PHOTO LA BY JEFF DUNAS

Again we feature an article from one of our daily must-read photography sources:

LA LETTRE DE LA PHOTOGRAPHY
L'Oeil de La Lettre

January 18, 2011

Last Friday was the opening of the 20th PhotoLA. Initiated twenty years ago by Los Angeles Gallery owner Stephen Cohen, this venerable photo fair has become the largest photo – centric art fair of its kind west of New York. The fair, which originally gathered a small group of American galleries at the Butterfield and Butterfield auction headquarters on Sunset Boulevard, has since grown into a large and influential fair comprised of the world’s most influential photography galleries. Cohen seemed ebullient and relaxed as he surveyed the 20th edition of his dream art fair. Collectors, actors, models and the fashionable, chic art crowd of Los Angeles all came to enjoy the party. The usual suspects were present – prominent galleries presented works ranging from rare black and whites to contemporary color works. It is unlikely that people were able to see the works on display with so much more to see than just the photographs. The fair ran from Friday through Monday evening. PhotoLA has proved to be an important indicator of our local economy’s resurgence. In four days we’ll know if the hip Los Angeles crowd is still devoted to photography.

As PhotoLA entered its second day a sizable crowd came to see the pictures. There was no dominant thread – no new “flavor of the month”, no new currents to speak of that I could discern. There was a bit of everything from the truly vintage (a 1921 signed Edward Weston Pictorialist print – price: $600,000 -) to the truly contemporary massive color prints, including works by Stephen Wilkes

.

As I walked through the fair – two – three times, I decided that rather than try to understand the deeper meaning of the works presented and what the total said for the future of print sales, I would photograph my « coups de Cœur » – images demanding my attention. In the end, all but one were vintage – somehow the smaller, black and white prints meant more to me than the contemporary work and I’m not sure if that bodes well. The fair was a success – attendance was good. The truth is a great photograph is still as rare as ever – an image with depth and meaning is something to covet and cherish as always. Photography is a glorious medium and will remain glorious when it’s great. There are few great practitioners, a fact that has never changed – that can truly say something that touches the eyes and the heart.

Can there be too much of a good thing? Parallel to PhotoLA, is Classic Photography Los Angeles, a fringe group of 13 galleries that have created their own competing event. Classic Photographs Los Angeles ran for two days, Saturday and Sunday, with an opening reception on Friday evening. Some of the evening’s visitors included Virginia Heckert of the Getty Museum, Dr. Katherine Martinez, the new Director of the Center for Creative Photography in Arizona, members of the Los Angeles County Art Museum Photographic Arts Council, former gallery owner and dealer G. Ray Hawkins, Lauren Wendle, Publisher of Photo District News, Carol McCusker, former curator of the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego and others.

Jeff Dunas Los Angeles

Jeff Dunas has been a professional photographer for forty years. He devotes his time to his personal work and the Palm Springs Photo Festival of which he is Founder and Director. He has attended all 20 PhotoLA fairs.

Links
http://www.palmspringsphotofestival.com/

http://www.palmspringsphotofestival.com/community

http://www.photola.com/


Full article with slide show here.



REVIEW: Photo LA- A Few Truffles in the Miasma

 
Photo LA- A Few Truffles in the Miasma.


by Herr Müller on January 14, 2011

Art Fairs can be grind. I’ve worked them from the vantage point of the dealer, showing and selling prints for 8 hours straight. I’ve worked them from the vantage point of an exhibiting artist. And then I’ve “worked” them as a passionate and undauntable visual consumer. To be able to determine the wheat from the chaff is made only a tad easier by the concentration of a single venue. But then the walk in Chelsea or the drive in LA actually provides a moment of visual peace between art encounters.

Photo LA, in its 20th Anniversary rendition, is currently at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and runs through Monday. The Fair looks good, well laid out, well lighted and user-friendly. The art on display runs the gambit from sublime to ridiculous, but this can be said of any fair, of any caliber. But we’re in the business of TruffleHunting, so here then a few notable standouts:

A new discovery for me was Annie Seaton, shown at DNJ Gallery, recently moved to Bergamont station. Cutout surfers from one photograph reappear on a facsimile painted ground of another. The paradigm is elegant and well executed. Modestly scaled and intelligent, Ms. Seaton has managed to deface in order to recreate.

Harry Callahan is and has been one of my favorite for many moons. Tom Gitterman is showing a handsome image of Elenor, the artist’s wife, muse and subject throughout his career. Aside for my personal love for the silhouette, the composition is divine and bold. It veers into abstraction and then gently manages to reassert itself into a portrait. The image is both intimate and veiled and thus divinely mysterious.

Photography as journalistic tool and witness has always been important. No greater picture at the fair than this marvelous campaign shot of Bobby Kennedy riding in a convertible in Indianapolis in 1968. Bobby is riding with the Fearsome Foursome and Prizefighter Tony Zale. The image is by Bill Eppridge and can be seen at Monroe Gallery of Photography.

Another personal favorite in the history of Photography is Robert Heineken. A conceptual artist wielding the medium of photography in the 70′s and 80′s, Heineken was deeply ahead of his time. The dime a dozen MFA grads that are pumped out of Academic institutions at a dizzying rate only wish they could have his wit and charm and intelligence. At Barry Singer there are two excellent examples of his work. Polaroid photograms of art school lunches. Items from a salad bar and a neatly dissected submarine sandwich act as subject matter. Original, funny with a soupcon of fuck you make the result a perfect blend of commentary and art. Further examples of Heineken can be seen at Stephen Daiter‘s booth from Chicago.

At Light Work, one of the most successful and enduring Non for profit organizations in the nation it must be said, there’s a great print by David Graham that ominously and wittily sums up the state of the financial landscape. Billboards are a deeply American phenomenon but it may not get any perfectly American as this. The Booth is filled with remarkable examples of great artists, all at reasonable prices, each one donated in support of the ambitious programming.



Lastly I will leave you a triptych by the irascible Wegee at . Yes, I say, a three-ring circus should be a triptych. Of course! The middle image may just be the world’s most perfect double exposure with the observed and the observers fusing into a single image.

I will be giving tours to the VIP guests of the fair on Saturday and Sunday at 12, 2 and 4pm. Come out and sign up and join the dialogue.

Did you see the fair? Leave your thoughts in the comments and let me know the Truffles you found!

-Mario M. Muller, Los Angeles










PREVIEW: PHOTO LA OPENS TONIGHT

La Lettre de la Photographie
January 13, 2011

PHOTO LA

One of our favorite daily photography sources has a feature article on the Photo LA Fair, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary Edition tonight.

Photo LA celebrates its 20th Anniversary as the longest running art fair west of New York and the largest photo-based art fair in the country, drawing over 10,000 attendees. It brings together photography dealers from around the globe, displaying the finest contemporary photography, video and multi-media installations along with masterworks from the 19th century.


It has been essential in transforming the art/ photography landscape of Los Angeles by increasing public awareness and acceptance and the inclusion of photo-based art in almost all contemporary galleries and museum exhibitions.

artLA was created in 2004 as a public event bringing together a mix of national and international galleries, artists, collectors and curators for a visual dialogue on the current art scene. Its ongoing commitment to presenting the most challenging art being produced today has led to the creation of artLA projects, an ongoing citywide program of dynamic and innovative installations, exhibitions, seminars and conversations with established and cutting- edge artists in all media.

Photo l.a. XX and the launch of artLA projects, is a prelude to a much larger artLA 2011 that will align with the start of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time Initiative and Art Platform, Los Angeles, a new art fair in the fall of 2011 created by the team that produces the Armory Show.

Among the guests who are going to give a lecture, you wil find:

Amy Arbus, William Eggleston, Bill Hunt, Jessica Lange, Arthur Tress, Stephen Shore, Manfred Heiting, Weston Naef, Arthur Ollman, Wallis Annenberg

The director of the Festival is Stephen Cohen.

