The Year in Review - Art in 2015

For many photographers, the art world remains shrouded in mystery. But with photo-media artworks selling for more and more each year, this photographic genre becomes increasingly intriguing. Amanda Copp investigates what shaped the world of photographic art in 2015.

A dark and tangled forest with endless twists and turns, is what greets many photographers who attempt to enter the art world. To many professional photographers, the world of art is one of mystery and intrigue, with riddles that confuse and befuddle the inexperienced. Trying to break into this maze can be frustratingly difficult, but the prize of seeing your work hung on gallery walls to be admired and bought by many, remains an inescapable desire for photographers. Economic and technological developments are sending the winds of change through this vast forest which affect galleries, artists and buyers alike.

Miles from nowhere, 2008. © Polixeni Papapetrou.
Miles from nowhere, 2008. © Polixeni Papapetrou.

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Each year sees prices climb higher and higher for photographic art. The top twenty most expensive photographs ever sold were all sold in the last decade, topping at least a million dollars each. But while the top of the art market is soaring, smaller galleries and artists are struggling. Respected Australian photographic artist, Polixeni Papapetrou says galleries all over the world have been closing their doors. “Artists who have galleries, as well as those who are seeking gallery representation, are finding it harder to enter the scene and maintain representation.” She speaks from personal experience in light of her Melbourne and New York galleries both closing their doors in favour of an online existence. “You tend to lose your immediate presence in those cities and curators don’t see your work in the flesh,” she says. As a result, artists themselves must pick up the work their galleries previously took care of.

At Black Eye Gallery, Tom Evangelidis is co-director of Sydney’s own photographic gallery space. They opened two and a half years ago when many other galleries were closing. He says the key to a successful gallery is staying flexible and catering to your audience. “Galleries now have to work differently to the way they have in the past,” he says. Simple things that many galleries don’t do, like having retail opening hours and street frontage, contribute to the ongoing success of Black Eye. But with such uncertain revenue streams, most galleries today don't want to take on new photographers. The risk is simply too high. Polixeni Papapetrou says that artists now have to find creative ways to represent themselves.

Crazy Legs Saloon, Watertown, New York, 2012. © Alec Soth.
Crazy Legs Saloon, Watertown, New York, 2012. © Alec Soth.

Communication revolution

Enter the digital age. The internet is the perfect place for self-promotion, and photographers have flocked to it. Alasdair Foster, who was the director of the Australian Centre for Photography from 1998–2007, is an art curator and writer running his own consultancy, Cultural Development Consulting. He says that mass mediation of work through private galleries has resulted in artists becoming highly reliant upon the middleman. “Uncannily, it was always the middleman who made all the money. They were always the rich people, and not much at all trickled down to the artists,” Foster says. “I think more and more people will sell directly to the market, and social media has played a huge part in that shift.”

Mark Kimber is an established photographic artist and the University of South Australia’s Studio Head of Photography and New Media. He says having a digital presence can do great things for artists. “It's democratised the range of artists and photographers out there.” Everyone is on the same level on the internet, with equal opportunity to gain attention and success. Yet while the internet has been trumpeted as the bringer of democracy and effective communication through the masses, the effectiveness of being online has dwindled. “In the early days, it was like there were one or two people standing in a public square talking about your work and people couldn’t help but notice you,” Kimber says. “Now, that public square is filled with millions of people all chattering at once and you just can’t be heard.”

Sales not included

Many artists and galleries argue that utilising the internet isn’t guaranteed to increase art sales. Christopher Mahoney is head of the photography department at renowned art auction house, Sotheby’s, in New York. He says it’s hard to tell how effective social media is for art sales. “I know social media has been around for a while, but it’s almost too soon to gauge its effectiveness. It’s very experimental. In terms of seeing a dollar value for that material, it's impossible to say. It’s very effective to build that anticipation for a sale and get information out there, letting people know what we’re doing, or giving a sneak peek of what’s coming up,” he says.

Successful American artist Alec Soth has a similar opinion. “Social media has broadened my audience for sure. And it helps to sell books as well. I don’t think it helps my art market though. More likely it hurts my art market, because the art market is largely built on exclusivity.” Regardless of this, Mark Kimber says the internet can be extremely effective. “There are examples of galleries selling every photo in the show, before it even goes up on the walls!”

Charles, Vasa, Minnesota, 2002, from the series, Sleeping by the Mississippi. © Alec Soth.
Charles, Vasa, Minnesota, 2002, from the series, Sleeping by the Mississippi. © Alec Soth.

