e allure of a photograph · !e allure of a photograph: personal and market interest 2013 kimberly...

!e Allure of a Photograph: Personal and Market Interest

2013 Kimberly ElliottThesis PaperCriticism and Curatorial PracticeOntario College of Art and Design University

By Kimberly Elliott

Image: Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs, Waterfall/Psycho

!e Allure of a Photograph: Personal and Market Interest

2013 Kimberly ElliottThesis PaperCriticism and Curatorial PracticeOntario College of Art and Design University

Special thanks for my thesis advisors, Andrea Fatona and Jennifer Rudder. Thank you to the participants of my re-

search, Barbara Astman, Stephen Bulger, Kim Knoppers and Nicholas Metivier.

Table of Contents

Introduction: 7-9

Chapter 1: History of Photography’s Position in the Art Market and discussion of Its Place in the Contemporary Market

Section 1: The history of photography as a medium in the art market: 9-11

Section 2: Vintage, modern and contemporary prints: 11-13

Chapter 2: Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin on Their Careers and Place in Contemporary Photography: 13-17

Chapter 3: Barbara Astman on Her Career, Dealers, and Positioning in the Market: 18-23

Chapter 4: Nicholas Metivier on the Contemporary Photography Mar-ket and Career of Edward Burtynsky: 24-29

Chapter 5: Kim Knoppers on the Role of Cultural Institutions and the Careers of Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs: 30-35

Conclusion: Factors that Generate Desire and Success of a Photograph: 36-37

Introduction:

My thesis aims to investigate what types of photographs are desirable to the general public and industry professionals and what factors lead to their success in the context of the art market. In my examination I highlight the career paths of Adam Boomberg + Oliver Chanarin, Barbara Astman, Edward Burtynksy and Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs. These artists are consid-ered successful based on their sales of their photographs and recognition by leading institutions. To explore this topic I use a methodological approach of qualitative research: recognising patterns and theories in research for better understanding. Data for my study was gathered through interviews, scholarly texts, lectures, biographical documentaries and personal memoirs of industry professionals including dealers, gallerists, critics, artists, collectors and buy-ers. I discuss the opinions of these industry professionals and what they deem to be the determining factors of a desirable photograph in the art mar-ket. It is important to note the role of each of these industry professionals and how they can in!uence the sale of a photograph and ultimately the photog-rapher’s success. I include information gathered "rst hand from interviews and in attending lectures by industry professionals including Stephen Bulger (Toronto) – photography gallery owner and dealer, and co-founder of CON-TACT photography festival, Nicholas Metivier (Toronto) – contemporary art gallery owner and dealer, and Kim Knoppers (Amsterdam) – curator at Foam (Fotographie Museum Amsterdam).

The Allure of a Photograph6 7

I examine two independent photographers and two photographer pairs who have gained commercial success. These include Barbara Astman (Toron-to), Edward Burtynsky (Toronto), Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin (Lon-don), and Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs (Zurich). Through my research and analysis I discuss the commonalities and differences they have in their pho-tography and what aspects of their photographic practice, such as aesthetics and production techniques, have led to their success in the photography art market. I will examine the ways photography differs from more traditionally marketed mediums in the art market such as painting or sculpture. I am most interested to determine what it is, what a viewer "nds in a photograph, that makes them want to own it. This desirability can be determined by looking at aspects such as a photograph’s concept/subject matter, intent, vintage ver-sus modern and contemporary prints, closed versus open editions, materials, provenance and an artist’s reputation versus hype.

Chapter 1:History of Photography’s Position in the Art Market and discussion of Its Place in the Contemporary Market

Section 1: The history of photography as a medium in the art market

It is important to note that photography as a medium has not always had steady footing in the art market, unlike painting or sculpture. This is be-cause photographs are easily reproducible and everyone – artist or not – is ca-pable of producing a photograph provided they have access to a camera. Pho-tographs that are considered art objects have been created with the intent of producing an aesthetic object, like the intentions an artist has when beginning a sculpture or rending a painting. Many industry professionals, such as critics (who analyze the validity of an artwork/photograph), and dealers (who con-sider the validity of an artwork and its aesthetic value, with the intent to sell to buyers and collectors), believe that a photographer must print their work in a darkroom for it to be considered an artistic object of the same calibre as a sculpture or a painting. This belief may be due to the fact that the printing process is just as much a part of the creation of the art object as is framing an image with the lens of your camera, determining lighting, angle, etc. Many contemporary photographers choose to use digital techniques in both taking a photograph and in post-production when choosing printing materials, and adjusting levels and balance. In my opinion, both printing traditionally in a dark room and digitally can be equally laborious.

Kimberly Elliott The Allure of a Photograph8 9

In Stephen Bulger’s discussion of what amounts to a good, marketable photograph, the Toronto dealer articulated his belief that a photographer must create a photographic print either by traditional or digital processes with the intent of creating an art object.1 To clarify what he believes to be a great photographic print, he used the example of photographs taken by photojournalists. He believes a photograph must be capable of communicat-ing the photographer’s intent to create an aesthetic object. It cannot simply capture a moment in time as we would in a family photo or personal me-mento. Photojournalists often seem to have the upper hand to photographers who consider themselves artists in creating a meaningful photograph, because their photographs are content heavy and valuable for the information that they contain. Their photographs have validity for the information they de-pict. Bulger often "nds himself attracted to photojournalist’s photos through press (books, magazines, newspapers) and considers being able to sell prints of these photographs in his gallery. In order to know if a journalistic photo-graph will be well received by the photography art market he requests to see the photograph as a print, large scale and on photographic paper, as opposed to what press form he "rst experienced. Most often he ends up disappointed with the outcome because the photograph “fails to transcend itself to become a photographic object”2; meaning that it does not possess the quality to be regarded as an art object. This may be due to the photographer’s lack of in-tent to create an aesthetic object; instead they are simply capturing a moment. Which is what Bulger stated an aspiring photographer should not rely on. In photographic theory, French literary theorist and philosopher, Ro-land Barthes coined the terms ‘studium’ and ‘punctum’. Margaret Iversen, a specialist in psychoanalytic art theory in relation to contemporary art and photography, describes ‘studium’ and ‘punctum’ as follows: If a viewer con-nects with a photograph via studium, their interest is merely general – ac-knowledging its cultural, linguistic or political aspects. We can appreciate the imagery of a photograph by "nding pleasure or concern in it, but this type of interest is not gripping. Punctum causes the viewer to connect with the image on a deeper level. Punctum is a lingering detail in a photograph that one can-not pinpoint; it has the ability to resonate to a viewer’s inner self in ways that they may not be able to fully understand or recognize.3 With Bulger’s note that the reason journalistic photographs often fail to become artistic objects is because they “fail to transcend” themselves, I conclude it is due to them solely achieving ‘studium’. What I take from Bulger’s description and Barthes’ terms is that a photograph that inspires ‘punctum’ has the ability to transcend

