{"id":4615,"date":"2025-04-25T21:01:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T21:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/aipads-photography-show-highlights-vintage-icons-at-accesible-prices\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T21:01:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T21:01:20","slug":"aipads-photography-show-highlights-vintage-icons-at-accesible-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/aipads-photography-show-highlights-vintage-icons-at-accesible-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"AIPAD\u2019s Photography Show Highlights Vintage Icons at Accesible Prices"},"content":{"rendered":"
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AIPAD The Photography Show 2025. Andy Romer Photography 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opening on Wednesday night, May 23, at the Park Avenue Armory, The Photography Show presented by AIPAD is the longest-running fair dedicated to photography in the world. Anchored by the seasoned members of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), this year\u2019s edition also features a fresh cohort of emerging and established dealers presenting work in New York through Sunday, with participants traveling from across the globe.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOn one of the first gorgeous spring days in New York City, it was fabulous to see a line around the block for our VIP preview!\u201d AIPAD director Lydia Melamed Johnson<\/a> told Observer the following day. \u201cThe energy throughout the fair has been palpable for our first two days. We\u2019re thrilled to see great transactions happening\u2014even amidst a difficult moment for our markets and our world\u2014and the momentum feels great. The response has been so encouraging for the medium of photography.\u201d<\/p>\n

A walk through the bustling aisles on opening night made two things clear\u2014one encouraging, the other more concerning: iconic names in photography remain in high demand and at relatively accessible prices, but opportunities for experimentation or innovation in the medium feel notably restrained. The crowd, made up of genuine photography enthusiasts (a notably different audience from typical art fairs) and the sub-$50,000 price point, likely fueled the buying frenzy. Dealers were seen pulling works from portfolios nonstop, and many exhibitors reported both private and institutional acquisitions by day two.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a great fair so far!\u201d Tom Gitterman<\/a> of Gitterman Gallery told Observer. \u201cSales have been strong, and the audience seems excited to be here and appreciates the diversity of work being exhibited.\u201d The New York dealer showed provocative black-and-white portraits by Diane Arbus<\/a>\u2014Female Impersonator with Jewels<\/em> from 1958 priced at $30,000\u2014as well as several Nan Goldin<\/a> photographs under $10,000, and surreal early experiments like Fran\u00e7ois Kollar\u2019s 1933 gelatin silver print, priced at $7,500.<\/p>\n

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The Photography Show presented by AIPAD, the longest-running fair dedicated to photography in the world, is taking place April 23-27, 2025 at the Park Avenue Armory. Andy Romer Photography 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across booths, the fair reaffirmed its strength in vintage gems\u2014some by canonical figures, others ripe for rediscovery\u2014often priced under $10,000, a striking contrast to their counterparts in the contemporary art market. At Stephen Daiter Gallery (Chicago), for instance, one could acquire works by Elliott Erwitt<\/a>, a seminal figure in post-WWII photojournalism and member of Magnum Photos, for around $10,000\u2014including iconic shots of Jacqueline Kennedy<\/a> at her husband\u2019s funeral and delightfully offbeat scenes from Arkansas beauty pageants and New Orleans street life.<\/p>\n

Names that recur across the fair\u2019s booths include pillars of American photography: from Weegee<\/a>\u2019s surrealist exercises in urban voyeurism to the refined, fetishistic surfaces of Irving Penn<\/a> and the spatial psychodramas of Nan Goldin\u2014who, notably, joined Gagosian\u2019s roster last year.<\/p>\n

Among the standout works on view opening night was George Platt Lynes<\/a>\u2019s The Lovers, Laurie Douglas and William Harbach<\/em> (1947), a cinematic sequence of romantic moments fragmented across still frames, in the unfolding of an intimate narrative between two figures through scenes of tension, nudity, and vulnerability on a bed ofchoreographed sensuality. Presented by Keith de Lellis Gallery, the piece was priced at $145,000. Also at Keith de Lellis, a vintage gelatin print by Anthony Barboza<\/a>\u2014Ming Smith, NYC<\/em> (1970s)\u2014used overlay to explore psychological perceptions of urban life, priced at $9,500. Nearby, Barbara Morgan<\/a>\u2019s photomontage City Shell<\/em>\u2014a surreal overlay of a seashell on an urban streetscape\u2014offered a striking reminder of the medium\u2019s experimental roots, priced at $25,000.<\/p>\n

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George Platt Lynes, The Lovers \u2013 Laurie Douglas and William Harbac<\/em>h, 1947; 18 Vintage Silver Gelatin Prints, 7.5\u201d x 7. Courtesy Keith De Lellis Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fair didn\u2019t shy away from historical titans, either. At Michael Hoppen Gallery\u2019s booth, a conceptual photomontage titled Jealousy<\/em> by L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Moholy-Nagy was shown alongside works by Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz, Brassa\u00ef, August Sander<\/a>, Otto Steinert<\/a>, Robert Doisneau<\/a> and Henri Cartier-Bresson, presented by Galerie Johannes Faber (Vienna).<\/p>\n

