Not only the economic value, but also the human value, of a photograph, is not a fixed, absolute thing. A family snapshot may have great human value to one generation and very little to the next. If it has a certain quirky character, possibly not noticed within the family, one of whose members threw it out in the trash, it may come to life with a surprisingly high value if it is “discovered” and finds its way to a dealer specializing in this sort of “vernacular” material.
Someone who purchases a reproduction postcard of a photograph in a museum gift shop for a few dollars, may actually have a deeper relationship to a very profound aspect of the photograph, than some other person who purchases a vintage print of a similar photograph for $50,000.
The “eye” of the beholder is informed by the ability of the beholder to be sensitive to aesthetic aspects of the image. This is by no means an easy issue—it is at the very essence of what art is. People involved with collecting should constantly strive to deal ever more deeply with the aesthetics of the works. I don’t find many collectors or dealers who give this enough attention. The problem with received opinion in the form of external guides is that it tends to just rationalize itself, until the bottom falls out.
For example, there are certain photographs that exist in great numbers of “later” prints. The fact that they sell for certain known and rising amounts makes some collectors aware of them and of their “value” and so people keep buying them. One day the actual character of the work is scrutinized anew, and it turns out to be much more shallow than the prices merit. The emperor is suddenly naked. This is not just a question of the date of the print, but of the personal and cultural value of the picture itself.
If “Around the Clock” didn’t exist, would life on earth be diminished?
The terminology of “connoisseurship” is far easier to learn than actual connoisseurship itself. The whole range of terms such as “clipped corners,” “mild foxing,” “mold spiders,” “8 out of 10” are often used to hide the fact that the dealer or “client” has little connection (other than financial) with the work itself.
Two people looking at the “same” photograph will be “seeing” different things. This not only involves subtle things which I am calling “aesthetic” – it also involves just paying attention to details that are “in” the photograph, but which are generally overlooked.
When I purchase or accept something on consignment, I have a preliminary idea of what it “is.” But later, when I have to put this into writing for the catalog, I find many questions and details that I now need to deal with. I spend a lot of time looking at, thinking about these photographs, doing research. I have some very knowledgeable and photographically sensitive people who are willing to help me. Often the object becomes much more (or less) interesting after this process. Sometimes photographs that are already published and part of the historical record show a new side when they are closely questioned.
There are many things behind the eyes, in the mind, the memory, the storehouse of knowledge. But a collection externalizes and transforms the mind of the collector. The collector is in an ever-changing living relationship with the collection. The collection becomes part of the collector’s eye, luring that eye into new acquisitions. It then puts that acquisition into a new and often very original context.
A certain photograph, scorned and dismissed by others, becomes a living treasure in the context of a certain collection. It not only becomes radiant in that collection, it also makes all the other objects in the collection radiate with more luster.
Can one compare the pleasure a certain “humble” collector experiences, when the new object is placed in the collection, with that of the major player who returns from an auction with a new and supremely expensive trophy? Actually, in the best cases, the pleasures are very similar. Every collector collects at the economic level that belongs to his/her situation—usually beyond all bounds of discretion for that situation.
There are sincere and brilliant collectors at every level. When I go to a great museum exhibition, and have a chance to see some breathtaking rare masterpieces, I of course get a great thrill. And so I do when I get a chance to share in some of the great collections of friends and acquaintances who are willing to let me see their collections. But it is also a thrill to look through some collections of a more “modest” nature, and to start to understand the thinking and feeling behind that collection.
One of the many sources of the Be-hold Newsletter was a correspondence with my colleague Alex Novak when he was starting his own I Photo Central Newsletter. (If you don’t already receive this, you definitely should.) I look forward to every issue and read it with interest. It mostly chronicles the “high” end of the international auction scene, sometimes acknowledging that it is limiting itself to discussing the highest-priced sales ($10,000 and over.) [NOTE FROM 2013. THAT LIMIT IS NOW AROUND $40,000 OR MORE.] There are many fewer than 40 names which appear over and over in these accounts—the “players” in the high-end scene. Some of these are friends and acquaintances, which adds to my enjoyment in reading about their adventures. Some of them are dealers who are buying material to sell for even higher amounts in the circles of heaven even closer to the sun.
Hats off to them!
But, as someone who is mostly dealing in the dark underbrush beneath this verdant $10,000 foliage, I have to honor the sensitivity and expertise that can be found in collections in this area, as much as those great collections that play in the higher regions. I’ll continue to explore the innovative discoveries that arise from collections formed out of sensitive passion, guided by intelligence. There are collections which themselves inspire and guide the collector—these are the best ones. The collector serves the collection. And the collection informs and inspires those who are capable of understanding it.
There is an ecology of collecting. Many of those who collect the material that appears in the lower regions don’t dream about someday becoming “real” collectors of the higher priced photographs, just as those whose eyes are fixed on the higher branches have no idea of the treasures that lie beneath their feet.