1 2 3

its viewer to the space and place in which the photographer took the pho-tograph and thus creates a deeper connection with the viewer. It allows the viewer to experience the atmosphere that created what is captured in the frame, or in the case of representing people, cause the viewer to relate to them at the point in time the image was taken. In a similar view to Barthes, Bulger expresses the opinion that one of the aspects that makes a photograph appealing to viewers, is the ability of a photograph to transcend itself - to be an object that is not restricted by the con"nes of its borders.

Section 2: Vintage, modern and contemporary prints:

The artists under discussion - Astman, Burtynsky, Broomberg + Chanarin, and Onotrao + Krebs – all sell works in the contemporary art mar-ket, although Astman and Burtynsky’s early work may also be considered by some as modern as their "rst prints date back to the 1970s-80s. If they were to make new editions of prints they created in the past, the originals would be considered vintage. My analysis of the factors that make for an appealing photograph is concerned with the contemporary period of the photography market. Although I will not be discussing what these factors may be in the vintage and modern photography art market, the difference between vintage, modern, and contemporary prints must be addressed to describe why prints created at different times during a photographer’s career are positioned dif-ferently in relation to the market. Bulger de"nes a vintage photograph to be the photographer’s "rst print created with a negative after it has been developed. Multiple prints can be made from the original negative periodically throughout a photographer’s career. The older the print is in relation to its multiples, the more monetary value it will hold. Bulger used the example of August Sander’s The Pastry Chef (1928) (Figure 1), because there are prints available of it that fall un-der all three categories – vintage, modern and contemporary. The "rst prints Sander made in 1928 are the vintage prints. Later in his career, around 1940, he made more prints from the same negative. If he were still alive today and printed another edition they could be considered modern or contemporary prints. Each time a photograph is printed after its original edition was cre-ated, the monetary value should decrease. In Sander’s case, Bulger roughly estimated the vintage prints would sell between $500,000 - $1,000,000; the second set of prints would be $80,000-$100,000; and the modern or contem-porary prints would be sold at $20,000 - $30,000. This is an example of a


very well known photograph and from an artist’s career and reputation that has had nearly a century to develop.

Figure 1: August Sander, The Pastry Chef (1928)

Although our contemporary pho-tographers are not comparable to Sand-er’s since they have not had as much time to develop their careers, the idea of a photograph decreasing in price, is ap-plicable to how contemporary photog-raphers edition their prints and the role originality plays. I will discuss these as-pects - editioning, originality/rarity and supply versus demand - in greater detail when discussing the selected photogra-pher’s careers. Having discussed the history of a photograph as an art object, and the difference between vintage, modern and contemporary prints, in the chapters that follow I will analyze photographs and how the photography art market can in!uence the appeal and desirability of a print. Again, in the context of the market, these aspects include: concept or content, intent, artist’s reputation versus hype, supply versus demand (including rarity/exclusivity, open and closed editions, and pricing), and provenance. I will examine the individual artistic practices of the photographers and duo’s mentioned prior – Barbara Astman, Edward Burtynsky, Adam Boomberg + Oliver Chanarin, and Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs to determine if these aspects of allure in a photograph-ic print can be de"ned.

Chapter 2:Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin on Their Careers and Place in Contemporary Photography


Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin are a South African duo current-ly based in London. They create art using photography and photographic practices to address issues of war, con!ict and trauma. I discuss their work because it relates to Bulger’s recently mentioned discussion differentiating be-tween journalistic photography and artistic photography. The artists’ careers provide insight into how subject matter, intent, materials and provenance can affect the perception of an artist and their work. Broomberg + Chanarin started working together in 20004 with very traditional documentary methods of taking photographs. They have always noted, despite working with similar subject matters, the difference between them and photojournalists. From the beginning, their practice was immedi-ately linked with politics. For example, while working together at Colors magazine, a magazine dedicated to comparing global cultures, they photo-graphed various ghettoized communities. They noticed that before taking over from Oliver Toscani, the previous art director at Colors, that the mag-azine lacked captions for their images and never named the subjects of the photographs. Broomberg + Chanarin provided context for their images. They brought along a "ction writer to these marginalized communities to create a narrative between the people they were photographing and their images. In a presentation at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in the fall of 2012, they stressed the point that they took a !ction writer with them, never a journalist.5 To accentuate this point they indicated to the audience that they "nd a great


dissimilarity from their work and the work of a photojournalist. This import-ant distinction seems to be made frequently by members of the photography art market, it was also noted in Bulger’s presentation. Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin’s work started to move away from traditional modes of documenting while working on the project Fig. on location in Tel Aviv in 2004. They made a trip to meet Yasser Arafat just a few weeks prior to his death. During the visit they took what they described as “an of"cial lousy portrait”.6 This image would not have resonated for them in their practice if it were not for what happened to the image after it was captured. Broomberg + Chanarin described the event as follows:

“Because the Israeli authorities knew where we were, on the way out of the airport, they x-rayed the "lm between 30 and 40 times, wanting to damage the "lm. When we got the picture back we were slightly morti"ed with the green line across the image – the x-ray.”7

This was a pivotal moment in the development of their photographic practice as it made them realize that a photograph is never frozen in the moment it is taken, processed or printed. What this ‘accident’ did to the photograph was create something that they had thought as a failure into something brilliant. The "nal image when it was printed was not only an unconventional portrait of a political leader, but was able to speak about the experience of their whole trip and the politics of the Palestinian/Israeli con!ict.

