Opportunities for Fine Art....

[tim atherton]

As for innocence, I see it more as idealism. It has been an observation of mine that as people age, they lose their idealisms, and can become more cynical. Hopefully that is something I can avoid, because I have seen people hold onto some idealism late into their lives . . . it is a great attitude.

Christenberry advised the students to find an art form suiting their passion. "Make every attempt to find something you love — that you're truly in love with — and push it, push it as hard as you can."

Artist and photographer Bill Christenberry at 70

[tim atherton]

more at http://www.calendarlive.com/gallerie...l-art-features if you are interested

(BTW, having worked for the last year around a university Art Dept and based on what I have seen, I completely disagree with the view that good and sustainable work isn't being done in such places)

[Brooks Jensen]

A friend told me about this thread and I hope you don't mind my popping into the discussion rather late.

Just a couple of quick thoughts . . .

There is a world of difference between "pricing" and "marketing". I can't remember who talked about the "Jensen Myth" (I kinda like that!) but it pertains exactly to this separation of fundamental ideas in selling. Marketing is getting the word out there. Pricing has more to do with motivating the buyer to say yes. Rolls Royce can market all they want to me, but I would never say yes because I can't afford what they sell. (Or BMW, for that matter!) Harry's Rotten Sushi Company could market to me all they want, but I wouldn't buy their product either, even though I could probably afford it.

I suggest that photographers need two strategies -- one for marketing and one for pricing. Far too often I hear photographers complain about slow sales and attribute it to their pricing when a little bit of conversation points out it is really a marketing problem, not a pricing one. High prices are not good nor bad. Low prices are not good nor bad. What is troublesome is when the pricing strategy and the marketing strategy aren't working together.

Yes, I do have LensWork as a marketing tool that others (except those we publish) do not have. But, I wonder how many prints I would sell -- even with all the exposure I could get through LensWork -- if I priced them, say, $2,000? Conversely, I wonder how many museums would take me seriously if I offered them work for $20? The real question is who do you want to want your work?

Second thought. You would be shocked how many photographers have written me to report their success stories selling prints once they starting using prices that their target market could afford.

Lots of interesing discussion about all of this and lots to think about. Thanks for letting me lurk!
Brooks Jensen
Editor, LensWork Publishing

[Greg Miller]

As for innocence, I see it more as idealism. It has been an observation of mine that as people age, they lose their idealisms, and can become more cynical. Hopefully that is something I can avoid, because I have seen people hold onto some idealism late into their lives . . . it is a great attitude.

There is a happy middle ground there somewhere. That cynicism that you have seen usually comes from real world experience. You should not ignore that completely. At 46, I am old enough to have seen enough to have gained some of my own cynicism. But I have also had enough serendipitous moments to keep the enthusiasm alive. Many marketing efforts I have tried have not produced the results that I intended. But many times something totally unexpected has resulted - things that would not have ocurred otherwise (and sometimes these were even better than whay I had intended).

[claudiocambon]

Another kind of success .... my friend Anne is a wonderful artist, and over the years realized that her main motivation for showing and publishing is to build a community. Most of her best friends throughout the world have found her through her art.

I always thought that was pretty cool.

This hits it on the head for me. I don't think exhibit opportunities per se are what make for success, although they are certainly a part of it; it all helps, and I recommend trying all avenues, especially the portfolio reviews like Photolucida and Fotofest, which helped me a few years back, and to which i plan to return when appropriate.

For me the most important thing has been to find and cultivate my own audience, my community. This started as a list of everyone I know and am in some reasonable contact with, from someone who bought a photograph from a collector print program to my pre-school teacher, and now includes their friends and anyone else who has come my way either through our common connection, or in response to an editorial publication, or through my website, to name a few obvious sources. Periodically I go to my community and hold print sales for the express purpose of funding new work. I let people know how the project is going or has turned out, and then wher eit is getting shown. I make the work I want to make, but I also want them to feel vested in the process. Their support, both financial and moral, makes the work happen. My career inches along, certainly not full time, and therefore not at the pace I would like, but it happens in good chunks.

