PHOTOGRAPHY EXPANSION
With the growth of post-war and contemporary art, so too is the edition of photography being included as an integral part of a strong collection.
Major retrospectives continue to circle the globe. Most recent is that of Gary Winogrand, which premiered in San Francisco, traveled to Washington, D.C., is currently in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through September 21, and then on to Paris and Madrid.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has long been renowned for its photography. Most recently however, the museum announced that as part of its expansion project (it expects to reopen in 2016) it will create a center with more than 11,000 square feet devoted to photography exhibitions. This space will be the largest in the country to be used solely for that purpose, and thereby doubling the amount of space devoted to photographs and allowing curators to triple the number of pictures from the museums's own collection that they can exhibit yearly.
The steady efforts of; curators of photography at museums, galleries and countless collectors have paved the way for the appreciation photography enjoys today. While early, modern photographers asserted the value of the medium, it was only decades later that the market and appetite for collecting began to have an equal footing as art.
The best way to collect and experience is of course in person, in a setting and with time to enjoy, examine and take in all aspects of the work or works. What makes a good photograph is what speaks to you. What makes a photograph more valuable is the strength of the image, condition, provenance, rarity, artists reputation and public displays to name a few.
So let's celebrate this ever expanding medium and the continued appetite to live with wonderful images around us that make us smile, laugh, remember and simply enjoy.
Photographer: Arthur Elgort
