4 pros and a collector advise you to invest in photography News

The photograph, the 8th art, has the wind in its sails. Despite some record-breaking prices, it is still possible to have fun with good prospects of promotion in term. Advice of four professionals and a collector.

over The years, photography has become an area full of art museums devoted to it, galleries, specialty are open in the world and vacations are regularly organized by the major auction houses.

Number of events were also held, including the inevitable trade fairs, Paris Photo and Fotofever in November or, now, the Month of photography-Off in April of next year, all three in Paris.

Side collectors, the demand is high. But the richness of the offer has enough to confuse the beginner, especially as the range of prices is very wide.

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If it is easy to find beautiful prints for less than eur 1 000, certain signatures, such as the American Cindy Sherman (born 1954), reach several million euros.

So, is it possible to collect without breaking the bank ? Can we make fun of it while hoping, in the event of resale, realize a capital gain or, more modestly, not to lose money ? Above all, what should we prioritise ?

To answer your questions, we sought the guidance of undisputed experts : the specialist photo of a large house of sales, director of Fotofever, a couple of gallerists and a collector seasoned. Without forgetting to give you our own beating heart because, in terms of art, to buy, it is above all a matter of taste !

"The worst mistake : investing following the rules of the stock Exchange,"

Philippe and Marion Jacquier, creators of the gallery Light pink

"neither the size Nor the signature are important, it is the beauty of the picture that counts", report Philippe and Marion Jacquier, who oversee the only gallery in the world specialized in the photo anonymous.

Before you get started, the amateur must learn, exercise its gaze, reading what he can, wandering in galleries, fairs and auction rooms. Then he will be carried away by its impressions to pass the act. It is not necessary to have large means to build a cohesive collection of at least thirty pieces.

For 200 to 300 euros, it is possible to find very beautiful pictures of anonymous and co-mingle with events of the great names. "Thus, we can acquire views from the Paris of the Nineteenth century or the first half of the Twentieth without a signature and mix them with a photo of the capital by Atget, or Brassaï, purchased several thousands of euros," advises the couple. All will make sense.

Finally, it is necessary to banish "collecting CAC-40" is to purchase based on the quotes and recommendations to managers of artistic heritage in the hope of making a (potential) gain on the resale. Photo, the best advise remains the heart of the collector and not his wallet.

"Bet primarily on the artists of the future"

Cécile Schall, director of the show Fotofever

a key Figure in the world of the photo, Cécile Schall welcomes the growing number of fans and the good health of the market which sees some of the works soar in auction sales. She advises collectors aspiring to "start small" and the focus to artists in the making, whose prices are still very accessible (less than 1 000 euros). Where to find them ? In the galleries and along the major trade fairs.

For a beginner, Paris Photo and Fotofever are the ideal places to confront the incredible diversity and creativity of contemporary creation. As for the gallery owners, they will make him discover the "foals" that they defend. The collection is an "act of support to the artist, a matter of meeting with him," Cécile Schall refutes any idea of investment-speculation controlled by a board in the item "It is necessary to choose first of all what I love, taking care to focus the limited editions or unique." The gain, that comes with the recognition of the photographers, is just a cherry on the cake. Among those that she loves and in which she believes, include the French Edouard Taufenbach (born in 1988) and his photomontages or Corinne Héraud (born in 1971) and inspiration pictorials.

"to Be consistent in its choices and to live with the works that we love"

Nathalie Rossignol, collector warned

from a line of collectors enjoying the Seventeenth-and the Eighteenth century, Nathalie Rossignol is coming to the picture by intellectual curiosity, his first passion is the paint. In the trials of an artist, she seeks, above all, "the trace of his creativity and his presence." This is why, in a first time, she is interested in Pierre and Gilles, the duo formed in 1976, or the American David LaChapelle (born in 1963).

For five years now, the focus is on photographers, yet little known, that it accompanies them in their journey. So it is that she follows with enthusiasm the work of Corinne Héraud, discovered at the galerie Courcelles Art Contemporain.

To this expert, the whole purpose of speculation must be rejected, because "it is the safest way to make the wrong choice". His credo : to build a coherent collection and to live with the works that we love. An ambition for the reach of (almost) all the stock exchanges, a budget of 5 000 to 6 000 euros for oeach piece, offering of exceptional works.

"Don't buy that in small editions for the contemporary creation"

Elodie Morel, head of the department photo of Christie s Paris

For this specialist, the photo market, despite his success, remains healthy and far from any speculation. A condition of forgetting the twenty millionaire auctions for preferred sales more accessible, where it is possible to find prints of very high quality for less than € 10 000.

His council not to be mistaken ? "Aim at the qualitative rather than the quantitative, and buy photos known." It's better to have a beautiful event, certainly more expensive, the famous Rue Mouffetard (1954), Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), rather than one of the same artist, even very beautiful, but more anonymous. The reasoning applies to Robert Doisneau (1912-1994) or Willy Ronis (1910-2009).

Another recommendation : do not acquire that in small editions for the contemporary creation. Beyond thirty copies, a photo will not, in fact, seen more as a work of art On which sectors to target, the mode is a highly sought-after, major exhibitions, helping to increase the odds of a photographer, as was the case for the American Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). Furthermore, if the enthusiasm for the Nineteenth century and the beginning of the Twentieth century is a bit crowded, one can still be interested in the pictorials movement or the photography of victorian, particularly in the portraits of Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879).

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