buying amateur art?

back alley

back alley

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how do you feel about buying amateur art?
specifically about buying photographic prints from a 'no name' shooter?

does a small part of you say to yourself…'i could do that!' and so you pass up the buy.
i'm curious, very curious as i've seen a few brave members here put their images up for sale on the rff classifieds but have not seen much public action.
maybe the purchases are going on privately…and if so i wonder why that would be.

part of my curiosity involves what i think is the reverse action…that we like to buy gear from each other, leading me to what i think we all partly (at least) believe, that we are a gear site, a hobby site and not so much of an image site.
 
To be honest, most of the work I like is outside my casual spending price range. Not much of the work posted for sale here resonates with me to the point where I'd want to buy a piece to hang. I've purchased a few photo books from photographers on RFF and others from local photographers.

That said, there are a few photographers who have talked about selling pieces here. I keep an eye out as I'd buy some of their photos in a heartbeat if offered at a reasonable price.
 
All art is amateur Joe. I have certainly bought prints from "unknown" photographers - on one occasion, I have actually been the first ever customer... This is also why I would not buy something I don't like, no matter how hyped it would be. Read: most of modern art.
 
Purchasing Art is very personal..the internet is very impersonal. I see much that I like in various sales and cafes but I never think 'i could do that'
I usually think 'I can`t afford that'.
 
I generally dont look or buy from amateurs, but I did it in the past, and will very likely do it in the future as well.
 
back alley said:
how do you feel about buying amateur art?
specifically about buying photographic prints from a 'no name' shooter?

does a small part of you say to yourself…'i could do that!' and so you pass up the buy.
Click to expand...


Well, how about paintings? The abstract ones in our living room are wonderful in our opinion, and we bought them from a local artist around Garda lake while on holiday in Italy. We had never heard her name but very much liked her work. I don't see why it should be any different with photography.

And yes, a big, not small, part of me says "I could do that", and this applies to famous photographers' images too. But the sad reality is.. I could, but didn't, do that ;-)
 
back alley said:
how do you feel about buying amateur art?
specifically about buying photographic prints from a 'no name' shooter?

does a small part of you say to yourself…'i could do that!' and so you pass up the buy.
Click to expand...
The status or name of the artist makes no difference to me, except I may be unable to afford art by a well-known artist.
 
It depends...I wouldn't buy prints of that famous photograph of green grass and part of river, but also wouldn't spring for most of amateur pictures.

Decision-wise, it's easy - if I like it and can pay for it, no problem if photographer is an amateur or even one who has bought his first camera.

If it's just pretty I'm not buying. If it's something evoking deeper feelings - yes. Generally, paying for prints has to be learned as most of people think, hey, give me a camera like he has and I can do not worse.
 
I have bought amateur art - carvings, photos, glass art. I have also sold about 15 prints to a person who hung them in his house. I agree with btgc about the photograph of green grass and part of a river. It depends if I like it and can afford it.
 
We've bought paintings made by local people, when we think we'll enjoy seeing them daily for several years.

Neither of us has ever seen a photo by someone else that we'd pay for, whether they're famous or not.
 
I buy amateur art. Always have. I cannot afford "real art". I have bought from high school students, art students and non pro RFFers, painters who display their work in outback places. The old rule of thumb regarding art that I heard was - buy what you like. I would hate to have to try any buy for an "investment".

If I look back at my purchase history, I think I have chosen 2 "winners" if they were sold on.

The first was an art students final work. I found her through a one week exhibition in Mackay. She displayed a very simple charcoal sketch of an a seated bare breasted overweight lady holding a basket. It was presented in the cheapest frame you can imagine ( I still have it). I bought it on the spot and went home. My boyfriend loved it too. I went back to see if she had anymore works to find the exhibition closed with no details. I hassled everyone I knew to find out her last name and then hit the phone book. She was a single mum, ex art student and really struggling. When I got to her place I found She had dozens of canvases (? Spelling). Nothing impressed me as the charcoal drawing. I was on my way out and noticed a large canvas facing the wall and asked what it was. She said it was her final year project that she was just about to paint over. I asked for a look and almost fainted. I bought it for it's still life properties of a baking dish with vegetables, as I put it in the car is realised it was a naked female torso in the dish. It is like one of those illusion things you look at. Initially, you see one thing, and then you can only see the real thing.

