What is Fine Art Photography

Fine art photography is a term that is used to describe many things. As someone once said, "I can't tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it. The general consensus in the art community is that fine art photography refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism which provides visual support for stories and commercial photography with a focus on selling a product or service. Whatever fine art photography is, a market has been built around it with some amazing results.

Looking at Art Market Trends 2004 you will find that 7,000 photographs were sold in auction rooms in 2004, and the fine art photography market averaged a 7.6 percent annual price rise from 1994 and 2004. Around 80 percent of these prints were sold in the USA. Does this mean the fine art photography is an American phenomenon created by the American love of pop culture and multi-media? Whatever the cause there is now a thriving collectors' market for which the most sought-after art photographers will produce high quality archival prints in strictly limited editions.

In spite of the relative success of photography in the American art market, attempts by online art retailers to sell fine photography to the general public have had mixed results, with strong sales coming only from the traditional "big names" of photography such as Ansel Adams. I know from my own experience that most of my sales come from gallery shows with only a small portion of sales coming from the internet, however, the internet does seem to provide a good way to promote artwork.

As I said in the beginning of this post, "I don't know what it is, but I know it when I see it." If anyone can come up with a good definition of fine art photography the world will rejoice.