Photojournalism on the artscene

Saturday Oct 24 saw the opening of an exhibition out of the ordinary here in Norway. At least as far as photojournalism/documentary style photography goes. At a time when the classic photojournalists are about as endangered as Southern Bluefin Tuna, pictures by Magnum photographer Stuart Franklin were selling for $5.000 a piece. And they were selling, not just hanging on the gallery wall with a hefty price tag. Little red dots at the pictures revealed at least six pictures were sold even before the welcoming speach by the Norwegian Foreign Minister was over.

Photojournalists all over the world are struggling to convince their clients their pictures are worth slightly more than the 1$ dime-a-dozen-pictures from some micro stock agency. So how come these pictures are sellable at this price? The short answer is context.

Stuart Franklins pictures are good, but not unique in the sense that no other photojournalist in the world could have done something similar. So what is different? For one, the pictures were sold at a fundriser for a The Voss Foundation, raising money for their work providing water to African communities.

But even involving a Magnum photographer is no guarantee for success for an NGO, nor is it cheap. However The Voss Foundation has some very generous friends and sponsors, making it possible for them to let 100 percent of the sale of prints go towards providing clean water in Africa. The Foundation was also clever in involving Blomquist art dealer/auction house, providing a much more upmarket environment than such pictures normally are displayed in. Photojournalism is usually set well apart from the art marked, at least here in Norway. And art photos would invariably be silver bromide prints. Not so in this case. Welcome to 2009: shot on digital colour, printed in black and white from file. Big no-no amongst black and white buffs. Yet here we are, little red dots appearing under the pictures. That tells me the buyers liked the pictures, regardless of the tools used to make them. I'd say that is a good thing, the image being the decisive factor, it's more about seeing than about the process.

Photojournalism is often valued for the apparent immediate information gained from quickly looking at a picture. By exhibiting at Blomquist The Voss Foundation draws a different crowd. Who also, put bluntly, expect the prices to be high, and are not put off by it. Some may simply want to support the foundation, but I hope and expect many of the buyers will also appreciate Stuart Franklins pictures as great pictures. And that is why they buy a print at $5.000. To have on their wall, perhaps to enjoy, perhaps to contemplate. And to give that picture a much longer life than it would have in a newspaper or magazine. Perhaps an unplanned contribution by The Voss Foundation is the introduction of photojournalism to the art establishment in Norway. One can hope.

To create lasting pictures is a real challenge for photojournalists. To find new markets for them is perhaps even harder. But those who do may survive the culling our business is seeing these days.