A solo spotlight on Larry Fink<\/a> (1941\u20132023) presented voyeuristic, unfiltered portraits of societal rituals. Curated by Peter Barberie<\/a>, interim head of Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the show was organized by the MUUS Collection, a private foundation focused on American photography archives from the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Among the galleries debuting at AIPAD, London-based LARGE GLASS presented a solo booth for Italian photographer Guido Guidi<\/a>, known for his contemplative, meditative images of everyday objects and spaces, offering a lyrical stillness that rivals Luigi Ghirri. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some great museum groups come by, and I\u2019m encouraged by how many people already know Guidi\u2019s work,\u201d gallery director Charlotte Schepke<\/a> told Observer. \u201cI felt responsible for bringing European photography to this fair; Guidi is underrepresented in American collections despite being the most sought-after living photographer in Italy. I feel we\u2019ve made a real impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Bruce Silverstein reported to Observer to have closed already few great by the second day, including a work by Sarah Sense, Alligator Dreams, for $30,000. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of foot traffic here already! People seem happy to be here,\u201d said Bruce Silverstein.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Oscura Gallery from Santa Fe gave a snapshot of their upcoming show featuring New York-based photographer Lynn Stern<\/a>, who will open at the gallery in June. Influenced by abstract expressionist painting and working as a lens-based photographer, Stern views photography as a medium of light and not representation, and aims to make visible what is invisible. Reversing the \u201cPictorialist\u201d approach to photography, this luminosity indirectly characterizes her pictures; natural light connects all of her 30 series, regardless of the subject matter. \u201cCollectors and visitors flocked to Obscura\u2019s booth at the show\u2019s preview to view Lynn\u2019s two large-format luminous works from her Quickening<\/i> and Force Field<\/i> series \u2013 rare abstract works at the show,\u201d Jennifer Schlesinger, Obscura Gallery Founder and Director, told Observer. Stern\u2019s work is already included in museum collections worldwide, among them the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Victoria & Albert Museum.<\/p>\n

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Larry Fink, Grace Jones, Los Angeles, CA, January 1994<\/em>. (C) LARRY FINK \/ MUUS Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still, the fair lacked a sense of urgency around discovery despite its press release promise of \u201can emphasis on emerging artists, young galleries and new curatorial approaches.\u201d Few booths showcased work pushing photography forward, even in the fair\u2019s revised, reenvisioned Discovery Sector, raising a larger question about the medium\u2019s future and its role in defining it.<\/p>\n

Some rare exceptions stood out for their conceptual ambition and poetic sensitivity. As part of the Aperture Prize exhibition, Iranian photographer Hashem Shakeri<\/a> presented cinematic, psychologically charged images exploring identity, displacement and ecological anxiety in contemporary Iran. Globally exhibited at venues like Les Rencontres d\u2019Arles and Somerset House, and featured in The New York Times, Le Monde and Time, Shakeri uses photography as a quiet but resonant form of resistance.<\/p>\n

Mexican photographer Tania Franco Klein<\/a> (b. 1990) also stood out with a solo booth at Rose Gallery. Her saturated, psychologically rich images straddle the line between staged drama and observational documentary, grappling with societal anxiety and the surreal textures of modern life. Also featured at Yancey Richardson Gallery, Klein\u2019s works range in price from $7,000 to $27,000. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to be highlighting Tania Franco Klein\u2019s work ahead of her inclusion in this year\u2019s New Photography<\/em> series at MoMA,\u201d told Observer <\/em>the gallery Associate director, Jaushua Rombaoa<\/a>\u00a0\u201cVisitors have been intrigued by the way she installed the booth\u2014she brings an architect\u2019s precision and a lyrical narrative to her presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tania Franco Klein, Eggs, fork, and flies (self-portrait), 2022. copyright Tania Franco Klein courtesy ROSEGALLERY<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yancey Richardson also spotlighted two additional recent additions to their roster: Maria Antelman<\/a> and Jenny Calivas<\/a>. \u201cThis year\u2019s Photography Show looks better than ever. We\u2019ve had a particularly strong response to our curation of female photographers working with the body,\u201d said a gallery rep. \u201cJenny recently entered the Whitney\u2019s collection, and Tania is entering MoMA\u2019s, so institutional interest is strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

