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• Torso, © Allan Jenkins, one of several photographers profiled in Fine Art Photography
The Art Market
The hook is in the subtitle – Creating Beautiful Images for Sale and Display. The latter is very gratifying, the former makes the blood, sweat and tears all seem worthwhile. This book is illustrated by the work of several well-known practitioners, including many whose work has featured in the pages of Ag – John Claridge, Eddie Ephraums, Manuela Höfer, William Ingram, Allan Jenkins, Bruce Rae and Randall Webb among them. It begins by trying to nail down ‘What is fine art photography’ and circumvents the obvious problems surrounding the question by concerning itself with what fine art photography is perceived to be, rather than what it is. And that is fair enough in a book of this type, where the mission is more practical and pragmatic than cerebral. Case studies and profiles of photographers who are successful in selling their work are featured, and media as diverse as postcards and the internet are discussed. This is not a new topic, but prior to this book it has been dealt with as a chapter (or less) in books on the more general theme of making a living out of photography. Given a whole book to cover the ground means the possibilities are pretty thoroughly covered, although there is an impression that it is pictorially padded out somewhat to make the 160 pages. Readers with a realistic chance of selling their work may also find some of the text a bit patronising; in places the tone ‘teaches Grandma to suck eggs’. It may well be that this is because the book aims to be aspirational and assumes no particular level of experience or expertise among its readers: this is as may be, but may be off-putting to more sophisticated readers. An interesting topic, nonetheless, and a book at least worth dipping into.
Fine Art Photography: Creating Beautiful Images for Sale and Display, by Terry Hope, published by RotoVision, £24.99, ISBN 2 880467 24 1.
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