true, I'm not sure what it gets you.

    I'm also skeptical of your division of the market between old and new collectors. Many collectors are both, of course, but beyond that, I believe what you have identified is the normal process of galleries specializing, especially as the photography market swells, matures, and grows more complex.

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    Re: AIPAD Photography Show Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Hyde View Post
    Well, David, this is interesting, but I suspect you have a questionable sample.
    My sample were attendees of the AIPAD Photography Show. No other city, in the world, has more art collectors per capita than New York City.

    I've seen a lot of discussion about Jill Greenberg's End Times work, and none of it could be segmented along generational lines--or even along the lines of contemporary photographry vs. traditional.
    I must disagree with you. When looking at her End Times portfolio, each image is digitially captured and digitally manipulated in Photoshop. There's no contact print, no gelatin silver, no hours in the dark room... it isn't even black and white. I have found that the more traditional, conservative collector does not like digital capture, digital manipulation or robust color that much. Even though prestigious galleries and museums exhibit digital work, the conservative collector does not yet accept this as a collectible art. I've spoken with many of these collectors on a first hand basis and this is how they feel. It's neither wrong nor right... it's their opinion and it represents a majority of how the traditional collector feels.

    However, when you talk to new collectors, or younger collectors... well, digital and color is all well and good with them. Not only is it more accepted, it's more embraced. I'm just relaying my observations through multiple discussions with collectors. I am not speaking as a representative authority of all collectors 60 and over and all collectors 59 and younger.

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