Report from AIPAD (The Association of International Photography Art Dealers)
If you’ve never been to AIPAD, it’s like entering a geek festival for photography collectors and historians and people who can talk endlessly about how many 11×14 prints exist from Robert Frank’s “The Americans;” or if Helen Levitt really knew what she was doing in the last years of her life, signing all those “Vintage” prints that were brought to her apartment door when she wasn’t at her sharpest; or who was a better printer of Edward Weston’s work: Edward, Brett or Cole? While wandering around each booth space you will perhaps hear all these discussions and more, but mostly dealers talking to potential buyers about the prints that each artist on their roster has for sale, and try to close the deal. Make no mistake, more than anything, this show is for selling fine art.
I went to look for new photographers (or photographers I had not heard much about) for this blog and for American Photo. Here are some photographers that had some really interesting work at the show in no particular order:
Jen Davis (Obesity, body image, love.)
Julie Mack (Strange images from her family life in Michigan. Staged but somehow natural in feeling and tone.)
Gregory Scott (combines Video and Photography into a single frame)
Holly Andres (Beautiful work about the innocence of childhood and fantasy and Nancy Drew too.)
Cig Harvey (Simple, mysterious, lush, lovely.)
Vee Speers (Haunting portraits. Heavily retouched and dropped into landscapes.)
Other cool things that I saw: A burned print of a bus boy sitting next to Bobby Kennedy’s lifeless body, moments after Kennedy had been shot.
One Response to “Report from AIPAD (The Association of International Photography Art Dealers)”
Katie Fulton says:
March 21, 2010 at 6:53 pm
I have seen Cig Harvey’s Apple and the gingham dress somewhere, Its driving me nuts but I can’t figure out where I saw it!! I love his work, as well as Holly Andres! Thanks for posting this!