LA’s Longest Running Art Fair Joins artLA projects

Thursday, January 13, 2011 through Monday, January 17, 2011

Here are the photography with the gallery presented:

1. Mario Giacomelli, « untitled » ca. 1970’s-1980’s, gelatin silver print, 7 1/16 × 9 10/16 inches, courtesy of Gallery 19th/21st

http://gallery19th21st.free.fr/
Gallery 19th/21st
9 Little Harbor Road – Guilford, CT 06437 – USA


2. Graham Nash, “Joni,” from “Love, Graham Nash,” courtesy of 21st Editions

3. Herman Leonard, “Listen: Herman Leonard and his World of Jazz,” courtesy of 21st Editions.

4. Herman Leonard, “Ella Fitzgerald” from “Listen: Herman Leonard and his World of Jazz,” courtesy of 21st Editions

5. Jerry Uelsmann, from “Moth and Bonelight,” courtesy of 21st Editions

6. Michael Kenna, from Huangshan: Poems from the T’ang Dynasty, courtesy of 21st Editions

http://www.21steditions.com/
21st Editions
9 New Venture Drive, #1 – South Dennis, MA, 02669 – USA

7. Debra Holt, “Untitled,” C-Print, 60×40 inches, courtesy of Abba Fine Art.
http://www.abbafineart.com/
Abba Fine Art
233 NW 36th Street Miami, FL 33127

8. Brooke Shaden, “Dream State,” 35×35 inches, courtesy of Joanne Artman Gallery.

9. Denis Peterson, “Gloucester Road,” Acrylic, Urethane & Oils, 30×40 inches, courtesy of Joanne Artman Gallery.

10. Natalie “Miss Aniela” Dybszi, “The Smothering,” 35×35 inches, courtesy of JoAnne Artman Gallery.
http://www.joanneartmangallery.com/
Joanne Artman Gallery
326 N Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651

11. Pete Eckert, “Stations,” Centro Series, courtesy of Blind Photographers Guild.

12. Alice Wingwall, “Rumba at Dendur,” Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Color Photography, 24×30 inches, courtesy of Blind Photographers Guild.

13. Bruce Hall, “Prize Fighter,” courtesy of Blind Photographers Guild.

Blind Photographers Guild, 421 26th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816 USA

14. Bill Mattick, “Untitled,” from the “Mendota Water” Series, 2009, C-Print, 32×40 inches, courtesy of Corden
Potts Gallery.

15. Beth Kientzle, “On the Edge,” courtesy of Corden
Potts Gallery.
http://www.cordenpottsgallery.com/

Corden
Potts Gallery.
49 Geary Street, Ste. 211, San Francisco, CA 94108 – USA

16. Andre Kertesz, “Woman Holding Sign,” 1940s, courtesy of Stephen Daiter Gallery.

17. Elliott Erwitt, “Venice, Italy,” 1949, courtesy of Stephen Daiter Gallery.

18. Wynn Bullock, “Untitled,” 1950s, courtesy of Stephen Daiter Gallery.
http://www.stephendaitergallery.com/
Stephen Daiter Gallery
230 W. Superior, Chicago, IL 60654 – USA

19. David Trautrimas, “Mnemonic Doppelganger,” 2009, archival digital print, courtesy of dnj Gallery.

20. David Trautrimas, “Storm Crown Mechanism,” 2009, archival digital print, courtesy of dnj Gallery.

21. William Eggleston, “Untitled,” courtesy of dnj Gallery.

22. Nan Goldin, CZ and Max, courtesy of dnj Gallery.
http://www.dnjgallery.net/
Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Suite J1, Santa Monica, CA 90404

23. Rob Carter, “Cala, Fuili II, Sardinia,” from the “Traveling Still” series, courtesy of Eyestorm.

24. Rob Carter, from the “Traveling Still” series, courtesy of Eyestorm.
http://www.eyestorm.com/

Eyestorm
London
27 Hill Street
W1J 5LP
(+44) 0845 643 2001

25. Allen Frame, “Hillary and Josh,” Punta del Este, Uraguay, 2008, courtesy of Gitterman Gallery.
http://www.gittermangallery.com/html/home.asp
Gitterman Gallery
170 East 75th Street
New York, NY 10021

26. Frank Maedler, “L 7,” from the series “UT” (Silber), courtesy of Gallery J.J. Heckenhauer.

27. Peter Neusser, “Wolfsburg,” courtesy of Gallery J.J. Heckenhauer.

28. Mauren Brodbeck, “Juliette #5,” courtesy of Gallery J.J. Heckenhauer.
http://www.heckenhauer.net/ga/en/index.html
Gallery J.J. Heckenhauer Holzmarkt 5 
72070 Tübingen
Germany

29. Dezhong Wei, from the series “Days Full of Inspirations,” courtesy of Henan Pan-View Image Culture Media Co., Ltd.

30. Shilong Wang, from the series “Days Full of Inspirations,” courtesy of Henan Pan-View Image Culture Media Co., Ltd.

31. Yong Luo, from the series “City of View,” 2005, courtesy of Henan Pan-View Image Culture Media Co., Ltd.

32. Yong Luo, from the series “City of View,” 2005, courtesy of Henan Pan-View Image Culture Media Co., Ltd.
http://www.pan-view.com/
Henan Pan-View Image Culture Media Co., Ltd.C-702 Dongjun International #1212, E Hanghai Road

33. Edward Westen, “MGM,” courtesy of Paul M. Hertzman, Inc.
http://www.hertzmann.net/pages/
PO Box 40447
San Francisco, CA 94140-0448, USA

34. Bob Poe, “Cover,” 2009, I-Phone photo, 54 × 90 inches, courtesy of the Los Angeles Art Association
Gallery 825.

35. Niku Kashef, “The House of Life and Death,” 2008, C-Print, 36×36 inches, courtesy of the Los Angeles Art Association
Gallery 825.

http://www.laaa.org/
Gallery 825
825 N. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90069

36. Jens Liebchen, “Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street, Los Angeles,” 2010, Pigmented ink on Hahnemuehle Paper, 14×11 inches, courtesy of The Lapis Press
Schaden.com.

37. Oliver Sieber, “Arnold,” Pigmented ink on Hahnemuehle Paper, 11×14 inches, courtesy of The Lapis Press
Schaden.com
http://www.lapispress.com/
http://www.schaden.com/ Schaden.com
Buchhandlung GmbH
Albertusstr. 4
50667 Köln

38. Carrie Mae Weems, “Untitled,” from the “Kitchen Table” series, 1990, courtesy of Light Work.

39. Elijah Gowen, “Cup,” courtesy of Light Work

40. Scott Conarroe, “Trailer Park, Wendover, UT,” 2008, courtesy of Light Work.
http://www.lightwork.org/
Robert B. Menschel Media Center
316 Waverly Avenue
Syracuse, New York 13244
USA

41. Alfred Eisenstaedt, “Marilyn Monroe,” 1953, copyright Time, Inc., courtesy of Gallery M.
http://www.gallerym.com/default.cfm
Gallery M.
180 Cook St, Suite 101, Denver, CO 80206

42. Stephen Wilkes, “Washington Square, Day into Night, New York,” 2009, 40×30 inches, courtesy of Monroe Gallery.

43. Bill Eppridge, "Robert F. Kennedy campaigns with various aides and friends

44. Steve Schapiro, “Segregationists, St. Augustine, Florida,” 1964

45. Stephen Wilkes, “Central Park, Day into Night,”
http://www.monroegallery.com/

Monroe Gallery
112 Don Gaspar Santa Fe, NM 87501 – USA

46. Ju Duoqi, “Liberty Leading the Vegetables,” 2008, courtesy of M.R. Gallery
http://mrgalery.com.cn/
M.R. Gallery
No.D06, Mid Second Street, 798 Art District, Chaoyang District, 100015 Beijing, China

47. Norman Kulkin, “Untitled,” courtesy of Select Vernacular Photographs.
http://www.pixidiom.com/
727 N. Fuller Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046 – USA

48. Tom Chambers, “Caging the Songbird,” from the “Dreaming in Reverse” series, 20×20 inches, courtesy of photo-eye Gallery.

