Photographers – Do you collect music?

Joshua Holko (pictured right, below) is a landscape, nature and wilderness photographer who regularly runs workshops and expeditions to some of the world’s most remote regions.

JholkoOver at his blog he shared his thoughts about photographers buying fine art prints. Here’s the post re-published in full – with permission of course! 

Over the last twelve to eighteen months I have made a concerted effort when speaking with other photographers to ask them the seemingly obvious question: ‘Do you collect other photographer’s work?’

The responses have been very interesting to say the least, with the vast majority saying, ‘Yes, I have quite a lot of photography books.’ To this end I don’t think I know a photographer worth his or her salt who does not own even a modest collection of books on photography.

At this point I have to clarify myself by adding: ‘What I mean is, do you collect or own any Fine Art Prints from other photographers?’ I am often greeted with either a blank stare or a confused look, sometimes with a ‘No’ and only occasionally with a ‘Yes’.

When I ask them why they do not own any other photographer’s work, on the whole they can’t give me a reasonable response. Many of them clumsily stumble over their words before regrettably admitting they have no good reason for not owning any other photographer’s work. This response has been almost universal.

As a result, it seems to me there is somewhat of a strange ‘disconnect’ between photographers who produce fine art prints and those who actually collect or own any outside of their own work. I want to use an analogy to try and put this into perspective.

Musicians are also by definition artists. And yet, all musicians collect the music of other musicians without exception. They collect what they appreciate and enjoy. They also want to see what their peers are producing.
holkoWhy should it be any different for photographers?
I would certainly be keen to hear from other photographers who have had a different experience. It seems reasonable to me that if you produce art, you should share in the ownership of the art of others. It is one thing to peruse it in a book, quite another to live with it in your home.

I would argue it is when we live with a piece of art that we truly learn to, not only appreciate it, but also potentially fully understand it. Viewing a print in a gallery is also a very different experience to passing that print in your home a dozen or more times a day.

I do not believe for a second that any of the photographers I have spoken with appreciate only their own art. If this was the case they would not own or purchase so many photography books or they would not enjoy viewing the work of other photographers at galleries, or online.

No – there is something else at work here that is responsible for the ‘disconnect’. Before I try and dissect what is going on I just want to make a quick comment on photography books at this point.  I love and own many books by many different photographers. I regularly enjoy perusing them and enjoy the photographs immensely. However, they are all, without exception poor facsimiles of the original fine art prints. Offset printing cannot yet match the colours, tonalities and subtleties of an original fine art print. Offset printing is getting better all the time, but realistically it still has a long way to go before it can encapsulate the fine art print.

You are probably thinking to yourself at this point, ‘Do I own any fine art prints from other photographers?’

The answer is yes; I do, though my collection still excludes many photographers whose work I greatly admire. However, I am proud to count several well-known photographers among my art collection and quite a few others whose names are far less well-known. These are actual hand signed (sometimes limited edition) fine art photographic prints. My collection also includes fine art prints from photographers I have swapped work with over the years, either through mutual respect and admiration for our work, or because we have visited the same locations and wanted to see each other’s interpretations in a finished print. Indeed, this is one of the great pleasures of making prints for me.

There is no better yardstick to gauge the quality and standard of your own prints than to be able to compare your work with that of other photographers whose work you respect and admire.

So I encourage you – if you like art, and in particular photographic art, then do yourself and the art world a favour – buy a fine art print from a photographer whose work you admire and respect. It doesn’t have to be one of mine and this piece is not in any way intended to promote my own fine art prints. Just find a piece of photographic art you like and start your own collection. Your life will be far richer for the experience.

– Check out Joshua’s portfolio here.


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