News from AIPAD 2003. (Report)

The Association of International Photography Art Dealers held its 2003 show on February 7-9 at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. Beside the show itself that comprised the booths of 80 galleries on two floors, the public could attend a panel discussion and a presentation that respectively took place, as is usually the case, on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Such a show is a privileged moment in the year to assess the state of the fine-art photography market as well as the current trends and tastes. In the past months a slowing down of sales has affected the market that may have been a consequence of the current slump of the economy aa well as the uncertainties and tensions following 9/11 and regarding the war on Iraq. Fewer foreign galleries had made the trip to New York this year. This evolution could also be motivated by the fact that such events are now successfully taking place in Europe too (Paris Photo is held every Fall). However, the photographs presented did very little to emulate new interests and most galleries seemed to rely on established photographers. Only a very few new galleries tried to show works that were not known, such as one from the Czech Republic. The only original projects coming out of this AIPAD show are probably related to landscape photography (a category that is probably easier to sell): images by the Canadian Edward Burtynsky, others from the southwest by David Parker (both at the Robert Koch Gallery) and the panoramic views of the Finnish photographer Pentti Sammallahti (Candace Perich Gallery). The style developed by Michael Kenna has also emulated talented followers whose prints had a tendency to flood the AIPAD show. Night scenes taken with long exposures in square format usually sepia or selenium-toned could be viewed in many booths signed by Kenna, of course, but also by Bill Schwab, and David Fokos (he adds palladium to the variations on the genre). If prices for a single print ranged from $400 to $75,000, the vast majority of them seemed to stay within the $1,500-$3500 range. This trend was confirmed by the catalogues of Swann's (100 photographs auctioned on February 10) and Christie's (280 photographs on February 12) whose auctions followed AIPAD. Price tags at Christie's were in general 50 % higher than those seen at AIPAD or at Swann's. At the auctions very little of their cost differentiated contemporary artists from past masters, the market seems to be distracted from the history of photography and invest more in contemporary works. This trend has been perfectly illustrated lately in New York with the Andreas Gursky exhibition last year at the Museum of Modern Art and the Thomas Struth mid-career retrospective currently on show at the Metropolitan Museum (1). With these blockbuster shows, mirroring those happening in the painting departments of the same institutions, museums try to define themselves as trendsetters for the general public. This tendency is facilitated as they often manage to drain sponsoring funds and audiences that galleries cannot match; they also develop vast marketing strategies starting with advertising campaigns that follow in the steps of those applied to most commodities, and assorted with a whole set of paraphernalia of which a hard-bound catalog/book is the most visible and noble example. It looks as if people need reassurance after being confronted with the postmodern production and go in masses to rather classical if not conservative, at least historical shows. This evolution in museum-going has contaminated the whole western culture where it is common now to have to reserve in advance and to stand in line for hours in order to see a show simultaneously with hundreds of other goers. A few photographers manage to attract such audiences when sponsored by a major institution (only under such circumstances though). Such names as Ansel Adams, Atget, Brandt, Cartier-Bresson, Evans, Lartigue, Mapplethorpe, Salgado, Sherman have drawn crowds. …

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