49. Tom Chambers, “Presumptuous Guests,” from the “Dreaming in Reverse” series, courtesy of photo-eye Gallery.
http://photoeye.com/
photo-eye Gallery.
376, Garcia Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 – USA

50. Joey L., “Portrait of Saragolea,” from the “Abyssinia” series, courtesy of photokunst.

51. Joey L., “Portrait of Saragolea,” from the “Abyssinia” series, courtesy of photokunst.
http://www.photokunst.com/
Photokunst
725 Argyle Avenue, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 – USA

52. Marian Drew, “Emu with yellow canary,” 2010, courtesy of Queensland Centre for Photography.
http://www.qcp.org.au/
Corner of Russel and Cordelia Street, South Brisbane QLD 4101 Australia

53. Juan Fontanive, “Livelinesse 2,” 2010, Edition 14, courtesy of Riflemaker: London.
http://www.riflemakerorg/
Riflemaker
79 Beak Street, London, W1F 9SU – UK

54. John Baldessari, “Blue Boy (with yellow boy: one with Hawaiin tie, one in dark), Three Color Lithograph,” 1989, courtesy of Barry Singer Gallery.
http://www.singergallery.com/
Barry Singer Gallery.
7 Western Avenue, Petaluma, CA 94952 – USA

55. Christopher Clark and Virginie Pougnaud, “Aurore Eveillee,” archival digital lambda print, 43.3×43.3 inches, courtesy of Skotia Gallery
http://www.skotiagallery.com/
Skotia Gallery
150 W. Marcy Street, Ste 103, Santa Fe, NM 87501 – USA

56. Kelsy Waggaman, “When Was The Last Time You Made Love To Yourself,” archival pigment print 19×28.5 inches, courtesy of Skotia Gallery.
http://www.skotiagallery.com/

57. Robert Frank, “Cadillac Showroom,” 1955, Vintage gelatin silver print, 8.5×13 inches, signed and stamped, courtesy of Joel Soroka Gallery.
http://www.joelsorokagallery.com/
Joel Soroka Gallery.
400 E. Hyman Avenue, Aspen, CO 81611 – USA

58. Ralph Steiner, “Lollipop,” 1920s/c.1981, 4.5×3.5 inches, gelatin silver print, courtesy of Robert Tat Gallery.
http://www.roberttat.com/
Robert Tat Gallery.
49 Geary Street, # 211, San Francisco, CA 94108 – USA

59. Ma Kang, “FORBIDDEN CITY: Policemen before the Tian’anmen Gate-tower,” 2008, Inkjet print, courtesy of OFOTO Gallery.
http://www.ofoto-gallery.com/
OFOTO Gallery
2F, Building 13, 50 Mogashan Road, Shanghai 200060 – China

60. Luo Yongjin, “Kezhi Garden,” 2002, Injet print, courtesy of OFOTO Gallery.
http://www.ofoto-gallery.com/

Links:
http://www.photola.com/

Longest Running Art Fair West of New York Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary, Opens January 13

Via The ArtDaily.Org
January 12, 2011

Bill Eppridge, "Robert F. Kennedy campaigns with various aides and friends" former prizefighter Tony Zale and (right of Kennedy) N.F.L. stars Lamar Lundy, Rosey Grier, and Deacon Jones, 1968"

LOS ANGELES.- In recent years, Los Angeles has experienced a rapid growth of contemporary art galleries along with an expansion of local museum programs highlighting emerging art making it a required destination for curators and collectors. As a marketplace for the Arts, it now rivals New York City. Glenn Lowry, Director of MoMA, recently said in the WSJ, “The art world is a very fluid place, but there is no question that L.A. is very hot at the moment.”


photo l.a.XX, celebrating it’s 20th Anniversary, is the longest running art fair west of New York and is the largest photo-based art fair in the country with over 10,000 attendees. It brings together photography dealers from around the globe, displaying the finest contemporary photography, video and multi-media installations along with masterworks from the 19th century. This is the 48th art fair produced by Stephen Cohen, Director of photo l.a. XX including artLA, photo san francisco, photo MIAMI, photo santa fe, photo NY and the first vernacular photography fair in NYC.

artLA was created in 2004 as a public event bringing together a mix of national and international galleries, artists, collectors and curators for a visual dialogue on the current art scene. Its ongoing commitment to presenting the most challenging art being produced today, has led to the creation of artLA projects, an ongoing citywide program of dynamic and innovative installations, exhibitions, seminars and conversations with established and cutting-edge artists in all media.

photo l.a. XX + artLA projects, returns to the historic Santa Monica Civic with an added 7,000 square foot tented canopy entry. This grand entrance provides space for sculpture, installations, book signings and seating. Attendees will enjoy an expansive lobby that includes a Phaidon bookstore, seating area, café, coffee bar and cupcake corner. There is new VIP balcony lounge and video viewing area.

The launch of artLA projects is a prelude to a much larger artLA 2011 that will align with the Los Angeles Contemporary Art Forum, a new art fair in the fall of 2011 created by the team that produces the Armory Show, Art Chicago, Next, Art Toronto and Volta. As the City heads into the Pacific Standard Time era this fall, Los Angeles is the place to be and artLA 2011 will be the satellite fair of new and emerging art that will parallel the energy and excitement of the newest art fair coming to Los Angeles

ON THE ROAD TO PHOTO LA

Ernst Haas: Utah, 1952

We are loading the van and heading west today, next stop Photo LA January 13 - 17. Our Twitter and Facebook updates may  be a bit sparse as we drive across I-40, but we will update as possible. We hope you can visit us in booth A-102!


Related: Photo LA January 13 - 17

THE LONDON ART FAIR: PHOTOGRAPHY DAY

London Art Fair


The London Art Fair presents over 100 galleries featuring the great names of 20th Century British art and exceptional contemporary work from leading figures and emerging talent January 19 - 23.
 
You’ll also find solo shows and curated group displays in our Art Projects section, with galleries drawn from across the world, while Photo50 is a showcase for contemporary photography with 50 works selected by a distinguished panel.

For information on dates, times and tickets for London Art Fair 2011 click here.

Photo50 is our showcase for contemporary photography. Now in its fifth year it will feature 50 works by artists selected by a distinguished panel with both established artists and less well known figures. This year’s panel includes Zelda Cheatle, Curator and Director of the Tosca Fund Photography Collection, Celia Davies, Head of Projects for Photoworks, Sebastien Montabonel, European Senior Specialist of Photographs at Phillips de Pury and Joanna Pitman of The Times. We asked each member of the panel to nominate up to three artists and then introduce their work.

A Photography Focus Day on Wednesday 19 January 2011 will feature a series of discussions and tours dedicated to contemporary photography. Some of the highlights below:

Image Fatigue: Can photographs still be a catalyst for positive social change in a world saturated with images?


In association with PhotoVoice

12.00 – 1.00 Leading photography professionals discuss past and present campaigns that use socially driven imagery and ask whether they still have an impact in today’s media, and if so what makes these images successful in driving social change. The discussion is led by Marc Schlossman (PhotoVoice Trustee and photographer) with Gideon Mendel (Photojournalist) and Jessica Crombie (Film and Photography Manager, Save the Children).

On The Ephemeral in Photography

In association with Hotshoe Gallery and ORDINARY-LIGHT Photography

1.30 – 2.30 A panel discussion considering the etymology and characterisations of the ephemeral in photography and the wider concept of the ephemeral as it appears in culture and the arts. This session will be led by Daniel Campbell Blight (Director, Hotshoe Gallery) with Rut Blees Luxemburg (artist), Julian Stallabrass (Reader, The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Douglas Murphy (author of The Architecture of Failure, forthcoming from Zero Books).

(D)e-materialization and Photography in the Age of Technological Advance

In association with Hotshoe and ORDINARY-LIGHT Photography

3.00 – 4.00 A discussion of the (d)e-materialization of the photographic record in the age of technological advance. Led by Brad Feuerhelm (Director, ORDINARY-LIGHT Photography) , the panel includes Simon Bainbridge (Editor, British Journal of Photography) Charlotte Cotton (Creative Director, London Galleries, National Media Museum ), Jason Evans (artist, writer and lecturer) and Trish Morrisey (artist).