The outcome of this tampered photograph, which was initially taken at the standard of a usual journalistic photograph of a political leader, was turned into something unique.8 It was rare, and in turn, worth much more than it would have been at its point of capture without the outcome of the x-rays. In terms of marketability, this photograph would stand out due to the fact that not everyone was able to meet and take photos of Yasser Arafat at this period in time due to his house arrest by the Israeli government,9 and it was taken just weeks before his death – therefore making the photograph an artifact

because new images of this subject could not be taken again. Something unique had been done to the "lm that could not be replicated – the x-ray ex-perience by the Israeli forces. When you compare this photograph of Yasser Arafat to any other photographs taken of the political leader (most likely by a photojournalist), it stands alone. Another thing that clearly differentiates the work of Broomberg + Chanarin from that of a photojournalist in this case is that a photojournalist would have thrown out the negative as damaged "lm. Broomberg + Chanarin recognized the power in the altered image as an artis-tic object for the meaning in this ‘destroyed’ "lm. In relation to the photograph of Arafat and how the print inspired the direction of Broomberg + Chanarin’s career, I will examine the body of work entitled The Day That Nobody Died (2008) (Figure 2). In 2008 the duo organized travel to Afghanistan embedded in the British Army as journalists. Of course they faked the journalist title – this was the only way they could gain unprecedented access to the area they wanted to document. They noted that, “If we had said we were artists they would not have given us permission. It’s quite telling of how effective this embedded process is in governing how Afghanistan and Iraq have been imaged.”10 Each day they were on the project they did go through the motions of documenting what any normal journalist would document, which would then be inspected by the army to ensure they did not photograph any obvious signs of war. They described these obvious

signs of war as: dead bodies, effect of enemy "re on buildings, and injured sol-diers. Their goal, however, was not to return to London with artistic journal-istic shots of Afghanistan, or obvious documentation of the area and subjects as they had done before. Instead, their aim was to create actual art objects. The way this project was executed speaks to what Bulger described as the proper way for a photographer to create an art object as their work is very

Figure 2: Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin, The Day that Nobody Died III (2008)


see the image. Broomberg + Chanarin’s exhibition history is extensive. The Day That Nobody Died(2008) has been touring constantly since it was created. Their work is represented in major and private collections including Tate Mod-ern (London), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Victoria and Albert Muse-um (London), International Center of Photography (New York), Musée de l’Élysée (Lausanne), Spielman Institute for Photography (Tel Aviv), and Saat-chi Gallery (London). Needless to say their representation and reputation in the photography market is widespread. With each exhibition and mention by the press, their reputation increases, making the duo more desirable artists to collectors.

involved and laborious. They put extreme thought and detail into the entire process of creating and developing a print, not simply taking a photograph and calling it art. To summarize the process of creating this series, Broomberg and Chanarin left London with one essential piece of equipment – a large box of "fty meters of rolled photographic paper. Throughout their journey in Afghan-istan they kept this box in the back on an army utility vehicle called Snatch. Every time they encountered an event that would normally be photographed by a photojournalist, they would cover the windows of the truck to turn it into a makeshift darkroom, unroll a section of the photo paper to expose it to light for 20 seconds, then place it back in the box. The result of the process was a set of unconventional photographs. Each print was made up of colours, shapes and designs that the light seeping through cracks in their makeshift darkroom set on the photo paper. Each print was a document of a moment during a particular event at speci"c locations in Afghanistan. Broomberg + Chanarin noted how the experience of creating these prints made them think of the psychological space that the soldiers operate in every day. They feel that this type of photographic object has merit because although these prints do not document an experience as we are used to seeing in a photograph, they do act as evidence of the duo witnessing an event "rst hand which is the basic nature of a photograph – the capture of a moment in time in an image.

The demand for these works versus the supply is not equal as they are images that cannot be replicated. The image of Arafat is unique and limited in supply due to how it was created and in the sense photographs of him are now artifacts, and The Day That Nobody Died (2008) lacks negatives from which to print copies. They are coveted images due to the controversy they evoke and the ability to transcend their audience to a place/experience they cannot live for themselves. The originality of presentation of a subject shows us why there is demand for these images. The print of Arafat is a visible repre-sentation of the Palestinian Israeli Con!ict where the image of the Palestinian leader was directly altered as a result of the Israeli forces, and Broomberg + Chanarin openly deceived the British Army of their intentions in The Day That Nobody Died (2008). The fact that the prints form The Day That No-body Died (2008) are single editions would drive up the price if these were to go on the market. It is interesting to note that the image of Arafat cannot be found anywhere. The fact that it has been talkedabout in numerous online publications but none of them have a copy of the image drives the desire to

