Adding photos to the gallery mix brings sales into focus; veteran photography dealers explain the benefits of bringing photography into contemporary art galleries and give advice on how to do it effectively

No longer considered too cutting-edge or controversial in its position in the world of fine art, photography has filtered its way into nearly each level of the market. From fine art fairs to galleries to auction houses to museums, photography is coming into focus in a universal way and can exorcism big bucks for dealers who carry it. According to quicks now is the time for galleries that have traditionally shied away from photography to consider stocking up

"It's a actual hot medium," related Stephen Perloff editor of the monthly The Photograph Collector newsletter "While not each gallery can be an prompt in every medium, I think a destiny of people are missing the boat if they are not dealing with photography now. Galleries are in business to make standard of value ... and there is cash to be made selling photography."

Yancey Richardson, possessor of the Yancey Richardson Gallery in of recent origin York and a board member of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), agreed, adding that photography is virtually unavoidable in today's contemporary art market. "So plenteous contemporary art making is photo-based," she said. "Photography really permeates--and to more [i]or[/i] less extent dominates--the contemporary art market right now. in the way that if you are dealing in contemporary art, I think it is hard to avoid dealing in photography."

greatest in quantity experts agree the roadblocks of acceptance and venerate of the medium have been all on the contrary demolished, and the photo biz is booming.

Many level think that the delineations between fine art photos and paintings have been erased. "The market for photography has been steadily growing for a lengthy time now," said Tom Gitterman, gallery director of fresh York's Howard Greenberg Gallery. "It's not about the medium anymore, it's about the art."

Nancy Dunwell, creative director at Wild Apple, a Woodstock, Vt publisher that has set success with its line of open-edition photo prints, agreed. "Photography can have an appeal equal to paintings as look ng as the image speaks to the consumer"

Unlimited Potential

Indeed, photography strike one as beings to be able to touch collectors of all horizontals in a way that other art forms cannot. "Photography has always been and continues to be single of the most accessible media in confines of people understanding it and being able to win close to it--they get it," explained Barry Podgorsky, co-owner of Soho Triad Fine Art in of recent origin York. "They can look at a photograph, and they understand what it is."

Photographs are also relatively inexpensive, which makes them quite attractive to the two collectors and the gallery holders who sell them. Galleries can trial the waters, so to speak, without having to necessarily make a very great investment. "You can buy a picture by means of a contemporary master of traditional photography for $1000 to $5000 which is actual little money compared to prints or original paintings," said Perloff

The potential collector base for photographs is also bigger than it's at any time been. No longer the darling of just the young and cutting-edge, photography has ground a home in the collections of art lover at all horizontals of the market. High-end collectors have been dropping millions at auction for work by dint of such masters as Ansel Adams or Alfred Stieglitz. notwithstanding other collectors are happy to plunk down a simple $500 to take home work by the agency of a yet-to-be-discovered artist.

"In a way, you have nation with a lot of coin at the high end and race with a little bit of coin at the low end," said The Photograph Collector's Perloff "Obviously, there are also any number of longtime collectors in between, as well."

Podgorsky said the potential collector base is also quite large owed to the accessibility of photographs. "Some of the advanced in years stuff that goes along with visiting galleries about by what means art-educated you have to be, by what mode knowledgeable you have to be, sort of disappears when you direct the eye at photography," he said. "You direct the eye at it and you know what it is. Everybody can identify in a certain number of way with a photograph."

Getting Started

For many gallery possessors who are hesitant to break into photography, the proces isn't as complicated or intimidating as it may appear to be Most dealers agree that getting started in the photography market is really not all that different from bringing upon a new artist in a medium you already carry or planning to bring statuary into a gallery that traditionally single carried fine art prints or paintings.

"It's just like moving into any other portion like prints or sculpture or something they haven't handled before," said Perloff "The drill is moderately beautiful much the same."

The first and greatest in quantity important part of the proces is education and research. Stock up upon photography books. Bone up upon the hottest photography exhibits at museums and galleries. Subscribe to the greatest in quantity up-to-date trade and consumer publications upon the market, such as The Photograph Collector, Aperture or American Photo. It's also vital to visit as many photo exhibits and important art fairs featuring photographs among the varied art offerings, of that kind as Art Basel, Art Chicago, The Art exhibit and The Armory Show. (See "Show Snapshots" for a listing of today's hottest photo shows)