Fundamentals for
Newcomers
It may be stating the obvious to say that
you should collect the kind of photographs that you really love, but it is
a good reminder because we often get caught up in other things on our
way to what we want: there was this great review; this is the latest; what a solid reputation; it'll fetch handsomely at resale; someone
anonymously paid $X for the picture!; the club or group has been
supporting regional nature photographers for years...
for heaven's sake, buy what you love to look at.
Many collectors have chosen to specialize
in an area they have become familiar with due to continuing interest.
Some of these could be pioneer photography, abstract black and whites,
images specifically from a region like the prairies, or rural scenics,
or special kinds of printing processes.
To familiarize yourself with
international auctions and transaction amounts paid by collectors have a
look at http://www.adec.com/ based in
Paris. You can search through their huge database, and, if you wish
detailed picture/artist information, you can purchase "response
units", 20 for $20 US. Each unit allows you to view the complete
details of a transaction.
To view some popular collectable
photographers you can see examples of their work at a not-for-profit
site: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/.
Scans on this page are from that site.
Collectors new to the scene and on a
limited budget often study upcoming talents who are developing a solid
track record of artistic production and exhibition, are artists who
question and push the boundaries of their art forms and who seem to have
a personal and profound aesthetic and world view, one which they
continually explore. Of course, the work must first off appeal to the
collector before any further study of the artist is done.
Buying from an artist at this level of
development means getting in early at rates which are affordable, a
situation which might see the collector pick up a few early originals with the
hope that their investment value will increase with the artist's
reputation and the rarity of the work. Often a limited edition of
a print will escalate in price incrementally with each signed and
numbered release.
When analyzing a photographic print to
determine its merits of quality, one must first work from within the
realm in which the work was created. For example, a pictorial landscape
photographer would work within certain basic criteria such as achieving
painterly effects with colour, a rich and full scale of subtle tonal
gradations, and exquisitely sharp focus and usually work to produce a
large print. An abstract expressionist, on the other hand, works from
differing criteria, looking for movement, motion, suggestiveness,
freezing an elusive or transient moment, and concentrating more on
letting his or her personality free on the image.
Once the collector has a special focus
he or she can measure the new artist's work against the traditional
criteria to see how it measures up and how it pushes the boundaries of
the collectively understood genre.
Part of the joy of collecting is not only in building a
collection, but in culling it from time to time, making adjustments,
making deals, making donations of images for charitable events and so
on. The whole process is very organic, a pure extension of the
collector's own development. For what art gives is much more than that
which is simply acquired.
