1. ‘Afghan Girl, 1984’ by Steve McCurry
‘FrankSinatraontheBoardwa
lk, 1968’by Terry O’Neill
‘The Rhien II’
by Andreas Gursky
THERISEOFTH
E
INVESTOR-COLLEC
TOR

2. Photographs in the Ascendant
In recent years the photography market has moved from a niche, connoisseur led
collecting field to being accepted and consolidated as part of the mainstream art
market.Various factors have led to this happening: changing taste; the huge uptake
in amateur photography, the quicker dissemination, impact and appreciation of
photographic images as enabled by technology, wider acceptance by the museum and
academic world, an increase in the number of commercial photography galleries and
photography auctions, and an increased number of ‘photography collectors’.These
various factors all feed off each other to a certain extent, but it is also true that the
increased market for photography is a direct result of a wider public appetite for the
medium.
An Appetite for Investment
The purpose of this article is to identify the successful strategies used by those seeking
financial reward from buying photographs and to highlight the potential pitfalls involved.
As with all rising markets, enthusiasm for collecting has resulted in a surge of interest in
the investment potential of collectable photographs. Prices for many artists have risen
sharply in recent decades and a class of ‘investor-collectors’ has arisen who seek to
invest their capital in pictures to both enjoy and make a profit from on resale. In addition,
numerous structured funds have been set up to benefit from the same potential using
research-based investment strategies. Some have failed, some have done well.
Afghan Girl, 1984 by Steve McCurry has
risen in price by over 100% in four years.
This article is not intended to constitute
investment advice, is not a recommendation
to buy, hold or sell any assets described
herein.All content is purely the opinion of
the author.
‘Any collector who purchased
photographs by historically
important photographers prior
to the year 2000 is likely to be
feeling pleased with themselves.’

3. Case Study
Any collector who purchased photographs by historically important photographers
prior to the year 2000 is likely to be feeling pleased with themselves. Prices have risen
exponentially and many ‘early’ collectors of photography are now sitting on considerable
potential assets. Irving Penn (1917-2009) is a famous example.There was a huge rise
in prices in the few years prior to his death.Although the market has cooled a little by
2015, it remains strong and experts still consider him a good investment.
One collector we spoke to who is well-known in the photography market, is something
of a posterboy for wannabe investor-collectors. He started buying for pleasure in the
early 1990s and now owns more than 800 photographs with an estimated value of $30
million, having invested $2 million in the intervening 25 years. He generously shared
some of his successes with us: The rise in price for Irving Penn photographs between 1998 and his death in 2009.Source:Art Market Research.
‘One has to caution any
wild enthusiasm that may be
stating the obvious – many
artists did not see a rise in
prices’
Obviously these are the success stories, and the collector would
need to actually sell each print to prove their worth, but it
nevertheless makes rather a compelling case for photography as an
investment.
Irving Penn, Woman with Roses, 1950
1990 - $4,500, 2015 - $150,000.
Irving Penn, Woman in Moroccan Palace, 1951
1991 - $6,000, 2015 - $800,000.
Horst P Horst, Round the Clock II, 1987
1992 - $3,900, 2015 - $7,000.
Ansel Adams, Monolith Face of Half Dome, 1927
2001 - $2,200, 2015 - $20,000.
Henri Cartier Bresson, Rue Mouffetard, 1954
2001 - $3,600, 2015 - $36,000.
Richard Misrach, Battleground Point No. 14, 1999
2002 - $11,250, 2015 - $50,000.
Horst P Horst, Coco Chanel, 1937
2002 - $2,500, 2015 - $12,000.
William Klein, Smoke and Veil, 1958
2007 - $6,000, 2015 - $20,000.
Richard Avedon, Paris Fashion Portfolio
2008 - $144,000, 2015 - $280,000.
Irving Penn,Woman in Moroccan Palace, 1951.
1991 price - $6,000, 2015 price - $800,000.

4. Frank Sinatra on the Boardwalk, 1968 by Terry O’Neill 40 x 60 inches:
2009 - £7,500
2015 - £18,000
Afghan Girl, 1984 by Steve Mccurry 20 x 24 inches:
2011 - £5,700 (unavailable in 2009)
2014 - £12,000 (subject to availability)
Brasil, 1986 by Sebastião Salgado 20 x 24 inches:
2009 - £5,000
2015 - £6,750
Boy with Pigeons by Vivian Maier 16 x 12 inches:
2011 - £1,350 (unavailable in 2009)
2014 - £3,350
Julie Christie II, 1962 by Terence Donovan 20 x 24 inches:
2009 - £1,200
2014 - £2,800
Boy and Girl by Ruud Van Empel 95 1/2 x 66 1/2 inches:
2009 - £35,000
2015 - £80,000
by stating the obvious – many artists did not see a rise in prices, and many pictures at
auction did not sell at all, including pictures by those artists whose prices have been
seen to generally rise.A bit of luck on the day helps too.
Also, despite this evidence that a well-timed purchase can produce swift rewards, the
overwhelming advice from the art world suggests that a long-term view is best. Five
years is usually the shortest suggested holding period, and most experts consider ten
years to be the minimum realistic period in order to see a useful rise in value.
A More Short Term Opportunity?
As the previous examples show, investors who take a long-term view will generally do
The data for 2014/15 has not yet been published but many photographic artists saw an
impressive rise in value at auction from 2009-2013. For example:
Average auction price realised
Andreas Gursky:
2009 - £150,000
2013 - £500,000
Cindy Sherman
2009 - £35,000
2013 - £135,000
Hiroshi Sugimoto
2009 - £15,000
2013 - £35,000
Josef Sudek
2009 - £2,000
2013 - £5,000
Helmut Newton
2009 - £12,000
2013 - £28,000
that they ignore many potential problems such as unsold pictures and varied supply.
Nevertheless, they do mirror a similar rise in prices in retail galleries. Beetles+Huxley
of increased demand. Here are a few examples that show a spread of percentage
increases:
Rue Mouffetard,Paris,1954 by Henri Cartier-Bresson:
2001 price - $3,600,2015 price - $36,000.

