I have been perusing galleries these past weeks, talking to gallery owners and photographers, sort of feeling the pulse of the exhibition scene, and expectations therein.
While visiting these galleries and black and white photography studios, the interactions with gallery owners and black and white photographers on the subject of limited editions, versus open editions, has shown me there is much disinformation bantered about, and little use of said editions in this state. Every photographer has their own perspective of what constitutes photographic art, visually, technically and presentationally. That is the three legs of the issue for gallery sales that directly affect said sales. If a print image is printed well it tends to grab the attention of the viewer, and if the print is within the price comfort zone of that buyer, the likelihood of a sale increases, a lot. If that photographic print is rare in printing medium, like hand coated prints, and, in a low edition (5), the rarity of the print and its finite nature increases the likelihood of the sale increases once again.
The argument against limited edition, coming from a photographer, was that doing so was flagrantly egoistic thinking you were going to sell a hundred or more prints by having an edition of say 1/100. Precisely the argument for limited editions. The vast majority of black and white photographers who actually have prints to show, and make sales, will ever sell more than a small number of any given print image. How many buyers of art, interested in b&w photography, would be willing to spend $500 or more for a print from an unknown photographer if there were going to be any number of copies to come, in perpetuity? For photographers, this is a touchy subject that tends to bring out lots of energy by just bringing up the topic. I don't mind making it clear that selling photographic prints in open editions is photography, but it doesn't constitute "art". Art, is collectable, holding it's value over time and generally always increasing in value over time. Speaking for myself, digital prints in open editions is but making posters that people will buy if cheap enough, if they like the image and it matches their couch or living room decor. I just don't find that clientele a desirable one.
Realizing much of my personal opinion comes off as condescending and snooty or elitist. I will say here, I don't care. I've done this for thirty years, owned a gallery representing black and white photographers, and dealt with buyers and collectors. If I could pass anything along to younger photographers who fancy themselves visual artists. Be artists. Create something unique, and rare, with your signature flare. And don't be silly enough to believe that limited editions hold you back. Simple math takes care of that. Come up with a number representing all the images you have that could be made into a print worthy of making it into a print. Then multiply that number times an edition of say 10. If you are a serious photographer and aren't just beginning, you likely have hundreds of images. If you shoot digitally that number jumps to thousands of images. If you have 100 images in editions of 10, that constitutes 1000 prints. How long do you suppose it would take to print that 1000 prints, even if you were filling orders.
Just my thoughts and take on the issue. Google Los Angeles black and white galleries, and from the lengthy list available, along with their focus and exhibitions, you will come to know that in California, if the word Art is attached to a visual image, it necessitates a Certificate of Authenticity. If you sell photographic images of any stripe, under an Easy Up tent at street fairs and art markets, much of this doesn't even make sense. Photographs are being sold and the only condition is if the viewer likes what they see. If you are looking to hang in fine art galleries with a clientele price stream that accommodates collectable prints, the rules and expectations are higher. There is no good or bad or right or wrong approach to this. It simply comes down to the clientele you are after.
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