I took inspiration from a lot of people when I first did this, including William Clift, who still makes his living selling prints directly to people, and periodically takes road trips to make new work, and to visit these people, which I think is admirable.

I have benefitted from all forms of publicity, from gallery to magazine, but in the end the one I value the most is my own personal network that I have built up in these last years. I can't encourage people to do this enough, because it allows you to create your own opportunities, ones that are personally gratifying, and financially productive.

[Tim Hyde]

Is it too late to add my thoughts to this incredible exchange? I finally had a chance to read the whole thread and would like to weigh in from the collector's point of view. First, a couple of general observations.

-It is worth noting that we are talking here about one segment of one category of fine art: CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY, which is a segment of fine art photography which is one category in the larger fine art world. Current work from current artists of any sort is more or less speculative both as a profession and as a collector. There is nothing new in this: if anything, there are more outlets and more opportunities for contemporary fine art photographer than ever before. And the good news for photographers is that our art seems to be following the course of other fine arts: as the supply of vintage and classic works dissappears, the value of more contemporary work increases.
-Most of the mega-buck photographers are represented by ART galleries not photo galleries. Notice, to use just one example, that Sally Mann just left Edwynn Houk Gallery, about as high end as you can get for contemporary photography, for the Gagosian, which is an art gallery. This is good, too, because it establishes the link and flow of our photographic art world--at least in terms of following the money.

I am a fairly serious collector (which can be defined in varous ways, but for me is somebody who spends money that sane people would put into retirement or kids' college funds). Thus, for me, collecting has an investment quality as well as aesthetic one. And, for what it's worth, I've discovered that I am far from unique. There are lots of us out here.
Except when buying vintage or at auction, I have a few rules. For the more seroius purchases, I would rarely consider spending more than $1500 on a photographer who is not represented by a gallery I know and trust. There have been a couple of exceptions, but in both cases the photographer was in between North American galleries. This is serious money and I would never buy at this level on impulse or merely because I like the piece. I want the photographer in this category to have a track record, to have gotten critical notice in reviews, gallery shows or museum exhibits or acquisitions, want to know something about this artist's prospects going forward, and almost alway insist on work in reasonably-small numbered editions. (Friedlander and a few others can get away with uneditioned work, but notice how their prices are drastrically held back.) Oh, and by the way, I must really like the piece.
I also buy a lot of photography from what I call "emerging" photogaphers, which by the way has nothing to do with the photographer's age or length of time in the biz. These are photographers I come across in B&W or Focus other specialized publications, who are mentioned in the new and exciting world of art blogs (Alec Soth's is my current favorite, and he is also one of my favorite collecatble photographers; check the "links" section of his site for a good list of all the hot fine-art photo blogs), advertisements I see, photographer's websites I come across, word of mouth from galleries or other photographers, people whose work i come across or like in photography workshops or trade shows I attend (e.g., NANPA) or, frequently, photographers who win awards or juried contests or publish books. Sometimes these artist's work are investments (because I have a hunch they have a promising future) and sometimes I don't think they have a "future" but I like the work enough to buy it anyway. Generally, prices in this category of "emerging" can run from $200-300 to $800-900, with the vast majority somewhere in the middle of that range. Sometimes these artists are represented by galleries, but more often I buy directly. Having a robust website is always a plus.

Bottom line: we are really at the beginning of an explosion in the market value of our art, which is not small matter to those trying to make a living at it.

[Kirk Gittings]

Thanks for sharing your point of view as a collector. Your views round out this valuable discussion.

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

Hi, Tim, it's good to know that you are among many other serious collectors reading Focus magazine. Your input here confirms what we already knew but still like hearing that our Focus Gallery is not only being read by serious collectors, but also browsed with interest.