Politics in Photography

In association with Photoworks

4.30 – 5.30 This session focuses on contemporary photography concerned with the current socio-political climate in the UK. It considers the artists position in providing an important commentary on social change, political unrest and challenging political conventions. Speakers include: Anna Fox (artist and Professor of Photography, University of the Creative Arts), Lisa Barnard (artist, exhibiting in Photo50 at London Art Fair) and Steve Edwards (Senior Lecturer in Art History, Open University).

Collecting Contemporary Art

In association with the Contemporary Art Society

6.30 – 7.15 and 7.30 – 8.15 Now celebrating its centenary year, the Contemporary Art Society is the UK's leading authority on contemporary collecting. Over the last 100 years they have purchased the work of seminal artists early in their careers - Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst – and enjoy a unique and enviable reputation for being 'ahead of the curve'. These talks give you an opportunity to draw on their expertise to help you develop your own collection. The talks are led by Henry Little (Public Programmes Manager) and Dida Tait (Head of Membership and Market Development)


Related: The 20th Anniversary Edition of Photo LA January 13 - 17.

PHOTO LA January 13 - 17

Monroe Gallery of Photography is delighted to once again exhibit at Photo LA, January 13 - 17, 2011. Photo LA continues to be one of the most prestigious photography fairs in the country, bringing together galleries and private dealers from around the globe. This year the fair celebrates its 20th annual edition, and will be held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Monroe Gallery is located in booth A102, front and center in the East Wing.

Monroe Gallery of Photography will be exhibiting specially selected work from the gallery's collection: important and historic photojournalism and civil rights photography, including the first-ever exhibits of Grey Villet and White House photographer Eric Draper; new photographs from Stephen Wilkes' acclaimed "Day Into Night" series; and photographs from classic movies of the 1950's by Richard C. Miller. And much more!

Grey Villet: Martin Luther King at Police Headquarters, as he argued to reject bail and serve his sentence for disturbing the peace in Montgomery, Alabama, 1958



Eric Draper: Oval Office, January 26, 2001

Stephen Wilkes: Central Park, Day Into Night, New York, 2010

Richard C. Miller: James Dean taking a break from filming "Giant", Marfa, Texas

The fair opens with a benefit reception for the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at LACMA
on Thursday, January 13, 2011, 6:00-9:00 p.m. William Eggelston is this year's honorary Guest Host, for more information and tickets click here. Fair hours are 11 - 7 Friday - Sunday, and this year the fair has added an extra day for Monday, Martin Luther King day, 11 - 6. (More here)

Programming information, including lectures, seminars and book-signings may be found here.

Monroe Gallery will feature numerous other renowned photographs in booth A-102. We look forward to welcoming you to our booth at Photo LA!

2010 Photography Auction Summary

The DLK Collection Blog is always on our daily "must read" list. In case you may have missed it, yesterday they posted a highly informative review of 2010's photography auctions. The results were quite astonishing:

"Across the photography auction market for the entire year, the total sale proceeds taken together were $136,948,680, up by more than 83% from last year's total of $74,612,997. These numbers were driven by both higher average selling prices and better sell through."


The article concludes: "Overall, in a year of stabilization and renewed growth, Christie's seems to have taken it to its competitors a bit. The house doubled its total sale proceeds for photography from the previous year, dramatically increased its average selling price per lot (even when diluted by a sale of lower priced photobooks), and took share from the market.


Looking forward, if the economic environment continues to slowly but steadily improve, I think we can expect that 2011 will be another solid year at auction. Big numbers are driven by the quality of material that is consigned and the overall confidence in the marketplace; 2010 had the landmark Penn, Avedon, and Polaroid sales (among others) and the beginnings of forward looking optimism. For 2011 to top 2010, we'll need to see more superlative material come out into the markets, particularly in the realm of photography that is classified as contemporary art, and we'll have to see a continued positive outlook from collectors."

Read the full post here.

Related: Thoughts on the Fall Auctions

             The Trumph of Photography

MAJOR PHOTOGRAPHY FAIRS OF 2011

We have previously reported on the just-completed Paris Photo, Art Miami, and Art Basel Miami. As we near 2011, the attention turns to two venerable photography fairs: Photo LA and The AIPAD Photography Show in New York.

The 20th Anniversary edition of Photo LA, the longest-running photography fair West of New York City, will take place January 13 - 17, during the long Golden Globes weekend. It brings together photography dealers from around the globe, displaying the finest contemporary photography, video and multi-media installations along with masterworks from the 19th century to an audience of more than 10,000 attendees.

This year, artLA projects has joined with Photo LA, which returns to the historic Santa Monica Civic with an added 7,000 square foot tented canopy entry. This grand entrance provides space for sculpture, installations, book signings and seating. Attendees will enjoy an expansive lobby that includes a Phaidon bookstore, seating area, café, coffee bar and cupcake corner. Photo LA is proud to host the benefit preview reception for the Wallis Annenberg Department of Photography at LACMA on the evening of January 13th from 6 - 9pm. Programming includes off site events, collecting seminars, a panel discussion, Troubled Waters, on photography’s impact on environmental issues and The La Brea Matrix Project, in addition to lectures by Uta Barth, Lyle Ashton Harris, Michael Light, Andrew Moore, and David Taylor among others. Monroe Gallery looks forward to seeing all of our friends at this special anniversary edition of Photo LA!

Review LA, presented by CENTER,  will take place simultaneous to the 20th Annual Photo LA.

One of the most important international photography events, The AIPAD Photography Show New York, will be presented by the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) from March 17 through 20, 2011. More than 70 of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries will present a wide range of museum-quality work including contemporary, modern and 19th century photographs, as well as photo-based art, video and new media, at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The 31st edition of The AIPAD Photography Show New York will open with a Gala Preview on March 16 to benefit the John Szarkowski Fund, an endowment for photography acquisitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The AIPAD Photography Show New York is the longest running and foremost exhibition of fine art photography.


“Photography has been less affected by the recession than other parts of the art world,” said Stephen Bulger, President, AIPAD, and President, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto. “As a result, photography remains a growing market. Now more than ever, AIPAD is a must-do show for collectors, and clearly is the best show for photography in North America.”

Exhibitors

A wide range of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries will exhibit at The AIPAD Photography Show New York. In addition to galleries from New York City and across the country, a number of international galleries will be featured. 

Exhibition Highlights

Deborah Bell Photographs, New York, will show black-and-white photographs by Andy Warhol (c. 1981-86). These are photographs that precede the stitched or sewn photographic composites and are primarily formal studies taken from street life, providing insight into "Andy's eye." Gary Edwards Gallery, Washington, DC, will show a portrait of Chairman Mao from 1963 by an unknown Xinhua Agency photographer. The portrait is said to have been printed in over 100 million copies. It is the basis of the gigantic portrait hanging on Tiananmen Gate, facing Tiananmen Square in Beijing; and Andy Warhol’s Mao screenprints of 1972 are based on this photograph, as well.

New work by Abelardo Morell will be on view at Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, including images of a landscape in Florence and a rooftop view of the Brooklyn Bridge made with a camera obscura. Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, will bring work by Annie Leibovitz, Lillian Bassman, Sebastiao Salgado, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Galería Vasari, Buenos Aires, will show the work of photographers, such as Annemarie Heinrich and Juan Di Sandro, who immigrated to Argentina between the 1930s and ‘50s. Originally from Europe, they belonged to a generation that had been trained at the most refined avant-garde schools and there is no doubt of their fundamental role in the development of modern photography in Argentina.

Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, will show work by the vibrant young Japanese artist Sohei Nishino (born 1982). This will be the first time his work has been shown in the United States. Nishino’s Diorama Map series is an ongoing project to map the world's great cities using his unique process of photography and collage. After an intense month of shooting thousands of photographs on black-and-white film from hundreds of locations across the city, he spends several months developing, printing, cutting, pasting and arranging of the re-imagined city into a huge photographic collage. The final piece is re-shot using a large format camera to create a single grand photographic print.

Niko Luoma is one of the leading professors at the University of Art and Design, Helsinki, and is an integral part of the Helsinki School. His series of abstract C-prints are inspired by nature in flux, every day events, chaos, chance, and time. Luoma uses a simple mathematical system in exposing negative space and composing each work based on ideas of symmetry. The photographs will be on view at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York.

