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Photographic art is finally clicking

No longer the poor cousin of paintings, photographic art is finally acquiring its own committed clientele, and its patrons are usually young, upwardly mobile youngsters who are more open to newer definitions of visual art.

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 “I have discovered photography. Now I can kill myself. I have nothing else to learn.”
    —Pablo Picasso, painter

When photographer and curator Edward Steichen put up an exhibition of photographs way back in 1955, it was met with scepticism. A ‘photo exhibition’ was not very popular at that time. Five decades later, not much had changed. While painting prices were on the rise, photo art was only just starting out.

“Even in the 90s, when a photo was hung in a public place, it was deemed unusual, especially in India,” says art photographer Sunil Gupta, who has exhibited his work all over the world. But a few artists persevered, went overseas to learn the craft of shooting photo art — “because our art system didn’t teach photography” — and managed to make a mark within a niche market. “Someone like Dayanita Singh is a case in point,” he says.

Singh, along with Gupta, is among a handful of Indian photo artists who command a good price from collectors. Matthieus Foss, who runs the Matthieu Foss Art Gallery in Ballard Pier, says these artists, along with Bharat Sikka and a few others have a stronghold over the art photo market. “It’s still very niche otherwise.”

A growing market
So, how exactly is art photography different from other photography? Explaining the difference, Foss says, “Art photography lays more emphasis on technique — composition, for example — which is slightly different from other kinds of photography. Any art is about what the creator wants the viewer to be looking at. How a photographer composes his picture is what determines how the audience perceives it.”

Today, the work of any of the top photo artists sells for anything in the range of Rs1.5 lakh to Rs6 lakh. Five years ago, things were slightly different. “In 2006, Rs60,000-80,000 was the most an artist would get for a photo. That price has doubled, and even tripled in some cases now,” says Foss, a Frenchman who moved to Mumbai in 2005.

Always interested in photo art, Foss started exhibiting at galleries owned by other people, until he fulfilled his dream of opening Mumbai’s first private photo art gallery.  This was a year ago, and although business isn’t exactly ‘brisk’, Foss says a growing interest in photo art should help sustain the gallery.

Interestingly, not many seem to be buying photo art as an ‘investment’ — as collectors do in the case of paintings by well-renowned artists, which appreciate in value over time. They buy more out of an interest in the art itself. “In any case, art as investment took a hit during the recession. But since a really good photo is less expensive than a painting, it’s a nice option for many,” says Foss.

Gupta concurs, saying that for a young, upwardly mobile executive, who may have bought a new home and wants to splurge a bit on art, a painting may be beyond reach, but buying a photo is advantageous in two ways: it’s easy on the wallet, and provides young collectors with a more modern option. “Youngsters are interested in photo art because there’s an ‘aspirational’ element attached to it. And they relate to it. Everybody’s cousins take pictures on their mobile phones, after all,” says Gupta, adding that though conventional art collectors may not have entirely warmed up to the idea of buying photo art, “their children have.”

The collectors
Abhishek Poddar, who runs Tasveer Art, is one such youngster.

The tagline of his organisation says that it’s “committed to the art of photography and photography as art.” But when he bought his first photo 20 years ago, it was met with disapproval from his folks. “At the time, they thought I had gone completely mad,” says Abhishek, adding that they still feel the same way, but have stopped reacting now.

“Somehow, you can be wilder in paintings, so they thought photographs were comparatively a bit tame,” says Abhishek, whose father collected European art, initiating him into the art scene at a young age.

Here there are no fakes
But how do you maintain exclusivity? Paintings, after all, are known for their unique quality, whereas pictures can have various copies. “We come out with limited edition sets of usually six photos. These photos usually carry the artists’ signatures and come with certificates that reflect their authenticity,” says Sikka.

But doesn’t it bother collectors that someone else might have a similar work of art? “It’s an advantage, in fact,” says Abhishek. “If there’s a painting that I really want and can’t get because someone else owns it, then I either have to settle for a fake or a poster of the same painting. But I can own the exactly same photo that is probably also on display at MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art).”

Gupta says photo art has arrived in India in a big way, and is here to stay. “In the film Fashion, which was about the lives of Mumbai’s so-called high society, a prominent scene had a collection of photo art in the background. To me, that’s interesting, because in spite of being art that’s considered niche, it has managed to creep into a mainstream medium like Bollywood,” he says.

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