5. A Further Cautionary Note
Buying photographs is relatively easy if you know where to go and have the money
(buying the right photographers and buying them well is a bit harder). Selling them can
Even if you know the right outlet, the issue of time must also be considered.Those
in the business of dealing art know that it can also take a considerable amount of
time (often years) to sell a picture, even a very good one. Patience is a virtue, and
£2,000.00
£4,000.00
£6,000.00
£8,000.00
£10,000.00
£12,000.00
£14,000.00
£16,000.00
£18,000.00
£20,000.00
2009 2015
PRICEINCREASE
£7500.00
£18000.00
Frank Sinatra on the Boardwalk, 1968 by Terry O’Neill, 40 x 60 inches:
2009 price - £7,500. 2015 price - £18,000.
‘Those in the business of
dealing art know that it can also
take a considerable amount
of time (often years) to sell a
picture, even a very good one’

6. They look for rarity
is easily met then the price will never increase that much. Both serious collectors and
picture might be famous, but if the print is not rare then it will probably not have much
(printed near the time of the photograph), as these are usually the rarest and – for the
most famous photographs – the most expensive.
If there is no vintage print, or the market is centered around later prints, then collectors
will try to purchase prints that are either editioned in small numbers or printed in a
very restricted, controlled manner. Rarity can also be controlled through size and price.
Seasoned collectors of serious contemporary photography (new pictures) will balk
at buying any print made in an edition of more than ten. However, contemporary
photographers worth their salt are unlikely to make larger editions as it is contrary to
the art world’s unwritten rules, and in the longrun, it is in artist’s interests to sell out.
How Investor-Collectors Beat the Odds
They realise that it is all in a name
It is a truth universally acknowledged in private, but universally denied in public, that
the art world is all about brands. People pay big prices for a picture because they love
the image, but also because they want to own a collectable artist – just as they drive a
art galleries are really just big marketing machines, endlessly trying to build up the
this state of ‘collectability’.
in the hope that their value will quickly rise, and those that buy very established names
good dealers, advice, their own experience and gut feeling.The latter group tends to
hand in hand with artistic importance so these buyers pick photographs by artists who,
successful of these collectors focus on work by artists who are taught in universities,
with prestigious publishers and who have genuine kudos in the art world.
A photographer with a long career will inevitably have a vast archive of images, but
even the most celebrated photographers are lucky to have twenty images that leave
have learned is that when it comes to resale value it is not just the name that counts,
the famous images that always sell for the most money.Whereas an obscure sketch by
Picasso is still likely to be a very collectable object, a lesser-known image by a famous
photographer is less likely to be as investible.
Serra Pelada, Brazil, 1986 by Sebastião Salgado. Salgado’s prints regularly command above
estimate prices at auction.

7. The Rhien II by Andreas Gursky - world record auction price for a photograph: $4,300,000 in
2011 at Sotheby’s.
They understand the importance of condition
No serious collector will ever buy a print that is not in the best possible condition. For new
prints, that means absolutely immaculate – not a single scrape or dink or mark. Older prints
might carry the marks of time but any serious collector will always conduct a thorough
examination and comparison against other prints of the image before purchasing.Auction
prices for damaged prints tend to be much lower, understandably.
buying is a personal interest in the medium – otherwise they’d just allocate the money to
the bond market.They tend to be collectors who have seen an investment opportunity
rather than the other way round. Often, it can be that they have run out of wall-space and
are looking for new reasons to buy photographs.
Thus, they tend to focus on work that they like.There are two very sensible side effects of
doing this:
• If the collector likes it, then it is very likely that a future buyer will too.
• If it fails to sell, then the collector will enjoy living with it until it does (or does not)!
The best art investments often turn out to be the pictures bought with the heart and head
combined.
‘Prices have risen exponentially and many “early”
collectors of photography are now sitting on
considerable potential assets.’

8. Frank Sinatra on the Boardwalk, 1968 by Terry O’Neill, one of the best performers at Beetles+Huxley in recent years.
Conclusion
While there are plenty of risks, it does
seem that if a collector allocates a
percentage of investment funds to a
portfolio of sensible photographs then,
with a following wind, there can be a very
large potential upside. It just takes a bit of
knowledge, patience, and good luck on
the day of sale.This caveat is though of
In addition, if the photography market
loses value then the collector will still be
able to enjoy his or her assets, which is
certainly not true of a FTSE 100 stock.
When chosen carefully, there are gains to
be made through both auction and retail
purchase. Understanding the desires and
idiosyncracies of the market though is
proving key to gaining the upper hand in
Giles Huxley-Parlour, 2015
3-5 Swallow Street
London
W1B 4DE
gallery@beetlesandhuxley.com
www.beetlesandhuxley.com

9. The new Photo London art fair shows a booming interest in photography in London.
Please note that Beetles+Huxley are not
authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority and as such are not permitted to
resident investors, whether or not the intended
investments are regulated or unregulated.We
strongly encourage you to consult an FCA-
authorised Independent Financial Adviser before
committing to any form of investment. Past
performance is no guarantee of future returns
and the value of your investment can go down
as well as up.
Beetles+Huxley make no guarantees relating to
any investment advice.