How much is art worth, what someone is willing to pay for it? That seems like too easy an answer, a cop out of sorts, at least in my head. We have purchased art, and we have paid as much as $600. for a piece we really liked, but for the most part I have come to the conclusion that much of art is overvalued and overpriced. We have been to exhibits and galleries where the art, even though it has been on display for an extended period, have no red sale dots next to any of the pieces.
Two years ago when two of my photos were chosen for the Durham Art Guild Fall show, I had to price the pieces for sale. I truly had no clue what to submit as an asking price. I consulted the owner of a frame shop who did my prints, which were quite large, 20×30, and he said that if I was better known, around $600. to $700. each, but if I wanted them to sell, somewhere between $300. and $400. I priced them at $375., and of the over fifty pieces in the show, mine were two of twelve or so that sold. It was more important to have them out in the world than to make a huge sum off the sale, or, even worse, to carry them home. And I still don’t know who purchased them, but it doesn’t matter.
All of this gets me back to my zines. I never intended to sell them, even though I let a local shop carry the first two for a short while. Circumstances have changed that dynamic. First, the cost of getting them printed has gone up about a third. The second factor is I am putting them out there in October at a zine festival in Durham, and of course I have to arrive at a price. I have good friends who are in the art world, curators and collectors, who said $20-25. each. Even if that is remotely close to what they could be worth to a few people, that price does not make them available to more people with less disposable income. I have an online photographer friend who runs a zine shop in Albuquerque. He and I have traded zines and so he is familiar with mine in particular, and the market in general. He recommended $10-15, which sounded way better. So the verdict is $10. If I don’t think my work is worth something, then who will. And if they don’t sell, I can still give them away, because having them out in the world is still important to me.
Cheers!
camera zenscura 