Chapter 3:Barbara Astman on Her Career, Dealers, and Positioningin the Market


To discuss the aspects of a photograph that are appealing from an art-ist’s perspective, I will examine the work of Barbara Astman. In an interview with the artist we discussed how her career has developed – early experi-mentation, "nding her voice as an artist, her public art projects, and how her relationships with dealers have in!uenced her success. I use the information exchanged in this interview to determine what aspects of Astman’s artwork has helped garner her international recognition as an artist, and how these aspects helped her build relationships with in!uential dealers in Toronto. Barbara Astman is a Toronto-based artist originally from Rochester, New York. Astman’s work differs from Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin’s as she has chosen to represent personal narrative through her artwork. This approach is far removed from the duo’s overriding themes of war, con!ict and trauma experienced in the lives of others. Astman originally stood out for being a female artist surrounded by male peers, and for breaking boundaries by not adhering to ‘the rules’ of what was considered to be art and what was not. Having a background in silversmithing, design and sculpture, she felt that leaving a photograph unmanipulated after its initial print would be like leaving a work un"nished. She did not "t seamlessly into a discrete group of artists – she was not a sculptor and she was not a photographer in the eyes of her peers. Some may have viewed this as a setback but she used it as an opportunity to develop a unique position in the market place. Astman’s early experimentation involved new technologies such as

Xerox and Polaroid. She produced her memorable early Xerox works (Fig-ure 3) over a series of visits back to Rochester since the technology was not available in Toronto at the time. In the 1970s these Xerox works were unique amongst the other photographic prints being displayed in Toronto. This was so because she outsourced to produce the work, and also because other artists had not begun experimenting with the technology.11 In our interview Astman stressed she always aimed to create an art object with her photography, some-thing malleable and tangible. She, like Bulger, believes in the importance of doing more with a photograph than simply capturing a !eeting image on "lm – even though that was the de"nition of photography when she began work-ing with it. Other photographers at the time contested her work claiming that it was not photography since she was not creating photographs of decisive moments. Her response was that if she was using a camera, and she was using it to express herself, how could this not be considered photography? At this time she realized the medium needed to be rede"ned. She began thinking of her creations under the terms photo-based art, or camera art.12

Figure 3: Barbara Astman, On Tour with Myra (1975-76)


When Astman was represented by Jared Sable at the Sable-Castelli Gallery previously located at 33 Hazelton Avenue (Toronto), her current dealer, Jane Corkin was shocked with how Sable positioned her work in re-lation to works done by artists he represented from other media. Sable was a dealer who worked primarily with painting and sculpture. When he took on Astman, he represented her work as "tting in amongst these mediums. By considering her work to be more than just a photograph, and instead as a work of camera art, it raised the monetary value of her work. At the time Sable was selling her Xerox pieces for $1,200. In a gallery that solely represented photographers, prints were sold for closer to $150-200. A pho-tographic print and a work of camera art were not seen as being worth the same amount of money. This was due to the artistic expression outside of the image capture and printing process involved in creating camera art. The extra manipulation of combining a print with other media set it apart because pho-tographers working in this way have more freedom to create unique works of art. Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin’s The Day That Nobody Died (2008) is unique due to the circumstances out of which it was produced and the insertion of the photographer’s lived experience into the works. Similarly Astman’s artwork is unique from the way she inserts herself into each series and the treatments of each image once it has been taken. If an artist were to replicate another artist’s work, without altering the process or style in some way, it would lack value in originality. Aside from having been a pioneer in photography by integrating new technologies and media in her work, Astman’s practice speaks to me person-ally as a viewer due to its representation of her personal narrative, looking into her subjective reality from the 1970s in Toronto to today. Documenting how narratives shift throughout the course of a life through photographic representation is something that anyone with a camera can do, and have done through family albums and social media sites. Her position and signi"cance in the Toronto art scene makes her subjective reality and choice of represen-tation attractive to viewers and collectors who are interested in the develop-ment of photography as a medium. One work by Barbara Astman I am particularly interested in is called, Untitled, I was thinking about you…(1979-80) (Figure 4). I am interested in this series because of its relation to my own life as well as her innovation in altering the printed images. This series marked the direction of her career, much like how the image of Arafat by Broomberg + Chanarin changed the direction of theirs. These images are attractive because they are works that

show the artists’ origi-nal representation and unique production of images. The type piec-es (Figure 4), Astman’s self proclaimed “"rst iconic images”, made her realize what she could do with pho-tography without her altering them in ways that felt obvious to her, like stuf"ng and sewing them. She created the series using a Polaroid camera as opposed to an image printed from a negative in a dark-room, which seemed to make perfect sense as it created an instantly manipulateable object. She originally created a print without intending it to turn into a series or

body of work. She put the Polaroid into a typewrit-

er and laboriously, due to the effort of typing on the photo, wrote a message to her friend right onto the front of the image, stuck a stamp on it, and sent it to him as you would a postcard. His reception of the object inspired her to continue to create the series. She used her friends and family in the States as points of departure for each story printed on the images, which consisted of a variety of pictures of her from below the eyes downwards in various out"ts and coloured backdrops. Thoughtful consideration was used for the composition of each image – especially the intention not to show her eyes, as it would make the project more focused on her as a female artist as opposed to the body of work she was creating.13 The whole project seemed based on instinct and immediacy. Initially

Figure 4: Barbara Astman, Untitled (I Was Thinking About You...,5 of 8) (1979-80)


viewers of this work were interested in what Astman had written; looking for secrets they could uncover in the relationships she had with each recipient of the work, and the process she used to actually produce these images. She did not actually mail these prints like she did the "rst one, but wrote each message and took each image with a speci"c person in mind as if she were going to mail them a letter. Astman’s decision to blow the work up so that the image of her was life-size attracted more attention to this series. The re-representation confused a lot of people who thought this took away from the photographic aspect of the work, since its "nal product was no lon-ger a result of a single printed image. “People had never seen that scale, they had never seen text embedded in a photograph before.”14 As with Broomberg + Chanarin, Astman has the ability to represent tired topics, in her case per-sonal narrative, in ways that people are not accustomed. The originality of the Unititled, I was thinking about you…(1979-80) series sets it apart from other work involved with the same content. This makes it more desirable due to its limited availability in the market.