Fiona Pardington's large-scale photographs in her series Ahua: A Beautiful Hesitation document the sculptures of indigenous peoples encountered during French explorer Dumont d'Urville's 1837 voyage to the South Pacific and will be on view at Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ.

Monroe Gallery will be located in Booth #417. We will be bringing significant examples of important 20th Century photojournalism, new work from Stephen Wilkes' "Day Into Night" series, as well as introducing important never-before exhibited historic images. See you in March!

PHOTOGRAPHY IN NEW MEXICO

Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Aizona (76.577.30) ©2010 The Ansel Adams Publishing Trust


New Mexico magazine, the nation's original state magazine, has an article on the history of photography in New Mexico and the many galleries featuring photography in Santa Fe. The article by Wolf Schneider titled "Shoot-Out: Why the New Mexico photography scene keeps getting more competitive" opens with:

"Used to be, New Mexico's fine-art photography scene meant historic images by Laura Gilpin, Eliot Porter, and Ansel Adams - especially Adams' famed Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941. There was a photo gallery or two in Santa Fe. Now the city has a half-dozen galleries dedicated to photography, and two dozen more that feature photography among other arts. Fine-art photography is on the rise world-wide, with modern image making propelled by digital technology, and with prints in limited and numbered editions all the rage.

'Over the last 10 to 15 years, there's been an explosion in fine-art photography' observed Sidney Monroe, 52, who opened Monroe Gallery of Photography with his wife Michelle in Santa Fe in 2002. 'We started in New York in the eighties, when there were only a small number of photo galleries around the world' he remembers. Monroe specializes in humanist and photojournalist imagery, representing internationally known photographers such as the late Margaret Bourke-White and Henri Cartier Bresson, and selling prints for $1,000 up. Ninety percent of the images Monroe sells are still shot on traditional film. Showing the work of nationally and internationally known photographers, he observes, 'For any other city of this size, you won't get the diverse photography you will see in Santa Fe'".

Andrews Smith states "We are the leading dealer of Ansel Adams in the world", noting that Adams' prints currently sell for $4,000  and up. Way up. "Most of the great collectors are collecting photography. Its an international trend. There are more photo galleries in Santa Fe per capita than anywhere in the world."

Read the full article here, turn to pages 20 - 23 using the e-reader. Also interviewed and featured are Jennifer Schlesinger of Verve Gallery, Anne Kelly of Photo-Eye, and several others.

Eddie Adams: Untouchable Children, India, 1978

"For any other city of this size, you won't get the diverse photography you will see in Santa Fe" says Sidney Monroe of Monroe Gallery of Photography, which recently exhibited works by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning Eddie Adams.

Related: Loews Magazine: Collecting Photography

             Summer Gallery Scene in Santa Fe

PHOTOGRAPHY MARKET UPDATE

Earlier this month, we posted our thoughts on the record Fall art auctions, and the corresponding "bargains" for photography by comparison.  Two articles on the photography market have recently been published that are worth noting.

Artprice.com states "Strong demand and an abundant offer: having earned a legitimate place in the history of art, photography has become a dynamic medium with a rapidly maturing and increasingly demanding market. Today the photography medium accounts for 7% of total global auction revenue generated from contemporary art and its auction revenue total has grown 1,300% since the end of the 1990s (+1,270% between 1998 and 2008) in a market traditionally dominated by painting, sculpture and drawing."

Read the full article here.
 
The Financial Times has a very informative article in today's edition, which has already been posted on several photography sites today. In case you missed it, we have it posted below.

A STRONG MARKET FOR PHOTOGRAPHS
By Francis Hodgson
©The Financial Times

Richard Avedon’s “Dovima with Elephants”


When a photograph sells at auction for $1m, the market can surely be considered healthy. The oversize print of Richard Avedon's "Dovima with Elephants", which made €841,000 ($1.12m) at Christie's in Paris last Saturday, was just one of 13 prints in that sale to achieve more than €100,000 (all prices quoted include premium). And the event achieved the still-rare accolade of being a "white-glove sale", one in which every lot finds a buyer.

This came only a matter of days after Andreas Gursky's "Frankfurt" made more than $2m in the contemporary art sales at Sotheby's in New York. It was the second Gursky to top $2m this year, following his "Pyongyang IV", which well exceeded its estimate to reach £1,329,250 in the equivalent sales at Sotheby's in London.

All this gives a pretty clear indication of a market suffering no stress at the top end. High-ticket photographs of the type so often described as "iconic" are continuing to do well, and prices are well on the way to surpassing their pre-recession levels for these items. Such photographs have become strongly branded decorative objects, safe to display in corporate buildings while still retaining a hint of daring.

It was reassuring in that context to see that Christie's did well enough with its October 7 sale in New York devoted to Joseph-Philibert Giraud de Prangey, a connoisseur's daguerreotypist, a brilliant 19th-century pioneer but undeniably obscure. Even the largest daguerreotype is tiny by the showy standards of the giant prints of today; they look fantastic but you can't exactly identify them from across an atrium. Heartening to see that such difficult objects to exhibit can still find good buyers, and the sale's total proceeds of approximately $3m showed a growing awareness of the importance of good early photographs.

The range of general photographic sales, with their more modest prices and less fierce levels of competition between high rollers, remain the domain of specialist collectors; they are still to recover pre-recession confidence levels and there are certainly bargains to be had in the general sector.

A couple of tendencies to note: the Avedon image (a 1955 fashion shoot displaying a Dior dress, and now bought by Dior) echoes a strengthening market for pictures from the magazine world. Philippe Garner of Christie's has nurtured the Gert Elfering collection, over several sales and several years, for example, which has resulted in something above $10m in sales. The most recent auction in the series, this summer, sold 67 prints by the late Jean-Loup Sieff, a magazine photographer if ever there was one, hitherto barely noticed by the market.

A continuing trend is the presence of great photography across different saleroom sectors – the record for Cindy Sherman, for instance, was broken not at a sale devoted to photographs but at Philips' contemporary art sale, also in early November, with her "Untitled #153" (1985) achieving $2,770,500.

Photographs appear in books, too. The saleroom habitat of specialist dealers in photographic books has traditionally been Swann's. But Christie's photobook sales in London now seem a regular fixture in the calendar, and Sotheby's London book department continues to host a remarkable number of interesting early photographic books. Let the buyer beware, certainly. But let the buyer also have a good time. Photographs are never out of season.

See our Art Price Index for photography 1985-2010

"THE TRIUMPH OF PHOTOGRAPHY"

There is a great FREE daily Photography newsletter that we highly recommend. Below is one excerpted article from La  Lettre de la Photographie.

Sign up for free here. 

 

 18.588 € Viviane Esders, Paris: Andréas Feininger, The Photojournalist (Denis Stock), New York, 1955


Viviane Esders opens the Photography Auction Season in Paris. Viviane Esders’ modern and contemporary photo auctions held at the Hotel Drouot on November 9 included 245 lots. Nearly half found buyers for a total of €310,047 (fees included) and more than 40 lots surpassed the high estimated price. The highest bidding took place for lot 91, Andréas Feininger’s Icone “The Photojournalist (Denis Stock)”, New York, 1955, which sold for €18,588. Lot 137, “Sifnos”, Greece, 1960, by Henri Cartier-Bresson, a vintage print estimated at €4,000 sold for €11,153. Lot 176, “Yves Saint Laurent’s Dress”, Vogue, Paris, 1970, by Jean-Loup Sieff, sold for €7,807 or Lot 179 “East 100th Street”, 1966, by Bruce Davidson, estimated at €2,000 – 3,000 sold for €9,294. Among the contemporary prints, was Lot 214, a 2005 self portrait by Kimiko Yoshida that sold for €15,490 or lot 226 “Naomi Campbell”, Vogue, USA, Los Angeles, 1990 by Peter Lindhberg, sold for €15,490. Catalogue www.viviane-esders.com or www.yannlemouel.com Viviane Esders’ next auction: " Picasso et ses amis" Étude Blanchet et Associés Hôtel Drouot Thursday December 9th at 2pm. Catalogue http://www.blanchet.auction.fr/

Several sales took place at “Paris Photo”, poor timing given the major exhibition openings taking place throughout Paris for the Photography Month. Among the most remarkable sales, that of Millon 1 Associés that took place on November 18 at 3pm in the hall of 3 Rossini Street. Several photographic collections from the XIXth and XXth centuries were on sale. Lot 19, “Cranes and Drills”, two hard-mounted albumin prints measuring 34.5 × 24.5 cm dated ca. 1870 and estimated at €600 – 800 sold for €5,000.

