SUPPORT THIS: Suburbia Gone Wild - Limited edition Book Kickstarter Project by Martin Adolfsson

A few years ago I wrote about Martin Adolfsson's project, suburbia gone wild. I don't remember where I came across the work but it immediately struck me. Not just because of the overlap in my own investigations of suburbia (concrete narratives, affordable homes and ten convenient stores) but also because I had recently traveled to Beijing to photograph the city and the olympics and Adolfson's project somehow combined these two interests of mine.

This Summer I finally met Martin when we both attended CENTER, Review Santa Fe. It was great to see the prints in person.

Martin Adolfsson is turning the project into a book and he is looking for some Kickstarter help: Suburbia gone Wild - Limited edition Book by Martin Adolfsson — Kickstarter

Help out this well deserving project!

The Economics of Art Photography

This post was cross-posted in The Camera Club of New York's Blog.

A few weeks ago the Andreas Gursky print, Rhine II, was auctioned for $4.3 million, breaking the recordpreviously held by Cindy Sherman. Guardian Article: The world's most expensive photographs - in pictures. I always admired Rhine II. I think it was one of the first prints by Gursky I encountered. Its striking formalism speaks of a manufactured landscape, but also of pattern, color and texture. I'm not sure it if is stronger then his 99 cent store image which previously held the record of the most expensive photograph. I encountered this image earlier in my photographic education so I appreciate it differently, I suppose.

This got me thinking about the economics of the art photography market. Normally we don't really know how popular an art photographer's work is. Sure, we see their prices at a gallery and the editions they are claiming they will print, but it's hard to determine the final sale prices and whether their show actually sold out. For the big names, auctions are the best way to see what's going on.

Recently, I went to the Camera Club's benefit auction for the first time. It got me thinking about economics, as well. This event is a strikingly open way of seeing the popularity of an art object for the established and emerging artists who participated. It's not as exacting as a Christies auction, but it folds back the art curtain a bit.

Cindy Sherman, Untitled, color coupler print, executed in 1981

I'm down in Miami this week for Art Basel Miami Beach. The economics of art are all around me. Here they are secretive and deceptive. Please post your comments below if you have any questions for the art fairs and galleries here.

harlan erskine, Art Basel Miami Beach, 2002

If you're in New York, Gursky has a show currently up at Gagosian Gallery—coincidentally timed for this new auction record. I'll be sure to check it out when I get back. Here it the info:

ANDREAS GURSKY NOVEMBER 4 - DECEMBER 17, 2011 Gagosian Gallery 522 West 21st Street New York, NY 10011

TONIGHT: 2011 CCNY Photo Benefit Auction

Big event tonight for the Camera Club of New York (where I am their current guest blogger). I haven't been to the annual Auction before so I'm looking forward to seeing all the action. Many many great photographs (including the one below) will be available. Check out the press release and I hope to see you there.

Amy Stein, Cage, digital c-print, 20 x 16”, 2005

Join Us Tonight, Monday, November 7, 2011, 6 - 8pm

Location:25CPW 25 Central Park West (at 62nd Street)

Preview Works Here

Featuring work by emerging and established photographers, including : Mariette Pathy Allen / Rachel Barrett / Jacqueline Bates / Matthew Baum / Michael Berkowitz / Per Billgren / Anita Blank / Timothy Briner / Jesse Burke / Eric William Carroll / Sean Carroll / James Casebere / Lindsey Castillo / Jesse Chan / Vincent Cianni / Annabel Clark / Margarida Correia / Megan Cump / Pradeep Dalal / Bobby Davidson / Allison Davies / Isaac Diggs / Maureen Drennan / Emile Hyperion Dubuisson / Mark Fernandes / Larry Fink / Lauren Fleishman / Martine Fougeron / Jona Frank / Fryd Frydendahl / Theresa Ganz / Anders Goldfarb / Curtis Hamilton / Jason Hanasik / Daniel Handal / Kara Hayden / Jeanne Hilary / Francine Hofstee / Henry Horenstein / Michi Jigarjian / Erica Leone / Sze Tsung Leong / David Levinthal / Sam Levinthal / Wayne Liu / Feng Lu / Ryan MacFarland / Jerome Mallmann / Chris McCaw / Jo Meer / Dana Miller / Azikiwe Mohammed / Paolo Morales / Keren Moscovitch / Laurel Nakadate / Katherine Newbegin / Lori Nix / Heather O’Brien / Brayden Olson / Alice O’Malley / Cara Phillips / Libby Pratt / Richard Renaldi / Mauro Restiffe / Saul Robbins / Caren Rosenblatt / Michael Schmelling / Tina Schula / Manjari Sharma / Aline Smithson / John Stanley / Chad States / Amy Stein / Joni Sternbach / Motohiro Takeda / Maureen Testa / Sally Tosti / William Wegman / Randy West / Grant Willing / Jessica Yatrofsky / Rona Yefman / Pinar Yolaçan / Arin Yoon

Benefit Committee: Mariette Pathy Allen, Paul Amador, Brian Paul Clamp, Daniel Cooney, Michael Foley, Martine Fougeron, Susan Fulwiler, Françoise Girard, Tom Gitterman, Peter Hay Halpert, Henry Horenstein, David Knott, Michael Mazzeo, Lizanne Merrill, L. Parker Stephenson, Spencer Throckmorton, Sasha Wolf, and Alice Sachs Zimet.

$20 admission. All proceeds go to The Camera Club of New York (CCNY), a non-profit 501(c)3 arts organization that has been nurturing talented photographers since 1884.

Catering provided by Moustache.

To see the donated works, please go to CCNY’s online auction preview.

CCNY wishes to thank 25CPW Gallery for their generosity in hosting this year’s auction.

For further inquires, contact CCNY at info@cameraclubny.org or by phone: 212-260-9927

Please visit us at www.cameraclubny.org