Barbara Astman’s representation by institutions and dealers has had a great impact on her career. She noted in our interview that Jared Sable was re-sponsible for giving her, “the biggest break in my life.” Sable is recognized as an icon in the Canadian art world for representing some of North America’s most celebrated modern and contemporary artists.15 Astman began her rep-resentation with Sable at just 25 years old. Prior to beginning their working relationship, Astman had been recognized in a large public institution, The Art Gallery of Ontario. Already her work was creating a buzz in the arts com-munity. The opportunity to show with a respected dealer moved her career further towards the success she has achieved today. An artist’s career cannot be built without institutions showcasing their work, and tastemakers such as dealers and critics showing their support of the artist. ‘Tastemakers’ are people and institutions who have a great in!uence on the public’s reception of an artist or artwork. Their recognition, stating that they believe this artist’s work to be worthy of their acknowledgement, convinces the public that they too should respect and appreciate the artist or work. Astman noted that being taken on by Sable early on gave her credibility in the market. When Sable and Astman progressed in different directions in terms of career focus she decided to represent herself. This was the same year as her retrospective at the Art Gallery of Hamilton (1995), which she said, was a strange time to not be represented by a dealer since it is a good time for

sales. Following the retrospective, the dealer Jane Corkin called Astman ex-pressing her desire to work together. Thinking back twenty years earlier when Sable "rst started representing Astman, and Jane Corkin was in awe of the value he priced her works, it is no wonder she jumped at the opportunity to work with Astman. Corkin noted the recognition and buzz Astman’s work attracted and saw their partnership as a positive relationship for them both. Since joining the Corkin Gallery in the Distillery District Astman’s career has grown. At the Sable-Castelli Gallery she was well recognized in North America but Corkin also deals with clients and art fairs internationally. Astman feels this international exposure has helped her career by bringing her work to the attention of a larger audience and placed her work amongst big names from around the globe. Even if the majority of sales stay local, when an artist’s work is known internationally its value increases. Astman’s career is an example of how technique, concept, and rep-resentation of subjective reality (personal narrative) can positively affect a photograph’s reception by both public audiences and private collectors. Her uniqueness in the market gave her the freedom to continue to experiment. She was set apart from her peers in the Toronto art scene when her methods gained recognition from respected institutions such as the AGO and commer-cial galleries such as Sable-Castelli and Corkin. The provenance of her art-work adds value to her practice due to the backing and support she receives from the aforementioned commercial gallerists. I chose to discuss Barbara Astman’s career to highlight the process of building a reputation. Her career shows how choices in artistic practice can positively affect an artist’s success as an internationally recognized artist.

Chapter 4:Nicholas Metivier on the Contemporary Photography Market and Career of Edward Burtynsky

To discuss the aspects of a photograph that are appealing from a deal-er’s perspective, I will examine the viewpoints of Nicholas Metivier and his discussion of the photography of Ed Burtynksy. Metivier has been involved in the commercial art market for 30 years. He began working at the Mira Godard Gallery (22 Hazelton Ave, Toronto) where he worked for 22 years, and moved on to open his own self-titled gallery in 2005 (Nicholas Metivier Gallery, 451 King Street West,Toronto). Nicholas Metivier Gallery represents approximately 60% Canadian and 40% international artists who work in photography, painting, sculpture, drawing and prints. In an interview with Metivier,16 we discussed why collectors buy photographs; how trends in the photography market have shifted; how a commercial dealer can help to build the career of an artist, and the factors contributing to Edward Burtynsky’s success as a photographer. It is important to clarify in our discussion of why a collector buys a photograph is within the context of the contemporary photography market. A factor that in!uences the appeal of a print is whether it is categorized as part of the vintage, modern, or contemporary market. Even within the con-temporary photography market, concerns of collectors have shifted slightly due to progression in technology. Collectors today are still concerned with edition and size of prints as these factors affect the work’s price point, but are less concerned with the durability of the work itself. With older printing techniques and lack of regulation there was the possibility that a print would fade. With digital printing and more closely regulated darkroom procedures,


this is a lesser concern. When it comes to the work of an established photog-rapher, collectors may also be concerned with the photographer’s secondary market: meaning the market in which an artwork can be resold after its ini-tial purchase from a gallery or artist, usually through auction houses. If the artist’s work has a strong history of sales in the secondary market, it will be more attractive to collectors. These are all aspects that affect a photograph’s success in the market, but there may be other aspects of a photograph that make it desirable to a viewer, regardless if they are interested in its market value.

The contemporary photography market has seen two peak periods in its development. The "rst occurred from the mid 1990s to approximately 2007. Nicholas Metivier called this contemporary photography’s ‘honeymoon stage’. When photography entered the mainstream art market, it !ooded the market with prints. With the recession in the early 1990s collectors were at-tracted to photography given its lower price point compared to other media, such as painting. Its ability to be sold in multiple editions, and in varying sizes, meant a collector could purchase the print in the size and edition that they could afford. The photographers that !ourished during this "rst period were artists such as Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, and Jeff Wall. Dealers like the Matthew Marks, who was listed as the 6th most successful art dealer in the United States by Forbes in 2012,17 helped make select photographers rise above the !ood of others by releasing their prints in very small editions of 3 or 5.18 By keeping access to their work limited, as their reputation grew and demand for their work became higher, the value also increased due to their rarity. Also notable, unlike vintage and modern photography, the majority of prints being produced in this period had nothing to do with the history of photography – they were conceptual. At the time this was new and desirable for its difference. The second period in the contemporary photography market has been what Metivier dubbed its ‘reckoning’, which we have been witnessing in more recent years. The market is no longer !ooded with photography as it once was between 1995 and 2007. It might even be true to say it is one of the lesser-seen media in art fairs and galleries. Metivier noted in the market today collectors are more concerned with the stability of the image. What I believe he means by this, is that a photographer’s work has to be sustainable – which is addressed further in my discussion of Ed Burtynsky.

