Digital BW, The Print

I think this is sort of getting out of whack a bit. I mean, I totally get
the logic that  " How can a photograph sell for 6.5 Mil"   Well the fact is
it apparently did. We'd be saying the same thing if it sold for half that.
Peter Lik has sold several pieces for over a mil a pop.. I think that is
great.. It's really not about whether we as individuals like his work or not
but clearly theirs some that do.  Anyway what a piece sells for is something
that gets worked out between the buyer and seller or the sellers agent. In
truth it's none of our business. 

 

As far as cashing out. If you do your homework Jeff is just getting started
if you ask me.  He's quite talented in multimedia and he has a long ways to
go before he's done.  David I truly appreciate your take on all this.. I
mean that .. and it's ok  how you feel about it. So for you it's just
perfect.. The idea, however, that that an artist needs to be scrounging to
make ends meet to me is not necessarily the way to look at it.. To me if
that's how it is then that's the box you'll create. I realize that many do
but the other side of that is that most artists are very very poor
marketers. I'm an artist myself and I also own a service company.. Art
pricing is literally all over the place from what I see.  It's not that hard
to figure out where the pricing should be. I work with a few artists that
are currently charging 60 to  80 bucks a sq inch for a painting..  I also
work with artists that charge by the hour.  I also work with a few that as
soo as they get it done they sell it for whatever they can get so they can
start another one or pay a bill.

 

To say it's not about the money I think is wrong.. For many that is true..
and I get it.. I really do.. Their driven to make art at any cost.. It's
just how the motor works inside them .. but then theirs those that somehow
have managed to rise above it a bit and their work is more sought after ,
more collectable and more whatever and of course their better marketers and
aren't afraid to say they want to make a decent living off making art. The
price that one sells or can their art for is directly related to their
credibility as an artist. There are a lot of great artists that really
aren't all that credible. Not sure if that makes any sense.. Being a
successful artist takes much more than the ability to execute their craft. 

 

Speaking as an artist and from my heart for me the most wonderful thing in
the world is when someone trades their hard earned money for a piece of mine
to hang on their wall.. While do get paid I guess but it's more about the
interaction in that they believe enough in me to help fund my work and my
life. That's the part I feed off of.. The money is simply a by product of
that and sort of the proof that the interaction really occurred.  Other wise
I could just make a piece and give it away. I'm smart enough to know however
that the creative animal inside me would soon whither and die without money.
When I built my studio a few years back ..That was a huge reach and
commitment for me..   I desperately wanted to raise the bar. I traded
artwork for 250 yards of wonderful black dirt that got hauled over from
Bozeman. I'm still laughing about it.. I got dirt for some of my best works
and that is still a beautiful memory for me.. 

 

Anyway, it's really not my place to dictate what a piece of art should sell
for. That's in all cases between the buyer and seller.. When the bar gets
raised however and we hear about it.. Aside from the fact that is creates a
lot of hubba  on the ground ..It does in part set the stage for the future..
It's not that we'll all sell a piece for 6.5 mil.it's more then we can
continue to  believe that we'll be able to support our addiction of making
art. 

 

jimbo

 

 

From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com] 
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2014 4:05 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] what do you think?

 

  

I tried to ignore this as long as I could. In the end, I failed.

I wrote about it on my blog:

 

http://thetransparentphotographer.com

 

 

David Kachel

 

___________________

 

Artist-Photographer

Fine B&W Photographs

 

WEBSITE: www.davidkachel.com

BLOG: thetransparentphotographer.com

EMAIL: david@...

 

PO Box  93

Fort Davis, TX 79734

(432) 386-5787





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