Live acts

For artists, trying to navigate this tangled landscape is tough, and with its questionable effectiveness, the internet may not be a saviour for struggling artists. But new opportunities are rising as some fade away. The world’s obsession with digital technology has made live events a rare and precious experience. Alec Soth says the solution for a flooded digital landscape is to follow in the footsteps of the music industry. “Cheap or free digital music has made the concert more important for musicians as well as a great way of financing their careers. There is a hunger for live, unique experiences because of the way we’re so immersed in the digital realm.” He thinks pop up shows and live art events are the way of the future in art sales, but these sorts of events are only possible by utilising new technology and social media. “It’s possible to work for two weeks and print a show in a night,” Soth says. “The technology allows it. Then you can get people there because of social media.”

Bookworms

Keeping in trend with the push against digital, Soth says there's been a huge movement for publishing art books over the last few years. "It runs counter to the digital times. People are publishing everything from books to zines, and participating in art book fairs.” But all good things must come to an end and Soth says he sees the energy in that arena petering out. “There’s just too much production, but some of that is fading out in favour of more unique, one-of-a-kind experiences that don’t last in the way that books do.” Alasdair Foster says that other savvy artists are also realising that they can simply sell their expertise through online teaching, personal classes or just sharing their experiences. He says that this opens up the market as “you can have a fan base through Facebook who are not in the market for spending six grand on picture, but who support you in other ways.”

Helensburgh,
Australien 2015.
103x123x4cm.
Courtesy of Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney.
© Elger Esser.
Helensburgh, Australien 2015. 103x123x4cm. Courtesy of Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney. © Elger Esser.

Something old, something new

Similarly, in contrast to a wealth of new technologies, artists are reverting back to old photographic techniques. The senior curator at the Monash Gallery of Art, Stephen Zagala, has noted an increasing interest in pre-digital technologies of photography including analogue, chemical processes, photogravures, tintypes or producing cameraless, and working with prints. But while old techniques are being used, artists are investigating them in a different way, says established, Australian photo-media artist, Cathy Laudenbach. “People are going backwards, but also going forwards,” she says.

Evangelidis says part of the reason for this jump back in time may be because no one gets amazed by technology in photos anymore. “There’s nothing audiences haven’t seen. There’s not a lot you can do in Photoshop that is going to blow people away anymore,” he says. Yet Elger Esser, a well-known German artist argues that a new kind of inventory is taking place, with what he sees as the inevitable demise of analogue photography, soon reaching the ripe old age of 200 years.

Cross breeding

As the years pass, photography becomes increasingly integrated within the art world. For a long time, there was a certain separation between photography and traditional art forms like painting and sculpture, but today the historical barriers are being broken down. There is now a huge trend that blends art forms and styles. “When you go to a gallery today, photos are just intermingled with installations or painting,” Laudenbach says. “Even though we still have some designated photography galleries, it’s much more interconnected.” This gradual breakdown of art styles in galleries has even carried over to art schools. And Laudenbach says that some art schools overseas don’t even have a photography or a printmaking department anymore.

Untitled from the series, Landscapes of Desire: Hallstatt See Hallstatt, 2015. © Cathy Laudenbach.
Untitled from the series, Landscapes of Desire: Hallstatt See Hallstatt, 2015. © Cathy Laudenbach.

There is a great diversity in the way that people approach artwork these days. “People see themselves as artists that use whatever medium they need to get their point across,” Kimber says. “There are a lot of people combining music with photography, cinema with installation, printmaking and painting. There’s a wonderful hybrid art developing within the art world that I think is really exciting. Instead of everything being closed off into tight little compartments, it’s broadening out into something very exciting.”

Despite rising value placed on photographs, Elger Esser believes that photographic art is still under-priced compared to other art forms. But the industry is definitely heading in the right direction, as people continue to make big money from photo-media art. On an international scale this may be the case, but Australia has been hit hard as the mining boom comes to an end and China’s stock market falters. Some think we are heading for a recession which can only mean trouble for the art market.

Art is always risky business when times get tough as people recoil from anything perceived as a luxury. But according to Mahoney, even at the worst of times, the photography market can still pull good sales. America, went through their own recession and maintained a strong art market. “Even during those dark years, we set a couple of price records for photographers. Those years were not easy years to put sales together. But it showed me the flexibility and the resilience of the photography market.” But while the market is shifting in strange and unpredictable ways, there are a wealth of opportunities awaiting those ready to leap into the fray.

Contacts

Elger Esser
Tom Evangelidis
Alasdair Foster
Mark Kimber
Cathy Laudenbach
Christopher Mahoney
Polixeni Papapetrou
Alec Soth
Stephen Zagala