In Metivier’s gallery speci"cally, and this may be true for many com-mercial contemporary galleries, they have developed a program that invests in publications and art fairs to help promote their artists in and outside of Canada. When asked speci"cally how he treated the promotion of Burtynsky, Metivier noted he approached his work the same way he would approach promoting any of his artists work, regardless of its medium. This was the same strategy Jared Sable used for Barbara Astman. Metivier created a network of international dealers to represent Burtynsky. This international network had the ability to further develop Burtynsky’s market through commercial sales in multiple galleries. Aside from building commercial bonds, Metivier also maintains ongoing relationships with multiple museums who help to build his artists’ reputation by exhibiting their work. This is essentially the process a dealer goes through for any artist they represent. An advantage of working with a photographer that you would not have when working with an artist in another medium is that their work can be produced in multiples, so it is much easier to distribute their prints to a variety of international dealers.19

Figure 5: Edward Burtynsky, Kennecott Coper Mine, Bingham Valley, Utah (1983)

Metivier began promoting Ed Burtynsky in 1991 while working at the Mira Godard Gallery. Metivier spoke of the moment he knew he wanted to work with Burtynsky after seeing his series Breaking Ground: Mines, Railcuts and Homesteads from 1983-85 (Figure 5). He stated, “I was blown away by the work: the combination of the aesthetic and the composition of the work…I had no issue with the medium. I thought the work was just brilliant.”20 At the time the Mira Godard gallery was not representing photographers. Ed Bur-tynsky was the "rst the gallery brought on. Burtynsky came out of the lineage of landscape photographers. He recognized that traditional landscape had been done and done well, yet his work depicting industrial landscapes was something that had yet to be explored. He had a fresh way of seeing – not searching for land’s traditional beauty in nature, but looking for the aesthetic in man-made/altered terrain. He took something that we would never think

Figure 6: Edward Burtynsky, Silver Lake Operations #1, Lake Lefroy, Western Australia (2007)


to look at as art, and turned it into an aesthetic object through symmetry and scale.21 Burtynsky’s body of artwork is a good example from which to discuss the difference between analogue and digital prints. It took Burtynksy a long time to make the switch but discovered the bene"ts of digital when shooting from a plane while working on Australian Mines (2007) (Figure 6). Burtyn-sky had been amongst photographers who feel that in order to make a print worthy of being called art, it should be created using traditional processes – perhaps as a protest to the over-!ooding on photography in the market from 1995-2007. But when he discovered digital processing, he became aware of the multitude of possibilities available for making his work more unique. Me-tivier eloquently described this by saying, “In analogue processing it’s a little like an old ampli"er with the base and the treble. In digital printing it’s like a mixing board. There is so much more you can do with digital”.22

Metivier provided insight into why Burtynsky has achieved such great international recognition as a contemporary photographer, despite his work taking over a decade to be accepted for its industrial ‘anti-aesthetic’ quality. The way he distributed his work was important, especially the decision not to follow in the footsteps of photographers like Gursky, Struth, and Wall in only producing 3 large prints of each of his images. Although this approach worked for the growth of these earlier photographers careers, Burtynsky was more concerned with accessibility and sustainability than exclusivity. It worked in Burtynsky’s favour that young collectors were the ones approach-ing his works the most. His career has had impeccable timing (for being one step ahead of environmental trends) and has been consistently current with issues young professionals are thinking about in our rapidly changing con-temporary world. For example, his work documenting the new China was completed two years before the Beijing Olympics, when the majority of pho-tographers documenting new China became involved.23 Ed Burtynsky has been lucky with his choice of topics; what he has been interested in representing in his art has often become populist in the worldwide discussion of sustainability, which has been bene"cial to his career. Burtynsky commented on how his career has unfolded in the documentary about his work Manufactured Landscapes (2006). He states, “There are times when I have thought about my work and putting it in a more politicized en-vironment…but not saying what you should see may allow them (viewers) to look at something they have never looked at and to see their world a little

differently.” Burtynsky’s intention in his work is to make the world think differently about how we are treating our environment and inspire change. The fact that his documentary is now frequently watched in schools around the globe would suggest his work is making an impact on more than just the photography market and the art world.


Chapter 5:Kim Knoppers on the Role of Cultural Institutions and the Careers of Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs

As discussed, not all photographers’ success is based on their recog-nition for high sales prices in the market. To balance the observations made on photographic work involved in the contemporary photography market by Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin, Barbara Astman, and Ed Burtyn-sky, I will review the careers of the Swiss art duo Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs (TONK) to see how photographers achieve initial recognition in the art world. They are in the early stages of their careers compared to the other artists discussed. Their earliest exhibition dates back to 2005, although they started working together in 2003.24 The careers of the compared artist started in the following years: Astman in 1975, Burtynsky in 1982, and Broomberg + Chanarin in 2001. Although TONK is present in the market through their commercial representation by the Peter Lav Gallery in Copenhagen as well as other commercial galleries, their work is examined to discern what motivates artists outside of their artwork’s monetary potential, and how tastemakers outside of the market in!uence an artist’s reputation. To gain an alternative perspective, in the discussion of TONK, the tastemakers discussed are muse-ums, galleries, curators and critics – as opposed to dealers. The duo has been recognized as “one of the most promising teams in contemporary photography”.25 Their work involves sculpture and installa-tion, much like the pioneering work of Barbara Astman discussed in Chapter 3. As described in their press release by the Fotographie Museum (Photogra-phy Museum: Foam – Amsterdam), their photographs are commentaries on

