The True Value of Photography — Part One

Next to marketing and promotion, pricing work is one of the harder things for an artist to do, and this is magnified for those new to the scene.

It seems that for every rational reason to give an artwork a specific monetary value, there’s an equally fair argument to lower the price from a business perspective. This is a sticky situation, because without sales there's no business. So what do you do in an attempt to make sales? You lower the price to be more competitive. The trouble is, this way of thinking is perpetual among a huge proportion of new artists (myself included, i’ve stumbled into this trap) and we collectively end up crashing the market value of the whole scene. To make things harder, there isn't a fixed formula for pricing your art. Unlike other consumer goods that have specific metrics to make comparisons with the competition, art is subjective to the buyer and the creation is unique from artist to artist. 

All that being said though, there are a few considerations that shouldn't be overlooked when pricing your images. 

Time is Money

Being an artist isn’t like having a ‘normal’ job. Artists don’t provide a service, they sell a product — a product that has no real physical function. A picture won't get you from point A to point B, you can't sit on it after a long day, and it doesn't play music or movies. Obviously for art lovers and collectors this is irrelevant, but for the average person on the street their fundamental reason to buy a piece of artwork is, quite simply, because they like the look of it. 

Take this example into consideration, when you buy an item of clothing it's presumable you already know when you’ll wear it, what you’ll wear it with, and how often you’re likely to wear it. All of this goes into the purchase justification. I believe this is where undervaluing art stems from, because realistically once it gets put on display it becomes part of the furniture. 

So how the heck are you supposed to justify your price?

Are you familiar with the saying 'it's not about the destination, it's about the journey'? Remind yourself of this every time you start to create a new piece because that is the foundation of your justification. Producing art takes time — and time, as we know, is our most valuable commodity because we can't make more of it. Once it's gone, it's gone. The whole construct of working is based on time, unless it's a specialist job you'll have an hourly rate. So in theory, the hours spent creating your art should all go into the pricing pot. 

“But wait…if that’s the case then as the artist becomes more experienced, they'll also become more efficient with their time. So according to the theory they'd be making less, right?”

Well, no. This is where experience becomes your safety net — something you wouldn't have without time! Legend has it Picasso was sketching in a park when he was approached by a woman who insisted he draw her portrait. Picasso quickly produced a sketch and offered it to the woman for $5,000USD. She questioned his price, proclaiming it had only taken him seconds, to which Picasso replied ‘Madame, it took me my entire life.’ 

All of the hours, years even, spent studying your craft is value towards your artwork’s price. You may reach a point where you can produce quality work quickly or off the cuff, but you’re able to do this because of the time you’ve already invested into honing your skills. 

The Art of Taking Away

In most other art forms you start with nothing and make something. Photography works in the opposite way. A photographer has everything in front of them, far more than they need actually. A completely three-dimensional plane of possibility. It is their job to be selective with the composition and remove everything that distracts from the focal point, therefore enhancing the story being told. This is the photographer’s artistic process, and I think it’s often forgotten about when the photo is taken. Consider it the same as a painter laying the base layers on a canvas, or a sculpture selecting the material they want to work with. These are key variables that have a direct impact on the aesthetics of the end result. 

The process doesn’t end with a push of the shutter button either. I used to feel like I was cheating because you have this device that does everything for you, but the camera only captures what the technology allows it to capture. It doesn’t register light and colour the same way the human optics do, and it certainly doesn’t know what your artistic vision is for the photo. It is simply a tool. It’s up to the photographer to apply and enhance their vision in the final edit. Which, to tie into my last point, takes time. 

Pushing the Boundaries

Finally there's the accessibility of photography, just another factor to undervaluing your work. If you own a phone, then you own a camera. Couple this with social media, and the amount of photos being taken around the world at any given time is always at its peak. Landmarks and points of interest in particular have been snapped and selfied hundreds, thousands, millions, maybe even billions of times. The clean cut, traditional angle doesn't cut it anymore. Now the photographer has to get creative because no one wants to buy a photo they could have taken, have already taken, or has been taken by every tourist that passes by. 

The job of the photographer now requires them to take photos that are outside of a regular person's comfort zone — whether that’s being up while others sleep to get the best light and/or least crowds, trekking up mountains or deep into forests, enduring harsh weather conditions, or taking an extended amount of time to study a subject to capture the most interesting and unique angle. The originality of your image is something you should never overlook, especially if you have gone above and beyond in order to take it. 

If you're an artist that struggles to price your work I hope these considerations help moving forward. Your talent is worth something, and at the very least so is your time. And if you're not an artist, I hope this given a better understanding and appreciation not just for photography’s value, but for all art’s value.

Stay tuned for part two where I'll look at some high value images and breakdown (using my best guesstimating skills) how or why the photographer landed at that price.