Or: Indoor photo challenge

I don’t know how other collectors feel about this, but I have a desire to show the art that I own to other people. The question is: How do I best photograph it?

I’m not only an amateur collector, I’m also an amateur photographer. One of the first tips I got was to photograph artwork outside on a bright day or inside and move it towards the window. Which surely works to have them lit nicely. But I have a sense that it is very important to also show where the artwork lives.

To me, artworks are a bit like people. To the right, there is a portrait photo of me. It even has been done by a professional photographer. Yet, what does it tell you about me apart from the fact that I wear glasses and a goatee?

It doesn’t show you who I live with. It doesn’t show you who or what I’m influenced by. It doesn’t show you where or how I live.

Below is a set of three pictures showing you a little more (not who I live with, though).

To the left is what my “home office” looked like a few months ago. In the middle you can look out my kitchen window (in winter) and on the right I have selected a bunch of books from my bookshelf. Still not a very complete picture, but better than a portrait.

Artworks are similar, in my opinion. Before I buy art, it lives with the artist. I try and find out the history, the influences and the reasons for its existence. Once I have it, it lives with me. And it does so for specific reasons. If I photograph the art I live with, I want people to get at least a sense of what that “living together” looks like. Which brings me back to the beginning: How do I achieve that?

I had a look at how other collectors do it and there are three very nice examples over at Independent Collectors. The first is by Christian Pfaff (link) from Hamburg, showing a very crowded corridor. I just love that! The second one is by Nina Grams (link), who photographed a broken artwork right where it dropped on the floor. The third one is by Christian Schwarm (link), photographing Nina Canell’s “Morasco Circle” + Peter Piller’s “Ungeklärte Fälle” + his couch.

So finally, here is a picture of my tiny collection (13/°° and 11/°° by Lasse Schmidt Hansen) and how it is parked in my apartment because I’m planning to move soon:

How do you photograph your art? Do you agree or disagree with me? Post links to your pictures in the comments or register at Independent Collectors and show them there. I’d really like to see some samples!

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 10th, 2008 at 3:14 pm and is filed under All-Round Report.