the history of photography, the nature of photos, how cameras operate, and the role of the photographer. All of the artists chosen for discussion have en-gaged with the history of photography in either representing or refusing it in their work. Onorato and Krebs have made a point to take the complexity and serious aspects of the history of photography and represent it in a humorous way to speak to their contemporary audience. When discussing their work with American Photo,26 Krebs stated that the comical approach they use to represent the history and operations of photography is a direct reaction to the way they were taught about those topics. Krebs stated in the interview that one of their professors had “a very German 1970s way of thinking about pictures” which paints an unambiguous image of the rigid lesson plans many photography students endure. The selected artists’ method of engaging with photography’s history differs in each body of work. Edward Burtynsky is acutely aware of the his-tory of landscape photography, and uses his knowledge to represent a type of landscape that had not previously been seen as art in an aesthetic image. Barbara Astman chooses to disregard what methods have been used in pho-tography’s past and instead focuses on the possibilities of its future with inte-gration of new technologies. Like Burtynksy, Broomberg + Chanarin choose to represent topics that have been overly represented in photojournalism in innovative forms of representation to connect to their audience to the sub-ject matter. TONK has chosen to make a comment on every photographer’s awareness of the media’s history, and possible indebted mentality to the his-tory of the practice. Their artwork makes their viewers aware of the rela-tionship between a photographer and photography’s history in the subjects represented in their images. TONK’s conspicuous commentary the two have become known for can be seen in the series Camera Collection and As Long As It Photographs It Must Be A Camera (Figure 7). The work references two authors that are heav-ily relied on in the discourse of the history of photography – Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag. Books by these authors have been used to form the body of the "rst self-made camera presented in the series. Perhaps this obvious allusion’s purpose is to make those involved and interested in photography recognize that although these theories are valuable to acknowledge, our clas-sic beliefs of photography have evolved; with technological advancements its methods and theory require a new contemporary exploration.


During an informational exchange with curator Kim Knoppers, she discussed her opinions of Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs and how their work "ts in to the future of photography. Knoppers played a role in The Nether-lands’ "rst solo exhibition of work by Onorato + Krebs at Foam. Having spe-cialized in contemporary art with an emphasis on photography while study-ing Art History at the University of Amsterdam, Knoppers is well acquainted with the messages Onorato + Krebs present in their work. Speci"cally her interests lie in photography that involves documentary strategies and concep-tual photo-based art, both in archival and contemporary work. Her opinions of the duo relate best to the allure a photograph possesses for the general public, since she has no ties to the market of photography.

Figure 7: Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs, Publication cover of As Long As It Pho-tographs (2011) containing images from Camera Collection.

She attributes people’s attraction to photography to the fact that our contemporary culture is formed in a world where we are constantly sur-rounded by images. In her practice she is interested in photographers who address the history of the medium and experiment with how images work. She points out that most artists that do address both aspects do not solely work with the medium of photography, but combine it with other media such as sculpture or performance. Knoppers believes that Onorato + Krebs have developed a unique way to incorporate photography with other media, much like Broomberg + Chanarin and Astman. Adam Broomerg + Oliver Chanarin and TONK have both produced book works – not simply catalogues of their work in a book form, but the books themselves may be received as a work of art. TONK produced As Long as It Photographs (2011), which houses images of their camera inventions; and Broomberg + Chanarin created War Primer 2 (2011) (Figure 8) where they printed on/altered the book War Primer (1955) by Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht.27 Similarly, both are comments on the history of photography and its relevance to the art form today. The book works are important be-cause they provide an alternate venue to attract an audience to the artist’s

Figure 8: Page from Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin's War Primer (2011)


work. Stephen Bulger recommends that collectors allocate 10% of their bud-get to a photographer’s books, simply because they are valuable to display collections of works and act as aesthetic objects themselves.28 The examples mentioned by TONK and Broomberg + Chanarin, however, are not these types of books. They may serve as a comment on how photography is collect-ed – similar to valuable limited edition books.29 The combination of media was intentional and adds further meaning to the artwork in their pairing. Onorato and Krebs have managed to stand out in a "eld where ev-erything that is possible with photography seems to have already been done. They manage this by "nding ways to continuously reinvent their techniques of production and methods to deliver their work. Knoppers described their work as fascinating and intelligent because their exploration of the medium stands out, giving them an original voice that sets them apart from photogra-phers working with similar subject matter.30 TONK’s obvious commentary on the history of photography has given their photographs the ability to speak beyond themselves as objects. Again, we see that when a photograph has the ability to transcend itself, it is more valuable than one that solely acts as a representation of a single object or moment in time. In Light of Other Days (Figure 9) the objects that are photographed and the method of capturing the images is unclear to the viewer. Similar to Broomberg + Chanarin’s The Day That Nobody Died (2008), the images are produced by exposing photo paper in front of a camera. This causes the light that usually falls on the negative to fall on the photo-paper instead, creat-ing an instant image reminiscent of a Polaroid. This moment of dissonance caused by the unknown sparks a desire in the viewer for more information in order to understand the reality represented in their photographs. The fact that Onorato + Krebs have the ability to create this desire in their viewers to learn more about photographic practices and history has lead to their recog-nition thus far, will help to continue to the growth of their reputation, and ultimately lead to their peak success. To give an overview of their success thus far: since coming together after graduating from Zurich University of the Arts in 2003 and today (2013), Onorato + Krebs works have become part of 7 collections in Switzerland, Luxemburg and France; been a part of over 40 group shows and had 13 solo exhibits in Europe and the United States; and have been awarded 11 grants and awards including the Festival Grand Prix at the International Festival of Photography in France (2005). It was at Paris Photo 2011 where Onorato and Krebs solidi"ed the attention of the visiting representatives of Foam who had originally become interested via blog posts

about the duo.31 Most recently, the duo was awarded Foam’s Paul Huf Award on March 12th, 2013. The annual prize is given to a ‘photography talent’ selected by an international jury who is under 35 years old. Taiyo Onorato + Nico Krebs were chosen from 84 nominees and have been awarded #20,000 and a project with Foam.32 The museum represents both up and coming art-ists and big names in photography such as Richard Avedon and Anton Cor-bijn. This positioning is similar to what Barbara Astman experienced when introduced to the international art market through art fairs via Jane Corkin. Equality in representation for photographers developing their careers helps them gain the recognition necessary to create a sustainable career as photog-raphers.

