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The Value of Photography

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Have some money to spare? Perhaps you should invest in art. And what better art then photographic art. As the art world is always undergoing change. The influence of photography in the art world has been on the rise ever since the camera was properly used to capture ‘real life’ and since Man Ray played around with this ‘real’ medium. Of course the price of a photograph will rise when its historic relevance to some important person or event seems rare and thus special. But the most expensive photographs lately were created by photographers who used their cameras to create and tell a story. Ignite an emotion in the viewer. And that of course is what art is all about.

 

Below the top 10 of photographs sold for a couple of more pennies than I have managed to sell mine. So which one would you like to hang on your wall?

 

#1 Rhein II – Andreas Gursky (1999) $4.3 million

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#2 Untitled #96 – Cindy Sherman (1981) $3.9 million

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#3 For Her Majesty – Gilbert & George (1973) $3.7 million

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#4 Dead Troops Talk – Jeff Wall (1992) $3.7 million

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#5 Untitled (Cowboy) – Richard Prince (2001-02) $3.4 million

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#6 99 Cent II, Diptychon – Andreas Gursky (2001) $3.3 million

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#7 Los – Angeles – Andreas Gursky (1998) $2.9 million

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#8 The Pond/Moonlight – Edward Steichen (1904) $2.9 million

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#9 Untitled #153 – Cindy Sherman (1985) $2.7 million

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#10 Billy the Kid – Unknown (1880) $2.3 million

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Of Beards and Men

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A couple of months ago PforPHOTO featured the fantastic beard series by Joseph Daniel Robert Oleary. The series’ called Of beards and Men. He just launched a Kickstarter to make a fine art book of all the incredible portraits. He made 130+ photos. So plenty of masculine hairiness to explore.

Check out the video below and head to Kickstarter to help Joseph reach his goal.

And, of course, check out his website: www.ofbeardsandmen.com

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Perspective is Everything

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Bela Borsodi created a fascinating photograph for an album cover (“Terrain” by VLP). At first glance it looks like an image constructed out of four different photographs. But if you look close, very very close you might be able to see the amazingness (is that a word?) of it all. It’s just one photograph! The cleverly placed objects fool both our minds and eyes. It’s all about placement and perspective. Very impressive. Below the video of this crafty project.

Bela Borsodi’s website: www.belaborsodi.com

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Above the same set up. Only a different perspective. Still a colorful image but not quite the same.

Bela Borsodi’s website: www.belaborsodi.com

 

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This Will Happen! Google Glass Photography

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Google Glass will do something for everyone. People will love it or hate it, at first. Like we first did with the mobile phone. When those became widely available, early adopters went with it. Others said they didn’t need one. Look around you now. I see this happen too with Google Glass. It will certainly become more easy to take photos. But will this be a good thing for photographers? Watch the clip and see for yourself!

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The Neighbors by Arne Svenson

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Controversy is always something that can help promote your work. Because of all the commotion around the photo series The Neighbors it manages to come across my table. And that’s why I’m sharing it with you. So in a way the saying, bad publicity is good publicity worked for photographer Arne Svenson. In his series he pointed the camera at the apartment building across from his studio. It shows us snippets of the lives lived in these stacked living spaces. A series of anonymous lives lived behind the windows of downtown Manhattan.

The photos have a painting like quality. The framing of the windows mimic that of paintings. And they remind me of the works of Edwards Hopper. Moments captured in a wonderful composition. It leave much to the imagination. The subjects aren’t recognizable. The artist allows us to create our own story. A theatrical way of looking at ordinary life. It also reminded me of the series Windows by Michael Wolf.

Read about the controversy of being secretly photographed and putting the work up for sale here. I can understand the feelings of being photographed in your private homes. It does raise some privacy questions but overall the work doesn’t seem to be about those specific neighbors. It shows a stage we can recognize. If I was Arne’s neighbor I would ask for a print. Not sue him for making such an interesting series.

Arne Svenson’s website: arnesvenson.com

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Arne Svenson’s website: arnesvenson.com

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Vertical Horizon by Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze

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Cities are growing and growing. More and more people move to the big city to achieve their career goals and chase their dreams. Because of this growth the landscapes of places change. If you have ever been to a major city you will recognize Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze’s series Vertical Horizon. The photos show us a different look of Hong Kong’s cityscapes. The lack of a true horizon due to all that growth shows us a new vista. A vertical one. Look up with Romain and be part of his journey between the geometry of Hong Kong’s urban environment.

Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze’s website: www.rjl-art.com

The book on amazon:

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Is Media Child’s play?

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In the Playroom is a series by Canadian and award-winning photographer Jonathan Hobin. The photographs show us children playing out events that we all recognize. From the tragedy of 9/11, the torture at Guantanamo bay to the devastating tsunami on boxing day 2004. At fist glance we see a scene of children playing. But quickly we notice that what we see isn’t all that innocent or cheerful.

Jonathan Hobin created this series to comment on what it means to live in a world with the constant presents of media. The shift from the consumption of media to generating it as well. And on top of that Johanathan’s work also depicts the darker side of childhood. That it’s not all that normal that childhood is a happy and innocent time for many of us.

What ever you feel by seeing the images I do believe this artist really knows how to push buttons and therefore make you stand still by reflecting on how we go about media and news in this time and age.

Jonathan Hobin’s website: www.jhobin.com

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Jonathan Hobin’s website: www.jhobin.com

 

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Illuminating photography: From camera obscura to camera phone

The origins of the cameras we use today were invented in the 19th century. Or were they? A millenia before, Arab scientist Alhazen was using the camera obscura to duplicate images, with Leonardo da Vinci following suit 500 years later and major innovations beginning in the 19th century. Eva Timothy tracks the trajectory from the most rudimentary cameras to the ubiquity of them today.

Created by Eva Timothy and Andy London.

Learn more at TEDed: ed.ted.com/lessons/illuminating-photography-eva-timothy

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