Two albumin prints by Eugène Atget “Paris, Place du Caire” and “Angle du boulevard de la Madeleine et de la rue Caumartin” was purchased for €13,500 (not including fees).

Furthermore, Christophe Goeury remarked that buyers were particularly interested in complete albums including “Indes et Ceylan” with 173 albumin prints by several photographers including Bourne that sold for €4,500 or that of Emile Gzell with 200 albumin prints from different countries in Asie that sold for €37,000. Or that by Guillaume Benjamin Duchenne (de Boulogne) on “Mechanism and Appearance of Human Passions” sold for €16,500 (fees excluded). Full results on http://www.millon-associes.com/

Following that of Million, the sale organized at Drouot Montaigne by Serge Plantureux, Binoche and Giquello on Thursday, 18 November, was themed “Chinese Prints, Looking East”. There was a remarkable interest for Alfred Laurens’ Saint Petersbourg album (lot 80) ca. 1870 comprised of 50 albumin prints. Estimated at €6,000 – 8,000, it sold for €62,000. Lot 98, an album by Konstantin Shapiro comprised of 30 albumin prints illustrating Gogol’s “Memoirs of a Madman” estimated at €3,000 – 3,500 sold for €20,000 fees excluded. Lot 146, “Study of a Nude, II”, Moscow, 1930, by Alexandre Grinberg, estimated at €3,000 – 3,500 sold for €22,000. Lot 204, Man Ray, “Mr. Seabrook’s Fantasies”, Paris, 1930, sold for €3,500. Lot 133, “Nude Study”, 1925, by Vladimir V. Lebedev, a vintage silver print estimated at €800 sold for €3,200. Results: http://www.binoche-renaud-giquello.com/

At its Parisian headquarters in the Charpentier Gallery, Sotheby’s Auction House reached a record-breaking figure for a photography sale totaling 2.704 million Euros ($3,671,722). There were also two record-breaking sales for photos by Joseph Sudelka and Manuel Alvarez Bravo. Lot 89, Joseph Sudelka, Still Life (no title) ca. 1952, vintage print, estimated at €18,000-23,000, sold for €300,750 ($400,295) (fees included). Lot 88, another untitled vintage print by Joseph Sudek (vase and dead rose), also from 1952 sold for €228,750 ($310,549) (fees included). Lot 55, “Portrait of the Eternal” ca. 1935 by Manuel Alvarez Bravo, a silver vintage print estimated at €70,000 – 90,000, sold for €228,750 ($$310,549) (fees included). Lot 11, “Notre Dame de Paris, 1923” by Eugène Atget, a vintage albumin print estimated at €40,000 – 60,000 sold for €168,750 ($229,093) (fees included). Edward Weston’s series of nudes, some previously unseen, did not find a buyer at the estimated €50,000 – 68,5000 (without fees). Furthermore, Simone Klein, Director of the Photographic Department for Europe, emphasized the emergence of German photographer Heinz Hajek-Halke’s work of which 11 of the 12 works sold. The vintage print “Monumental Erotica” from 1928-1932 sold for three times its estimated value at €34,350 (fees included). Full Results on www.sothebys.com

The next day, the Christie’s auction at its Parisian base at 9 avenue Matignon offered 65 photographic items and a portfolio from the Richard Avedon Foundation. 65 were sold, generating a total of €5,467,250 fees included. With the highest price being attributed to lot 16, “Dovina with Elephants, evening dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, August 1955”. This signed exhibition print from 1978 (216.8cm x 166.7cm) originally estimated at €400,000 – 600,000 ($547,908 – 821,862) sold for €841,000 ($1,151,976) (fees included). The next major sale was “Andy Warhol and Group” from October 1969. Three unique signed, dated, and noted prints mounted on isorel estimated at €80,000 – 120,000 sold for €301,000 ($412,301). Then “Andy Warhold, artist, New York City, 20 August 1969”, silver print (150cm x 121.5cm) from 1993 estimated at €80,000 – 120,000 sold for €169,000 ($231,491) (fees included). Or “Stephanie Seymour, model, New York City”, a signed and numbered print from 1992 (155.2cm x 122cm) estimated at €120,000 – 180,000 sold for €265,000 ($362,989). There were also a few notable sales of Richard Avedon’s portfolio and album works during his career. “The Beatles Portfolio” from 1967 sold for €445,000, “Avedon Paris” for €169,000. The “Minneapolis Portfolio” (11 silver prints) edited in 1970 sold for €169,000 while “Family”, 1976, 69 prints made with Rolling Stone Magazine sold for €205,000 (fees included).

Finally on Sunday, November 21 at 2pm, Ader Nordmann auctioned off 338 lots of vintage, modern, and contemporary prints totaling €332,000 fees excluded. One sale confirming the enthusiasm for albums combining lots 57 and 58 in one album of 121 nudes on albumin paper dated 1890 and an album with prints and Japanese photographs reached €35,000 fees excluded. A sale that revived post-war humanistic photography with €6,500 (fees excluded) for a later print of Henri Cartier Bresson’s 1932 “Derrière la Gare St Lazare”. €1,900 for “Les Premières Neiges du Luxembourg” ca. 1955, an unsigned vintage print by Edouard Boubat (lot 201). Lot 230, “Regards d’acier”, a signed and dated vintage print by Josef Koudelka reached €5,000. Man Ray’s photogramme, lot 149, a photographic print from the movie “Fernand Leger, le ballet mecanique”, 1924, auctioned for €27,000. Or €5,700 for François Kollar’s “Fernande Kollar in the Mirror” (lot 148), a vintage color slide on a silver leaf background. A unique item measuring 25 × 20 cm dating back to 1955. And €12,000 for a 1975 silver print (30 × 40) “Silvana Mangano” by François-Marie Banier. Catalogue on http://www.ader-paris.fr/

For memory, the Piasa sale on Friday 19 November at 3pm in the hall 5 at the Hotel Drouot. Little interest was manifested for the 331 lots on auction, explaining why only 1/3 found buyers. Results on http://www.piasa.fr/

One more thing, Helmut Newton, “Domestic nude V: In my livingroom, Chateau Marmont, Hollywood, Los Angeles, 1992” has been sold for 225,850 € at Bukowskis, the swedish auction house in Stockholm on the 17th of november 2010.

Bernard Perrine, correspondant de l’Institut de France

Related: Thoughts On The Record Fall Auctions

Art Price Index 1: Photography 1985-2010

From the Financial Times:

"The mainstream of the photography market [central 80%] peaked in September 2008 then fell by 21% in the 18 months to March 2010. The top 10% of the market, where prices routinely climb steeply in good times, also peaked in September 2008, but by March 2010 this top sector had almost halved. All sectors of the market are now recovering fast and the long-term growth of 7% - 8% once again seems like a good bet."

More with charts here.

Related: Thoughts on the record fall auctions 

Not the Image I’m usually drawn to…

We would like to share what we found to be a very thoughtful post by Heidi Straube on an aresting image in the current Carl Mydans exhibition.

Not the Image I’m usually drawn to…

October 30, 2010 by heidistraubephotographer


Yesterday I went to the Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They’re showing a collection of work by Carl Mydans, a photojournalist who worked for the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s, and for Life Magazine during World War II and beyond. The images are all striking….(see some of them here on the Monroe Gallery website.)


The image I was most drawn to is not found on the Monroe Gallery website…I wish it were, because it’s powerful and I’d love for you to see it.

Carl Mydans: A French woman accused of sleeping with Germans during the occupation is shaved by vindictive neighbors in a village near Marseilles, August, 1944

It’s a picture from World War II time period. Taken in France, a woman is sitting in a chair having her hair shaved off by another woman, with other women and a man looking on, the women laughing meanly. Apparently they suspect the woman in the chair to be a German spy, and this is their way of handling it.

