Over the last twelve to eighteen months I have made a concerted effort when speaking with other photographers to ask them the seemingly obvious question: “Do you collect other photographer’s work?”
The responses have been very interesting to say the least, with the vast majority saying, “Yes. I have quite a lot of photography books.” To this end, I don’t think I know a photographer worth his or her salt who does not own even a modest collection of books on photography.
At this point I have to clarify myself by adding: “What I mean is, do you collect or own any Fine Art Prints from other photographers?”
I am often greeted with either a blank stare or a confused look, sometimes with a “No” and only occasionally with a “Yes”.
When I ask them why they do not own any other photographer’s work, on the whole they can’t give me a reasonable response. Many of them clumsily stumble over their words before regrettably admitting they have no good reason for not owning any other photographer’s work. This response has been almost universal.
As a result, it seems to me there is somewhat of a strange “disconnect” between photographers who produce fine art prints and those who actually collect or own any outside of their own work. I want to use an analogy to try and put this into perspective.
Musicians are also by definition artists. And yet, all musicians collect the music of other musicians without exception. They collect what they appreciate and enjoy. They also want to see what their peers are producing.
Why should it be any different for photographers?
I would certainly be keen to hear from other photographers who have had a different experience. It seems reasonable to me that if you produce art, you should share in the ownership of the art of others. It is one thing to peruse it in a book, quite another to live with it in your home. I would argue it is when we live with a piece of art that we truly learn to, not only appreciate it, but also potentially fully understand it. Viewing a print in a gallery is also a very different experience to passing that print in your home a dozen or more times a day.
I do not believe for a second that any of the photographers I have spoken with appreciate only their own art. If this was the case they would not own or purchase so many photography books or they would not enjoy viewing the work of other photographers at galleries, or online.
No; there is something else at work here that is responsible for the “disconnect”. Before I try and dissect what is going on I just want to make a quick comment on photography books at this point. I love and own many books by many different photographers. I regularly enjoy perusing them and enjoy the photographs immensely. However, they are all, without exception poor facsimiles of the original fine art prints. Offset printing cannot yet match the colors, tonalities and subtleties of an original fine art print. Offset printing is getting better all the time, but realistically it still has a long way to go before it can encapsulate the fine art print.
You are probably thinking to yourself at this point, Do I own any fine art prints from other photographers?
The answer is yes; I do, though my collection still excludes many photographers whose work I greatly admire. However, I am proud to count several well known photographers amongst my art collection and quite a few others whose names are far less well known. These are actual hand signed (sometimes limited edition) fine art photographic prints. My collection also includes fine art prints from photographers I have swapped work with over the years, either through mutual respect and admiration for our work, or because we have visited the same locations and wanted to see each other’s interpretations in a finished print. Indeed, this is one of the great pleasures of making prints for me.
There is no better yardstick to gauge the quality and standard of your own prints than to be able to compare your work with that of other photographers whose work you respect and admire.
So I encourage you – if you like art, and in particular photographic art, then do yourself and the art world a favor – buy a fine art print from a photographer whose work you admire and respect. It doesn’t have to be one of mine and this piece is not in any way intended to promote my own fine art prints. Just find a piece of photographic art you like and start your own collection. Your life will be far richer for the experience.
Addendum:
I have subsequently shown this piece to a good photographer friend of mine whose opinion in these matters I highly value. He has made the following comments which I feel are worthy of inclusion as both a potential explanation and as one experienced individual’s conclusions.
I, too, am “guilty” of not collecting the prints of other photographers. In fact, the ONLY print I have EVER purchased made by another photographer was the one by Brooks Jensen, and I have never hung it on a wall. The truth is I believe it is beautiful art, but the real reason I bought it was that it was inexpensive. And yet, around the same time, I purchased a print (reproduction) of one of Vettriano’s paintings for around $250, which was proudly hung on the wall in a central position where nobody entering my lounge could miss it. I once said to you that I wished I could take photographs the way he paints. It is the people in his paintings and their actions that holds one’s eye.
So, your article has forced me to ask myself the same question you have raised. I think it has something to do with the fact that there can be only one painting, but there can be many photographic prints. And yet, that also isn’t quite right, because Vettriamo’s painting in my lounge is just a print, the original having been sold at auction for around $500,0000! You will recall that I also have around 8 of my own photographs on the walls, framed and proudly presented. I know this is also true of you.
I think there are a couple of things happening here:
Firstly, I doubt there are many painters who collect the paintings of other painters, so I don’t believe photographers are unique in this regard. Frankly, I believe all artists, whether they be photographers, painters, or sculptors want to surround themselves with their own work, because it’s their “stuff” and that’s what they want to display to others.
I find your analogy of musicians may not be an accurate one. Of course, musicians collect the works of others – this is so they can exercise their art by playing the music of others, either to go on exercising their playing skills on their various instruments or simply to listen to music they like and learn from it. This is an auditory thing, involving literally thousands of tunes, whilst our problem is optical, and there is only so much wall space available..At the same time, I bet that if you asked a musician to play you a tune on, say, his piano, he would either play one that he had composed himself (presuming he was a composer and not just a player, a distinction you may want too make in your article). This raises an interesting question in itself – is a musician an artist who can play well on,say, a piano, or does he have to be a composer? In my humble opinion both are artists, but the composer is the supremo/maestro.
