Most of us aren\u2019t in the habit of purchasing art.\u00a0 And for some of us the thought may be just a bit intimidating, especially when the work of art is, oh, shall we say \u201cexpensive.\u201d\u00a0 How do you now you\u2019re investing your money wisely?<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t speak for other art media such as paintings, sculpture, etc.\u00a0 But I can offer three suggestions when purchasing fine art photography.\u00a0 Here are some things you should expect from a fine art photograph.<\/p>\n
First, if photographs are not prepared correctly or, specifically, if the wrong materials are used, they are subject to fading.\u00a0 Now, this doesn\u2019t apply to black and white photographs as much as it does for color.\u00a0 So you want to make sure that all the materials that went into the creation of the print are archival quality, or, to put it another way, museum quality.<\/p>\n
That starts with the paper on which the photograph is printed and the inks used to print them.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need to get into the technicalities of papers and inks here.\u00a0 Just the simple question, \u201cIs the paper and ink archival quality?\u201d should get you the information you need.\u00a0 With most high quality paper and ink combinations the photograph should not show any noticeable fading for at least 100 years, especially if it is protected behind UV blocking glass and displayed in a location that does not get direct sunlight.<\/p>\n
The mat board in which the photograph is mounted should also be museum quality.\u00a0 Acid is used to make paper but residual acid will yellow the paper and can affect the photograph.\u00a0 Most mats are made from paper so they must be specially treated to be acid free.<\/p>\n
Next, turning to the photograph itself, one should expect the highest level of workmanship in a fine art photograph.\u00a0 This topic can also get rather technical but it can be summarized by saying that every element in the photograph feels like it belongs, or stated another way, nothing feels out of place.\u00a0 Also, there should not be any distracting elements that draw attention away from the photograph\u2019s subject.\u00a0 I know.\u00a0 This can be very subjective.\u00a0 But go with your gut.\u00a0 If something feels not quite right then chances are it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Another thing to look for in this area is if the artist was in control of the entire creative process from capturing the image to printing, matting and framing it.\u00a0 If photographs are printed in labs they may not fully reflect the artist\u2019s vision and intent.\u00a0 Which leads to the last point\u2026.<\/p>\n
The last thing to look for is whether or not you love the image.\u00a0 Art is the expression of the artist\u2019s interpretation of the world.\u00a0 It\u2019s the medium through which the artist communicates his or her vision.\u00a0 In great art, the artist has a unique point of view that is expressed clearly and effectively.\u00a0 And this is why we bring art into our\u00a0 lives \u2013 to experience the world through the eyes of the artist.\u00a0 So if the work of art speaks to you, if you\u00a0 love it, then it\u2019s for you.<\/p>\n
To see more of my photographs click here.<\/a><\/p>\n Join me on a workshop and the art of photography.<\/a><\/p>\n (981)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most of us aren\u2019t in the habit of purchasing art.\u00a0 And for some of us the thought may be just a bit intimidating, especially when the work of art is, oh, shall we say \u201cexpensive.\u201d\u00a0 How do you now you\u2019re investing your money wisely? I can\u2019t speak for other art media such as paintings, sculpture, … Continue reading “On Purchasing a Fine Art Photograph”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[25,13,10],"class_list":["post-1176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-photography-as-art","tag-fine-art","tag-photography","tag-ralph-nordstrom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Nl7-iY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1176"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3977,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176\/revisions\/3977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}