CLAMP Gallery brought a refreshingly bold mix of established names and younger artists, including a 2022 work by Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber: a staged, surreal image of a subway train stranded in sand, priced at $22,000 (edition of 15). \u201cLast night felt like the old days\u2014there was an incredible crowd,\u201d said the gallery\u2019s founder, Brian Paul Clamp<\/a>. \u201cInstitutional curators have come through, and the mood is buoyant.\u201d By the end of opening day, the Brooklyn-based gallery had sold a Robert Mapplethorpe self-portrait and an Arlene Gottfried vintage print.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What is the future of photography and its market?<\/h3>\n
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The Photography Show showcases exceptional presentations by esteemed members of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), along with guest exhibitors and galleries new to the fair. Andy Romer Photography 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Unlike Paris Photo, which last year had already extensively expanded on the digital side<\/a>, The Photography Show appears to remain largely anchored in the past of photography, without questioning or embracing the potential evolution of the photographic image into a more digital and multimedia dimension\u2014one that might more easily engage younger audiences. What struck me was a broader identity crisis within the medium itself, reminiscent of the anxiety that surfaced when photography first emerged and was feared as the death of traditional art, particularly painting. But this isn\u2019t new: photography had already undergone a similar reckoning with the advent of cinema, which transformed the still, crystallized moment into a continuous, moving one.<\/p>\n

The arrival of digital tools\u2014set against the tactile legacy of analog\u2014has only deepened and complicated this crisis, unlocking new expressive possibilities beyond realism. At the same time, it has made photography almost too available, too ubiquitous, too easily consumed\u2014both as a medium and as a product\u2014to retain the elusive aura that once set it apart.<\/p>\n

This brings us back to a fundamental question: What is photography today, and what does it mean? More importantly, what can still be its market, on the collectible side? In a world ruled by images, photography is paradoxically everywhere\u2014ubiquitous as visual output, yet becoming almost invisible as an artistic medium.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

According to an Artnet<\/em> report, vintage photography dominated the top end of the photography market in 2024, with prints by historical figures like Edward Weston<\/a> and Richard Avedon<\/a> leading auction results. Still, the highest prices were achieved by artists like Richard Prince<\/a>, who has successfully navigated both the contemporary art and photography spheres\u2014his Untitled (Cowboy)<\/em> sold at the 21st Century Evening Sale in New York last November. At that same auction, an iconic photograph by William Eggleston<\/a> was also sold for $1,441,500. The result was followed by an entire white-glove sale dedicated to Eggleston\u2019s dye-transfer printer\u2019s proofs from the collection of Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli, which closed at Phillips last March<\/a> with a total of $5,665,950\u2014setting a new auction record for the artist with Los Alamos (101 prints), 1965\u20131974<\/em>, selling for $1,875,000.<\/p>\n

Even beyond the auction world and its canonized names, the global digital photography market is projected to reach $50.215 billion. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.20 percent between 2024 and 2031. Experts attribute this potential growth to rising interest in photography as an art form and the expanding influence of technology, including A.I. integration\u2014an aspect almost entirely absent from this year\u2019s fair.<\/p>\n

While the fair had an extensive section dedicated to photography books\u2014another medium through which photography circulates and gets collected\u2014there were no screens presenting other possible evolutions of the medium integrating digital realities, to explore its future evolution at the intersection with technology and digitalisation.<\/p>\n

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Photography emerges from a world perpetually waiting to be documented, born from the desire\u2014and perhaps the illusion\u2014to capture and preserve it in an image that might withstand the erosion of time. Yet beneath its surface immediacy, the medium harbors deep complexity, continually grappling with society\u2019s shifting behaviors and collective consciousness, absorbing and translating their evolution over time.<\/p>\n

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AIPAD also debuts its reenvisioned Discovery Sector for the 2025 edition of The Photography Show. Andy Romer Photography 2025<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

More interestingly, it\u2019s worth recalling that photography originated as a medium closely tied to scientific research\u2014an extension of humankind\u2019s impulse to capture, control, and impose order on the generative chaos of nature that surrounds our existence. From the outset, however, there has also been a parallel drive to challenge the medium creatively, to explore its expressive and imaginative potential beyond the purely documentary. Historically, this has been pursued not only through experimentation with the camera and the act of shooting but also through the process of bringing the image to life\u2014developing it on a chosen surface, printing it in a specific manner, and determining how it is ultimately displayed. The possibilities for extending and manipulating an image\u2019s meaning are nearly infinite, shaped by everything from saturation and resolution to the context or surface in which the photograph is presented.<\/p>\n

Shooting a photo, traditionally, means fixing a moment in time\u2014but also stealing it, imprisoning it in a continuous present. A continuous present that, by its very nature, implies evolution of the medium\u2014something photography fairs and collecting platforms may need to actively embrace if they hope to remain relevant in the future.<\/p>\n

If a fair\u2019s role is to present the medium\u2019s current state and spark dialogue about its future, then a selection like the one at this year\u2019s The Photography Show\u2019s conservative approach raises more questions than it answers about the future of the medium, and its market.<\/p>\n

The Photography Show<\/a> runs at Park Avenue Armory through Sunday, May 27.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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