It’s not the kind of picture that I’m usually drawn to…but what caught my attention in this image was the man in the picture and his expression. He is looking over at the photographer, and the expression on his face is…guilty? embarrassed? He’s been caught between the enjoyment that can be felt when you’re part of a group, belonging…and knowing that this isn’t really a good thing to do. And you see the connection between him and the photographer as he sees himself in the middle of this.

This is the beauty of Carl Mydan’s work and that of other photographers that I admire. A picture that would be powerful because of its subject matter (although not necessarily unusual, as many events like this have been documented in images), has one more element in it that reflects the complexity of human emotions and actions, the reflection of all of us in life, elevating it to that aspect of fine art that I look for, connect with, and aspire to myself.

In this image, Carl Mydans reminds us that things are not always clean and simple. I see in it a reflection of the challenges we meet often in our lives, of having to makes choices that may be confusing to us and require us to dig deeply to make sure that we’re acting in alignment with our values.

Perhaps the man in the image was only feeling badly for that one instant in time when the picture was shot…and then went right back to the jeering. Even so, Carl Mydans captured an instant of emotional recognition, and it is masterful.

By the way, Carl Mydans died in 2004, and there are only two prints made by him of this image known to exist at this time. All prints in this collection were printed and signed by Mydans. My understanding is that his estate does not appear to be interested in actively continuing to print his work; the negatives are now in selected institutions.

©Heidi Straube

The Inner Path of Photography

The exhibition, Carl Mydans: The Early Years", continues through November 21.

MONROE GALLERY AT ART SANTA FE JULY 15 - 18

Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to exhibit at the 2010 edition of Art Santa Fe July 15 - 18. We are located in Booth #25. This year we will be exhibiting new photographs by Eric Smith from his series "The Ruins of Detroit"; new work from Stephen Wilkes' "Day Into Night" collection; a very rare large format print of Ernst Haas' iconic "Albuquerque (Route 66), 1969", and several other special selections.



This year Art Santa Fe celebrates its ten-year anniversary. Art Santa Fe is pleased to once again present this well-established event to the international contemporary art community as well as Santa Fe’s own art world, now the second largest art market in the country. As in the past, we expect exhibitors and visitors from across the U.S. and around the world. Adding to the excitement of commemorating ten years, ART Santa Fe will hold the 2010 fair in the new Convention Center in the heart of downtown Santa Fe. This new facility boasts 72,000 square feet including 40,000 square feet of state-of-the-art event space. Courtyards and plazas add to the Santa Fe charm of this new “green” conference center.


Inside Art Santa Fe, viewers explore the best of the art world, with participating galleries from across the United States, China, Japan, Europe, and Latin America. Art Santa Fe’s style offers a perfect balance of breadth and intimacy, allowing visitors to speak to dealers and artists while experiencing a full range of art in a comprehensible context.


The experience doesn’t stop outside the doors. A series of events takes place in conjunction with ART Santa Fe, including our gala opening night Vernissage, and the prestigious Art Santa Fe Presents lecture that features an eminent keynote speaker from the art world: Roberta Smith,  Senior Art Critic for The New York Times. (Saturday, July 17, 6:30 pm, New Mexico History Museum 113 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe)

Art Santa Fe 2010 offers exhibitors and visitors the opportunity to enjoy the most beautiful time of year in this unique and interesting city, a city that Conde Nast Traveler magazine’s 2009 Reader’s Choice Awards named as the third best U.S. city to visit. Santa Fe’s rich cultural mix includes performances at the award-winning open-air theater of the world renowned Santa Fe Opera, with sunset and stars forming part of the backdrop; and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Numerous outdoor activities take advantage of our ideal climate and allow visitors to enjoy the famed beauty of the New Mexico landscape


SANTA FE CONVENTION CENTER 201 W. Marcy, Santa Fe, NM July 15 through 18


GALA OPENING and VERNISSAGE, July 15, 5-8 PM

FAIR HOURS: Friday, 11-7; Saturday, 11-6; Sunday, 11-6

TICKETS: Lensic box office (505-988-1234) or at the door

More information here.

Art Santa Fe on Facebook.

FATHER'S DAY, 2010

John Dominis: Jacques D'Amboise playing with his sons, Seattle, Washington, 1962 ©Time Inc.

Guy Gillette: Arnold's, Cafe, Lovelady, Texas, 1956

Nina Leen: Wife and children of insurance broker Charles Hoffman waiting for Hoffman at commuter train station, Darien, CT, 1949 ©Time Inc.

Sal Veder: Released prisoner of war Lt. Robert L. Stirm is greeted by his family at Travis Air Force Base as he returns from the Vietnam War, Foster City, CA, March 17, 1973 © 2004 The Associated Press

LOEWS MAGAZINE: COLLECTING PHOTOGRAPHY - If you don't think photography is worth collecting, you're missing the big picture

Margaret Bourke-White Working atop the Chrysler Building, 1934, Oscar Graubner ©Time Inc.


by Geoff Williams
©Loews Magazine

J. Kritz didn’t set out to collect photographs. He just wanted a cool picture for his dorm room.

But unlike most college freshman, instead of buying a few posters, E.J. plunked down $150 at an art gallery and purchased an original Rob Arra, who is well known for his photos of sporting crowds in stadiums. And while stadium crowds may not sound like collectibles, with an imaginative eye and careful lighting, Arra manages to make a night game at Fenway Park a work of art. Ten years later, E.J. is now an Arra disciple. “If I could fast forward 60 years and learn that I had never once purchased a painting, I wouldn’t be shocked,” says E.J. “But if someone told me I had spent thousands and thousands of dollars on photography, I wouldn’t be shocked either.”

Collecting photography as a pastime is relatively new and the medium itself didn’t begin to be embraced as an art form until the 1970s. That said, there are probably more collectors out there than you would think.

Who and What to Collect

Sid Monroe, owner of the Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe (with his wife, Michelle), could be speaking for every museum curator and every experienced collector when he says: “You need to develop your own subjective way that you look at photography. Ultimately, what you live and surround yourself with says something about you, that you derive some satisfaction and pleasure in viewing those images. So go to museums, go to galleries, read books of photo collections and get a sense of what is attractive to you, and from there, you start to seek out what’s appealing.”

Rosa ‘Grace de Monaco,’ 2002, by Ron van Dongen

Beyond your personal preferences, as with any form of collecting, price is an additional key consideration. On the whole, photography is less expensive to collect than other art forms. While a Jackson Pollock painting sold for $140 million in 2006, the most expensive photograph ever sold was 99 Cent II Diptych by Andreas Gursky, which went for $3.3 million in 2007. To get started, here are some of the major categories that you might consider collecting.

FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

Generally, it’s agreed that this term refers to a photo that helps complete a photographer’s artistic vision. To begin exploring these works, you might start with a place like the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago or the Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York City. His roster includes fine art photographers such as Eikoh Hosoe, who came to prominence after World War II for his dark, sometimes erotic topics, and William Klein, a painter and documentary filmmaker who is also known for producing landmark still photos of New York City streets in the 1950s.

Edelman’s gallery highlights many fine art photographers, including Ron van Dongen and Tom Baril, both of whom use flowers as subjects. “What’s special about van Dongen’s work is that he actually grows the flowers that he’s photographing,”observes Edelman. “Van Dongen nurtures the flowers, clips them and brings them into his house, and shoots them very simply and is very respectful of the flower.”

Baril, on the other hand, specializes in flowers that are past their prime. “He purposefully buys flowers that are decaying, and then he finds their inner beauty,” says Edelman. “He intentionally forces you to look at the parts of the flower that you normally don’t. He’s unique and produces really beautiful pieces.”

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

You can’t discuss landscape photography without discussing Ansel Adams, probably the most famous of photographers, thanks in part to the numerous books, calendars and T-shirts depicting his images. So masterful is his work that Adams’ mass appeal hasn’t hurt his standing among collectors at all—a print of Adams’ famed Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico sold in 2006 for $609,600.