The other "winner" was a pastel painting. I got a phone call from my mum saying that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer. At the time I lived in Mackay and she lived in Brisbane. At the time, I did not know what modern medicine could do, so I packed the bf and our kids (both under 3) into the car to go down for the loooooonnngggg drive and say goodbye to the old dear. The young one decided to get an upset belly so we had many stops along the way. One was at a small town called Gin Gin. I desperately needed to get away from the child food and *** scenario, so I went to the Gin Gin rail Museum arts and craft shop ( I really was desperate). Wandered around. There was one pastel work that was so good that I could not believe it. It was $200. I bought it and gave it to my mum before her surgery. She said it was something to live for. She has a friend who "invests" in art. He saw the painting and punched the air with his fist. My mother still lives.

So yes Joe. I am happy to pay for amateur art.
 
I just buy what I like, and can afford. I've bought paintings from people I've never heard of, quite simply, I'm not buying art, I'm buying wall decoration.
 
I have a fair found photograph collection and I trade quite a bit of art with other artists, including photography. I'm quite excited to be picking up some really great work from one of my favourite Japanese photographers in April. I don't think her primary source of income is her work, so I guess you could caller an amateur.

I'm running up a little collection which is pretty modest since I travel so much, but I enjoy a lot. One of the only perks about being a professional artist is that you can swap with other artists, so I've rarely bought anything. If I did have a normal job with an expendable income I would still definitely buy what I could.

For me personally I especially like collecting amateur work because often there's a lot more experimentation at the beginning of a career that I think is really exciting to support. Unfortunately these days most people in creative professions end up having to narrow and refine their practices to have a marketable signature which I think stunts a lot of potential innovation in the long run. So yeah, I think supporting amateurs is a great thing - so long as you support really good, and really motivated people.

Wether I could do it myself or not is kind of a stupid question - photography is about ideas and storytelling. Typing out Hamlet doesn't make someone Shakespeare.
 
First, we are most definitely a gear forum.

I buy many more books than single pieces of art. I personally have very little use for hangable art (as stated above, only for decoration around the house and that is an extremely constrained filter to pass - my wife !), but I enjoy viewing book art over and over.
 
Like many here, I suspect, I have a number of my own prints up around our home but thats simply because its a cheap option and my wife likes them (so long as its not random strangers on the street. ) We do also have some prints from other photographers, both here and elsewhere, that I really enjoy being able to see everyday. I think the only factors that affect whether I'd buy amateur art are: can I honestly afford it and do I like it enough to pay that much?

One of the biggest problems with amateur art is pricing. Some underprice their work whilst others seem to outprice the aforementioned Gursky.

Perhaps, at least at RFF, print swaps really are the way forward. Certainly as looking at your own shots isn't as interesting as looking at the pictures of others. IMO :)
 
For me it does not have anything to do with the name (or no-name). If I like it - I buy. There were situations when I asked people if they were ready to sell what they have posted on the web although they did not even consider it could be for sale. In most cases those "amateurs" were happy to send me high resolution files for free although I was always offering money.
 
back alley said:
how do you feel about buying amateur art?
specifically about buying photographic prints from a 'no name' shooter?

does a small part of you say to yourself…'i could do that!' and so you pass up the buy.
i'm curious, very curious as i've seen a few brave members here put their images up for sale on the rff classifieds but have not seen much public action.
maybe the purchases are going on privately…and if so i wonder why that would be.

part of my curiosity involves what i think is the reverse action…that we like to buy gear from each other, leading me to what i think we all partly (at least) believe, that we are a gear site, a hobby site and not so much of an image site.
Click to expand...

I buy and I trade prints with other photographers, known or not. It's all a matter of whether I like a print.

G
 
If no one buys an amateurs prints, then how do they go about becoming a "professional"?

I have to agree with Brian Legge, most prints I've seen here in the classifieds are out of my price range
That being said, I've never sold a print in my life. I've gifted many prints to family and friends.

Some of us just do it for fun, and I consider myself more of a tinker-type than anything...
Is it odd that ide much rather be known for my creations, than my photos?

Edit: on a side note, how does an "amateur" go about pricing a print?
 
personally a regular photo print doesn't do anything for me.
if it a canvas or framed then maybe i might be interested.

likewise, if someone asks for some of my photos, i just don't go make a 8x12 print and hand it to them but also ask how they wanted it presented.
 
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