Limited editions are crucial to artists. Traditionally, this was associated with printmaking (as only a finite number of prints can be made before the block wears out), but with mechanical processes such as photography, artificial limits are imposed on the number of copies of an artwork.
Today, the photobook is increasingly important to photographers as an art object in its own right. As such, it, like prints, is now often produced as a limited edition.
For most artists, the primary aim of limited editions is to make the artist more widely known by:
• increasing sales - scarcity encourages collectors to buy early
• increasing recognition - scarcity encourages interest in the artist's work.
This is a virtuous circle, each of the above elements driving the other: by limiting the supply of their work, the artist aims to increase both the appreciation and sales of their artwork in general.
Assuming initial breakthrough, i.e. people notice the photographer in the first instance, the net result is an ongoing rise in recognition and sales for the now established artist.
Regarding your comment about copies being "scalped off" at high prices and that the artist doesn't benefit: I wholly disagree. Most artists are entirely happy with this because they do benefit from the secondary market. Prints by some photographers (e.g.
Rhine II by Gursky) sell for millions, and it has been said the artist gains nothing in such cases. But that's not true, although the artist doesn't of course get a cut of these sales, the collectibility of the work feeds into the aforementioned virtuous circle - so the artist's reputation gathers further momentum along with interest in their other work (which they can sell at higher prices).
Case study: The Afronauts by Christine de Middel
In 2011, the photographer Christine de Middel published a book of her project
The Afronauts - a whimsical exploration of a long-forgotten 1964 Zambian space programme in which Africa would be the first nation to send man to the moon (using a giant catapult!).
I thought the book was brilliant, and bought a signed copy from her for £40.
I wasn't the only one to be captivated by the book, and soon it was being talked about everywhere, with articles and interviews in national newspapers, etc. The project later became one of the four finalists for the one of the premier contemporary photography awards: the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize.
De Middel had self-published
The Afronauts book in a limited edition of 1000, and was adamant that there would be no reprints. As her project became more widely known, this decision paid off, and the book became highly sought after, which in itself created further interest in de Middel. Unsigned copies now sell for
about $2000, and signed copies for more (there's one on Amazon for $3400), and prices are still creeping upward.
The Afronauts made de Middel widely known in contemporary photography circles - hugely more so than before. The meteoric rise of her project was due in large part to her decision to make the book a limited edition.
De Middel is aware that there is still huge interest in her book, and that it is unaffordable to most. She still refuses to reprint because that would damage her reputation. However, to ensure her work is seen as widely as possible while not alienating collectors, she has made a cheap
iPad app of the book available. She has also a sanctioned a
free PDF of the book.