Pine Trees, Wolcheon, South Korea, 2007, by Michael Kenna

Michael Kenna is another landscape master, an extremely patient photographer when it comes to getting just the right lighting for his shots. “He compares his work to that moment when you’re at the theater, and the lights go out and the music comes on. He wants each viewer to have the same anticipation and approach his work as if they’re the only ones appreciating the landscape,” says Edelman. Rolfe Horn, a one-time Kenna
assistant, is another highly admired landscape photographer. “He is one of the best out there,” says Eric Keller, owner of Soulcatcher Studio in Santa Fe. “He just draws you in, and I think that’s what successful about any photographer’s work. Their images keep your attention for a certain amount of time, make an impression and stick in your mind.”

Creek, Study 2 Izumo, Japan 2004 by Rolfe Horn

Josef Hoflehner—whose main representation is the Bonni Benrubi Gallery in New York—is an Australian photographer with a varied portfolio from around the world. He often shoots in black and white with an approach that can make his subjects appear mythical, not quite real, almost like visual poetry.

And Robert Adams—no relation to Ansel—is known as one of the most talented photographers to ever pick up a camera. “I think Robert Adams and a number of people in his generation re-approached how they used the landscape as their subject,” says Joshua Chuang, who oversees Adams’ archives at the Yale University Art Gallery. “Ansel Adams’ photographs present a very dramatic view of what are mostly pristine, natural phenomena, and his pictures by and large heightened the drama. Robert Adams took a very different approach—you look at his photos at first, and they seem dry. There’s no apparent drama to the pictures, but when you look at the pictures, they’re still beautiful, but in a different way.”

5th Avenue, New York, 1955, by William Klein

PHOTOJOURNALISM

“Alfred Eisenstaedt was a pioneer in his field, one of the earliest practitioners of photojournalism, before there was even a name for photojournalism,” says Monroe. You may know Eisenstaedt’s work even if you don’t know his name: a longtime photographer for LIFE magazine, Eisenstaedt took the iconic photograph of a Navy sailor kissing a nurse on V-J Day.

Robert Frost, Ripton, Vermont, 1955, by Alfred Eisenstaedt ©Time Inc.

“He covered many historic moments and took many photos of world leaders like Winston Churchill, Hitler, Mussolini, but it was often the quieter photographs that really showcase his art. He wouldn’t say, but I think he felt some of his best photos were of nature. He did some amazing nature photography, beautiful still lifes of winter trees and snow,” says Monroe.

Alfred Eisenstaedt: Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood, 1953 ©Time Inc.

Henri-Cartier Bresson: Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, 1932

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photojournalist right around the same time and considered a master of candid photography. Ted Croner, while not as significant a figure as Eisenstaedt or Cartier-Bresson, is intriguing for a series of photographs that he took in the late 1940s, says Monroe.

Ted Croner: New York Taxi, c. 1946-47

“Ted Croner took a very different approach to photography. He wanted his images to be as realistic as possible, but he also had this modern view—his pictures were almost like jazz, showing a lot of motion, music and excitement. They were very reflective of the time of the late 1940s.” One of his best known works, says Monroe, was Taxi, New York. “It’s a blur of an old taxi going through the city at night, and it’s just a very exciting photograph—a really pure example of just reflecting that moment. That’s clearly his best-known image, but there are several others, and I don’t think any casual viewer can come across those images and not really stop and look.”

Ted Croner: Woman Bicyclist, Circus, Madison Square Garden, NY, 1947-48

Margaret Bourke-White is yet another important photojournalist turned fine art photographer. “She was truly a groundbreaker in every sense of the word, not the least being a woman doing what she did,” points out Monroe. She worked steadily for Fortune and LIFE magazines, capturing images of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and, shortly before his assassination, Mahatma Gandhi.

Monroe sums up her work in one word: “Astounding.”

                               More Fashion Mileage per Dress, Barbara Vaughn, New York,1956, by Lillian Bassman

PORTRAITURE

If you’re more into portraits of people—especially celebrities—this style may be worth exploring. Some Hollywood photographers and fashion photographers have also made their way into the realm of fine art. George Hurrell, says Keller, “was the best known of the Hollywood era portrait makers. He came right up through the studio system, starting at MGM Studios and really became sort of a star maker in his own right with the beautiful images he was able to make.” Some of Harrell’s most famous shots include Jane Russell lying on a haystack and Jean Harlow on a bear skin rug, each of them intensely lit to suggest their respective star power. What Keller finds interesting about  Hurrell’s work is that he hadn’t set out to create art, he was just promoting stars. However, the superb aesthetic quality of his shots is unmistakable and has attracted a large number of collectors over the years.


The same thing happened to Georges Dambier. Taking photos of celebrities like Rita Hayworth after World War II and shooting for the fashion magazine ELLE may not sound like a path to fine art, but these days Dambier’s work is highly sought-after. Horst P. Horst, often just known as Horst, is a fashion photographer whose work appeals to contemporary collectors. He was a photographer for Vogue and is recognized as “a magician with light and shadows,” explains Etheleen Staley of the Staley-Wise Gallery in New York City. “He’s considered one of the old masters,” she says.

Staley cites Patrick Demarchelier and Lillian Bassman as examples of major magazine photographers whose work is particularly collectible. Bassman is 92 and a good portion of her work was taken from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. By the 1970s, not thinking her work all that special, she got rid of many photographs. However, in the 1990s she came across a bag of her old negatives. Always interested in manipulating images, Bassman, says Staley, “went into the dark room, worked on the negatives, bleached and smudged and really transformed her existing photographs into something special.”

Photo Fine Points

To begin collecting photography, there are several key questions to ask that should help you get a sense of a particular work’s value and whether it’s worth acquiring.

Is it a vintage print? This is a term that came about in the 1970s, when collecting photographs became mainstream. A photo is considered vintage if it’s a print made by or under supervision of the photographer within about a year of the negative’s creation. If this becomes important to you, then as Staley says, you are “hardcore.”

Is this an original? Some photographers will make copies of a photo years after the fact, and so while it may not be considered vintage, it is still an original. One way to look at it—an original photograph has been printed and held by the photographer during his or her lifetime.

Is it a limited edition? It’s important to determine if there is a specific, certain and finite number of prints that a photographer agreed to make, since this clearly increases the rarity of the photograph and its worth.

Is the photo signed? That little difference, depending on the photographer and photo, of course, can make a picture’s worth go thousands of dollars up in value.

The photographer? Um, dead or alive? It’s morbid, yes, but just as with paintings, a photographer’s work is worth even more once they’re gone, since their life’s work is now finite.

Following Your Passion

While the diagnostic queries are key to making a good photo purchase, whether you like the photo could well be the most important question to ask yourself. Because while it’s certainly possible to buy photography as an investment, it’s risky if making money is all you care about. As such, why not like what you’re buying? After all, this is what makes so many photographs worth something special—that mysterious, hard-to-describe quality that attracts people to the picture in the first place.

“The great thing about photography is that there are photographs related to everything on earth that people collect,” says Pablo Solomon, a prominent artist and sculptor in Austin, Texas, who also has a passion for collecting photography. “Photographs give people a way to remember good times and document bad times. Photographs capture moments shared by an entire generation or a special moment between two lovers.” That’s certainly part of why E.J. Kritz became a collector. “I think it’s in the details for me,” says E.J. “There’s something crisp and pure and real about photography. The camera can capture things that the brush can’t, and that’s not to sleight an artist. When I’m looking at a photo, I know that what I’m looking at was really what it was like on that day at that moment for that person.”

Man and Woman #8, 1960, by Eikoh Hosoe

Ted Croner: The Outlaw, 1949-50

NOTE: for more information about collecting, watch for the forthcoming publication of  "The Photograph Collector’s Guide"; Published in association with Marquand Books.

For more information: marquand.com/store


The Photograph Collector’s Guide by Lee D. Witkin and Barbara London, published in 1979, is still an essential
reference book. Lorraine Anne Davis has spent five years reviewing and updating the contents. More than 400 artists biographies include signatur and stamping variations, negative sizes, portfolio print titles, printers, and important collections for each. Also included are essays on fakes and forgeries, portfolios, photography books, and digital photography, as well as a comprehensive glossary of digital and analog terms.


The single most helpful guide to fine art photography for dealers and collectors has been completely updated and will be
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