PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & POSTERS | EXPERT GUIDES | MAY 19, 2015

Six key trends inphotography collecting

Photo London is a major new art fair showing current trends in photography

through sales, exhibitions and talks. Here, Darius Himes, Christie’s International

Head of Photographs, picks out six areas that require your focus

1. The Materiality of Prints

The Getty Center in Los Angeles is showing Light, Paper,Process: Reinventing Photography until 6 September, anexhibition that focuses on a small group of artists that usephotographic materials and processes to produce imagery andobjects that are difficult to categorise. Darius Himes, Christie’sInternational Head of Photographs, believes the show isemblematic of a growing interest in analogue photographicobjects: ‘At their heart, these works disclose in new ways thespecific materials of photography as well as the processes thatcreate images, while either obscuring the latent image orenhancing it — sometimes the obscuring or enhancing effect is inthe eye of the beholder!’ Himes recommends visitors look out forwork by three of the artists showing at the Getty: Marco Breuer,Chris McCaw and Alison Rossiter. This trio is represented atPhoto London by the New York-based Yossi Milo Gallery.

Left: Alison Rossiter, Haloid Military, expired October 1957, processed in 2014 (#3),

Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York © Alison Rossiter. Right: Marco Breuer, Untitled

(C-1485), 2014, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York © Marco Breuer

2. The 19th Century

This period saw the invention of dozens of distinct processes,ranging from daguerreotypes, talbotypes and Van Dyke browns, toWoodburytypes, cyanotypes, ambrotypes and more. Yet whatmakes the early decades of the 19th century so fascinating, Himesargues, is that the beginnings of photography coincided with therich ferment of the Industrial Revolution. ‘Our collectiveunderstanding of the world, on both a micro and macro level, wasin rapid development,’ he says. ‘Thinkers, scientists,mathematicians and artists explored the wealth of information thatwas pouring into the collective consciousness.’

Tate Britain’s current exhibition Salt and Silver: A Rare andRevealing Collection of Early Photography (ends June 7) offersan excellent introduction to one particular technique — saltedpaper, while at Photo London, Robert and Paula Hershkowitz,private dealers specialising in pre-1860 masterworks, are showingpieces by key pioneers such as William Henry Fox Talbot andLewis Carroll.

Left: © Linnaeus Tripe, Courtesy Robert Hershkowitz Gallery, UK. Right: Samuel

Bourne, Lepcha Woman, Courtesy Robert Hershkowitz Gallery, UK © Samuel Bourne

3. 1970s: New Topographics

Understanding the background of particular photographersenriches our understanding of their practice. Take one extremelyinfluential exhibition from the early 1970s that has shaped thediscourse of photography ever since: New Topographics:

Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape, curated by WilliamJenkins at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, whichincluded a group of curious, yet influential photographer-artists.‘They were less interested in the grandiosity of the National Parks— a space artistically owned by figures like Ansel Adams andEdward Weston — and more intrigued by society’s impact on theimmediate surroundings,’ Himes explains.

One of them, Stephen Shore, is making a rare appearance inLondon to give talks at the National Portrait Gallery andCourtauld Institute as part of his promotional tour for his latestbook Survivors in Ukraine (Phaidon) , a haunting visual record ofthe nation’s Holocaust survivors. Shore’s peer Lewis Baltz, whopassed away last November, is represented by Cologne-based Galerie Thomas Zander , as is another New Topographicsalumnus, Henry Wessel. A final key landscape photographer fromthis era, Frank Gohlke, is showing with New York’s HowardGreenberg Gallery.

4. Japanese Photographers

Amid the cultural revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s, theProvoke movement in Japan acted as a brash rejection of artistic

and cultural norms. Over the following decades, manyphotographers from that period have became powerhouses in theirfields, with their work becoming highly collectible. One of themost celebrated and controversial is Nobuyoshi Araki, who isrepresented at Photo London by Taka Ishii Gallery, a vitalresource for learning about Japanese trends with its branches inTokyo and Paris. It is also showing work by other key figures thatemerged in that period, Eikoh Hosoe and Daido Moriyama.