Figure 9: Taiyo Onora-to + Nico Krebs, image from Light of Other Days


has lead to the success of the photographers discussed, is that they did not design their practice to gain the popular vote. They have stayed true to their subjective artistic interpretations and let the general public and industry warm to their ideas and ways of representing them. What it takes to build this reputation is the support of a few key in!uential members of the industry or cultural institutions to start building the stature of their work. With this type of support, stability in an artist’s career can be attained. As discussed with Barbara Astman, Ed Burtynsky and Taioyo Onorato + Nico Krebs, with this backing an artist has a much greater potential to be taken up by collectors and the public alike. Throughout my research, it was repeatedly noted, by Stephen Bulger, Adam Broomberg + Oliver Chanarin, and Nicholas Metivier, that at our pres-ent point in the contemporary photography market concept based photogra-phy is not necessarily an aspect that determines a photograph’s desirability – although true for many of the photographers in the so-called ‘honeymoon stage’ from 1995 to 2007. Originality in a photograph’s subject representa-tion is held at a higher caliber than a photograph that represents a complex concept. Since all subject matters capable of being captured by a camera have been documented throughout the history of photography, the artists discussed recognized the value in their subjective representations. They have been rec-ognized and praised for their ability to capture photographic evidence of rare experiences, altering appropriated styles from photography’s past, experi-menting with different mediums in conjunction with photography, or chang-ing the viewer’s perception of aesthetics. They have all caused their audiences to see their contemporary environment in new ways. Stephen Bulger stated that in order to create a successful photograph that is regarded as art, a photographer must begin with the intent to cre-ate an aesthetic object. None of the discussed artists have relied on captur-ing !eeting moment in their photographs. They have dedicated thought and processes involved in each of the works discussed. Due to their extensive involvement with their work, their photographs and artwork created have been given depth. This is the key factor that I have found to be de"nitive of an attractive photograph to both audience and industry. Their work does not exist within the con"nes of its borders, but has the ability to speak to topics outside of themselves. By looking at their photographic work, the viewer is offered a window into the world of discussions and narrative it represents. Their photographs provide a starting point, not a "nal destination.

Conclusion:Factors that Generate Desire and Success of a Photograph

In reviewing the opinions of commercial gallerists, curators and the individual careers of artists, it is possible to pinpoint what qualities make a photograph desirable in the market place, and the common characteristics they believe a photograph must possess to be appealing to both the general public and industry professionals. The factors that make a photograph desir-able in the context of the market are easy to de"ne and have been discussed clearly by Stephen Bulger and Nicholas Metivier. These include whether the photograph is a vintage, modern or contemporary print, if the photographic print’s edition is open or closed, what materials were used in the creation of the artwork, and its provenance. Throughout the studies of selected photog-raphers these factors have been proven to be relevant contributing character-istics involved in a photographic work’s success in the market. The qualities that affect a photograph’s desirability to its general audience are less easily de"ned as they are under the categories of concept and subject matter, artist’s intent, and reputation. The three factors that were constant in my interviews and highlighted throughout my research are: stability, originality and a pho-tograph’s ability to transcend itself. Much of a photograph’s allure depends on a photographer’s reputa-tion and popularity, which in!uences their careers stability. If the media and tastemakers draw attention to a photograph or photographer, the general public and collectors are more likely to "nd their work appealing. What is interesting is that the photographers I discuss here were not all immediately well received. It takes time to build a reputation and even more time to con-vince the industry that a photographer’s work is noteworthy. What I believe


Kimberly Elliott The Allure of a Photograph

Endnotes

1 Bulger, Stephen. “Photography Collecting 101.” The Artist Project: Art Chats. Exhibition Place, Toronto. 23 Feb. 2013. Speech.


3 Iversen, Margaret. “What Is a Photograph?” Art History 17.3 (1994): 455. Print.

4 “Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin Biography.” Goodman Gallery. N.p., 14 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.

5 Broomberg, Adam, and Oliver Chanarin. “Discussion of Recent Work.” Meet the Artist: Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. 2 Nov. 2012. Lecture.



8 Photographs of political leaders are always extremely numerous, not unique, and essentially have no marketable value.

9 Macdonald, Niel, and Adrienne Arsenault. “CBC News Indepth: Yasser Arafat.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.


11 Wylie, Liz. “Barbara Astman: Personal / Persona — A 20-Year Survey.” Barbara Astman: Personal/persona â A 20-Year Survey. The CCCA Canadian Art Database, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.

12 Astman, Barbara. “Interview with Barbara Astman.” Personal interview. 7 Feb. 2013.



15 Crawley, Phillip. “Jared Sable.” Globe Life: Deaths. Globe and Mail, 3 Oct. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.

16 Metivier, Nicholas. “Interview with Nicolas Metivier.” Personal interview. 24 Nov. 2012.

17 Noer, Michael. “America’s Most Powerful Art Dealers.” Forbes. Forbes Maga-zine, 03 May 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.



20 Metivier, Nicholas. “Interview with Nicolas Metivier.” Personal interview. 24 Nov. 2012.21 Metivier, Nicholas. “Interview with Nicolas Metivier.” Personal interview. 24 Nov. 2012.



24 “Foam Press | Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs - Light of Other Days.” Foam Press | Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs - Light of Other Days. Foam, 3 May 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

25 “Foam Press | Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs - Light of Other Days.” Foam Press | Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs - Light of Other Days. Foam, 3 May 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

26 Abbe, Dan. “American Photo Magazine.” American Photo Main. N.p., 13 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.




30 “Interview with Kim Knoppers at Foam.” E-mail interview. 20 Dec. 2012.

31 “Interview with Kim Knoppers at Foam.” E-mail interview. 20 Dec. 2012.

32 “Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs Win Foam Paul Huf Award 2013.” Foam Press. Foam, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.

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