So, when you get behind the lens you are definitely playing at being the maestro – or are you? Because the composition is already there before you and when does the transition take place from your just being a good player to being an actual composer?
The REAL question that has haunted me since I began serious photography in 1984 is why, especially in Australia, photography prints do not seem to be considered as high-end art? I think it has a lot to do with how simply I can go out and buy an excellent print of a $500,000 painting very well framed for only $250. Given this situation, why should anybody buy a photograph whose value is unknown at, say $600 or a more reasonable $6000, even if they are originals?
In my modest opinion, the real market is the general public (1% are photographers, 99% want something nice to hang on the wall). I just haven’t been able to find a way to convince Australians to consider photographic images as serious, high-end art that they should buy to decorate their walls….
What do you think?
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I also gave away more than a dozen fine art prints over the course of the year that have gone around the world and that have found their way onto the walls of homes and offices. The chance to give something back in 2015 has been something I have very much enjoyed and the feedback I have received from those who have won a print throughout the year has been incredibly fulfilling. I would very much like to continue this series going forward, but due to a very heavy travel schedule next year I will just not have time to regularly make and send out the prints. I will return to this print giveaway at a future date however.
After Yellowstone Daniel Bergmann and I ran our annual Winter Iceland workshop (
After Iceland I travelled to Svalbard where I participated in a small group snow mobile expedition for Polar bears and other wildlife in the winter landscape of Svalbard. This exploratory expedition resulted in some remarkable photographs and is something I hope to repeat early in 2017. I will also have a new offering in 2017 to photograph from small ship in the middle of winter – Details to come soon.
After Svalbard I returned to Iceland and continued work on my Arctic Fox Project. I am getting close to completing the project now and hope to finish the project in 2016.
After Iceland, I ran my annual two week New Zealand South Island workshop which saw us circumnavigate the South Island via private 4-wheel drives and that included significant helicopter time over the spectacular southern Alps as well as the Teanu region. We visited Milford Sound, Queenstown, Fox Glacier, Mount Cook and a great many other off the beaten track locations during the workshop. We also visited the now very popular Moraki boulders area where I was able to make this image that for me really captures the essence of these amazing rocks. (
After a short break, I then travelled back to Svalbard for my Wild Polar Bears expedition (
After the Falklands I travelled to Punta Arenas in Chile where I boarded a Soviet Ilyushin jet (The Russian equivalent of an American Hercules) and flew down to Union Glacier in Antarctica where we landed on a naturally occurring blue ice runway just 500 nautical miles from the South Pole. The purpose of this scouting trip was in preparation for the Emperor Penguin expedition next year. This was a truly remarkable experience and I will have a lot more to say about this experience in future posts.
I then lead one final expedition to the Antarctic peninsula to finish up the 2015 year before arriving home two days before Christmas. All up I led a total of ten separate international workshops and expeditions in 2015 spread across the globe (not including some local private workshops to the Great Ocean Road as well as one-on-one Print workshops). A brief count tallies up more than thirty five international plane rides and well over thirty thousand exposures (wish they were all keepers!) and a lot more than thirty hours of lost sleep. It was a fantastic year and I just want to thank all of you who I was fortunate to meet, travel and photograph with throughout the year. It was real privilege to share in such remarkable destinations with so many fantastic photographers – thank you.
After the Weddell Sea I will travel directly to Iceland where I will spend ten days in the remote north working on my project on the Arctic Fox. This will be my third year working on this project and I hope to gather the final images from this trip and complete the project in 2016. A portfolio of prints celebrating this remarkable animal will be available early in the new year, followed up by a book in the later part of 2016.
After I finish in the north of Iceland I will lead my annual 
After Iceland I will travel to Lofoten in Norway where I will lead a brand new workshop for winter landscapes in this spectacular part of Norway. The Lofoten Islands have long been on my wish list to visit and photograph and I am very excited to be travelling to these spectacular islands in winter with a small group of photographers.
After Lofoten I am heading straight to Namibia in Africa for a private small group overland safari. We are planning to visit a number of different areas for landscape photography including the ghost town of Kolmonskop as well as the incredible sand dunes of Sossusvlei and the salt pan of Dead Vlei. This safari has long been sold out, but due to a recent cancellation there is now one single place available. Please drop me an 
In May I am going to make the short hop across to the South Island of New Zealand to co-lead a 
In November 2016 I will travel deep into the interior of Antarctica where I will lead a small group on a dedicated expedition for photography of Emperor Penguins (Sold Out). This expedition has been several years in the planning and I am extremely excited to be taking a small group of passionate and dedicated photographers on this trip. The opportunities for photography in this incredibly remote part of Antarctica are nothing short of breath taking. 
In late November I will travel to the Falkland Islands (our departure point) for a photographic expedition to South Georgia Island and Antarctica. Unlike the expedition I led in 2015; which visited only South Georgia, this expedition will also take us down to Antarctica. Its going to be a very busy and hectic year and I am keen to make a start in Antarctica in the Weddell Sea in just a few weeks time.
Don’t forget! You can 
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 