Another exhibitor with strong Japanese representation isZurich’s Christophe Guye Gallerie, which leans towards a moreconceptual, contemporary aesthetic, here showing works by artistsfrom a younger generation, including the contemplative RinkoKawauchi and Risaku Suzuki, noted for his gorgeous meditationson tree blossoms.

Nobuyoshi Araki, Tokyo Story, 1989/2015. Gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Taka Ishii

Gallery

5. Storytelling

Contemporary artists that work loosely within a narrative

framework have become highly collectible, Himes advises. Theyare following in an illustrious tradition that stretches back to 19thcentury adventure photographers and on through the photo-journalists that found fame in the Second World War, and then in-depth photo-essays linked to lengthy articles. ‘Viewed from acertain vantage point, the entire history of photography is one ofstorytelling,’ says Himes. ‘The long-form story, sometimesmonths and years in the making, is well-established and can be apowerful medium.’

Contemporary artists to look out for include Alec Soth, whoselatest collection,Songbook, is published by relative newcomerMACK, which has a stand at the fair. Martin Parr will be signingbooks during the fair’s preview day, while Jane Hilton (see mainimage) is showing images of the American West with London-based galleryEleven Fine Art , which represents emerging artists.

Away from Photo London, a work from W Eugene Smith’s 1940sCountry Doctoressay is to be auctioned at Christie’s, London, onMay 22 as part of the sale 20/21 Photographs: Selected by JamesDanziger. Work by Simon Roberts, meanwhile, is availablethrough the online-only auction British Modern andContemporary Photography, until May 21.

W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978), Dr Ernest Ceriani makes a house call on foot,

Kremmling, Colorado (from 'Country Doctor' essay), September 20, 1948. Gelatin silver

print, probably printed 1960s. Image: 39.4 x 49.9cm. (15 ½ x 19 5/8in.) Sheet: 41.6 x

51.4cm. (16 3/8 x 20 ¼in.) Estimate £5,000-7,000. This work is offered in our 20/21

Photographs: Selected by James Danziger sale in London on 22 May.

6. Photobooks

Since the early Noughties, we have seen an explosion in the genre,along with the development of scholarship into the rolesphotography books have played in the medium throughout itshistory. ‘This has been driven by a wonderful constellation offactors,’ Himes explains. ‘Early in the decade came celebratedvolumes by figures like Andrew Roth, Martin Parr and GerryBadger, plus a whole host of small and smart publishers such asGerhard Steidl, Michael Mack, Aperture and Nazraeli Press — aswell as the publishing and distribution-whizzes at Artbook.com.”

Photo London hosts a commendable range of publishers. Majorplayers Thames and Hudson, Hatje Cantz, Dewi Lewis andPhaidon are represented, the latter showing Parr and Badger’scomprehensive Photobook: A History series. German imprint

Kehrer Verlag is bringing a fascinating range of new works by thelikes of Iranian photographer Newsha Tavakolian and SheilaRock, plus a third edition of the hard-hitting War Porn byChristoph Bangert. The New York-based Aperture Foundationhosts a range of events, including signings from the likes ofSebastião Salgado, and LaToya Ruby Frazier in conversation atthe Courtauld Institute.

MACK, meanwhile, has Ciarán Óg Arnold’s memorably titledwinner of photography’s First Book Award, I Went to the Worstof Bars Hoping to Get Killed. But All I Could Do Was to GetDrunk Again. You should also check out publications from theJapanese print specialist Amana and the charity Autograph ABP,which promotes marginalised practices.

Main image at top: Jane Hilton, Cowboy, Valley of the Gods, Utah, 2015. C-Type Hand

Print. 23 x 28 in / 58.5 x 71 cm. Edition of 7. Courtesy of Eleven Fine Art, London

Photo London is at Somerset House, London, May 21-24