E-Photo
Issue #197  6/5/2013
 
AIPAD Show and Auctions Bring in The Action For a Week Where Photo Sales Easily Topped $50-60 Million in NYC

By Alex Novak


As I note in my article on the photo market below, despite some hefty competition during the week, the AIPAD Photography Show, New York produced some of the most solid results for dealers ever, as the show itself continued to set attendance records (up this year to a 'real' 11,500 attendees). Buyers were finding lots of interesting images to take home to add to their collections. For the first time ever in reporting on photography and art fairs, I couldn't find a single dealer to complain about sales from the show. Most were in fact very enthusiastic about their results.

The 33rd edition of the longest-running photography fair in the world spotlighted 82 of some of the most important international photo galleries and private dealers. AIPAD featured contemporary, modern, and 19th-century photographs, as well as photo-based art, video, and new media. Exhibitors included galleries from across the U.S. and around the world, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Seven galleries exhibited at AIPAD for the first time: Brancolini Grimaldi, London; ClampArt, New York; Fifty One Fine Art Photography, Antwerp; Klompching Gallery, Brooklyn; M97 Gallery, Shanghai; P.P.O.W., New York; and Sage Paris. An exhibitor list is still available at http://www.aipad.com/photoshow .

AIPAD exhibitors did brisk business.
AIPAD exhibitors did brisk business.

The opening night gala on April 3rd set the scene with a record crowd, which was buying in a serious way. That's unusual at opening receptions, which often turn out to be simply social events. The benefit was for inMotion, which provides free legal services to low-income women.

A wide range of notables from the worlds of art, entertainment, fashion, finance, government and the media attended the bash including: Chris Rock, Naomi Campbell, Kelly Bensimon, John Demsey, Amanda Burden, Leonard Lauder, Sally Mann, Christo, Steven Meisel, Bob Gruen, Elliott Erwitt, Jerry Uelsmann and Maggie Taylor, Bruce Davidson, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz, Patrick McMullan, Vince Aletti, Vera Lutter, Jean Dykstra, Duane Michals, Anna Sui, Louise Blouin, Nion McEvoy, Michael Gross, Gary and Sarah Wolkowitz, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, Richard and Ronay Menschel, Celso Gonzalez-Falla, Henry Buhl, Joseph Baio, Dan Greenberg, Eileen Cohen, Matt Blank, Peter Som, Marjorie Ornston, Vicki Goldberg, Christiane Fischer, Keith Davis, Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg, Sandra Phillips, Gary Sokol, Judith Keller, Charles Jing, Lisa Hostetler, Katherine Bussard, Jeff Rosenheim, Malcolm Daniels and Fred Ritchin--among many others.

AIPAD drew a wide range of curators from such institutions as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art; International Center for Photography; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Morgan Library and Museum; Nelson-Atkins Museum; Library of Congress; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; J. Paul Getty Museum; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Art Institute of Chicago; Art Gallery of Ontario, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; Detroit Institute of Arts; George Eastman House; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery; Smithsonian American Art Museum; New Orleans Museum of Art; National Gallery of Canada; Rijks Museum, Amsterdam; and Tate Modern, London.

It really didn't seem to matter what kind of work you were selling here. Whether it was 19th-century, 20th-century modernism or the latest cutting-edge contemporary work, it found buyers. Many dealers, including myself, set New York AIPAD Show records for sales. And the sales were strong to collectors, institutions, as well as other dealers. The strength of the latter's purchases are what personally surprised and enthused me. Dealer purchases at shows have been rather anemic in the last few years. Dealers tend to avoid buying, particularly from other dealers, when they aren't having a great show or year, and buy when they are doing well. There has been a bit of a recent turn-around here with dealers seeming to feel in more of a buying mood. At least that is my impression and experience. I not only sold to and bought from exhibitors myself, but witnessed numerous sales of the same type. Perhaps it was also because many of the dealers couldn't get over to the auctions to buy nor had inclinations to do so, when those auctions had so competitively run their hours directly over the show's. Many dealers complained privately (and publicly) about the three big auction houses, but few offered solutions, and some even felt it might have oddly helped the fair.

"The response to AIPAD 2013 from both collectors and exhibitors was overwhelming positive," noted Catherine Edelman, new president of AIPAD, and director of Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago. "Sales were strong across the board, and AIPAD's famously collegial and welcoming atmosphere, combined with the collective knowledge and expertise of the membership, was unbeatable."

Edelman reviewed her own results with us: "We did well this year. We decided to show two video pieces by Gregory Scott (in the past it's only been one) and sold both, with additional follow up. I try to feature work not shown by other dealers and not only exhibited work by Gregory Scott (the video artist), but introduced the AIPAD public to Frieke Janssens (Smoking Kids) and Keliy Anderson-Staley. I also exhibited new pieces by John Cyr, whose works we highlighted last year, and Elizabeth Ernst (mixed media photo based), whose works we show every three or four years."

Edelman gave her thoughts on the show: "I thought the fair looked terrific this year, but I may be biased. By moving the food into an auxiliary room, we were able to fill out the back area with large booths, attaining a wonderful flow throughout the show floor. We also tweaked the corner booths, which really helped the visual impact, and dealers did a fantastic job installing their booths." Edelman told me that she sold 11 pieces at the fair, including those two Greg Scott videos at $28,000 and $26,000 respectively.

Edelman noted the competition from the auctions: "I'm not sure there is much we can do about the auctions taking place in and around our fair. On the one hand, it is very flattering. On the other hand, it would be nice to be the main focus for five days. We announce our show dates when they are finalized, which typically happens during the summer months. I am not sure there is much we can do about this issue, except to embrace it and celebrate the strength of the photo market."

By the way, newly minted president Edelman is already becoming an AIPAD dealer favorite. She set up a lunch area for exhibitors that went over big with the group. In fact the entire management team got plaudits from virtually all of the exhibitors, who constantly remarked about the smooth operations of the show.

Our own company, Contemporary Works/Vintage Works, posted its best New York show results ever. Even after two months we are still making sales from the show, and probably will be until the end of the year.

I felt the show itself was in its most elegant iteration. Virtually all the collectors that I spoke to about the show were gushing with enthusiasm for the fair. More importantly, it was clear that the work at the fair was appealing to a large group of collectors and curators, who were not afraid to pull the trigger on probably over $12-15 million in sales here over the four days. Add in the auction results that approached $33 million, plus the local New York photo gallery sales, which were reportedly much stronger than normal for that week, and you had a single week when buyers bought over $50-60 million in photography in just New York City! A rather staggering weekly total to us old timers. OK, it wasn't quite the exaggerated $100 million total that one publication reported, but it also wasn't chopped liver either, as the saying goes.

As I noted above and as before the recession, some of Contemporary Works/Vintage Works' strongest sales were to other dealers, who clearly saw and understood the many top bargains in our booth. The magnificent Heinrich Kuhn landscape on our front wall and the two great Helmut Newtons in our rather crowded, but precious closet went to a German dealer friend after the fair, to whom I wish good health. We had a lot of interest in these images during and after the fair.

Many of our fellow exhibitors picked off other gems, including Eric Franck, to whom I sold a large Braun carbon print of the London Parliament Building on the Thames for his personal collection of London images. Galerie Johannes Faber and Gallery 19/21 both picked up important 20th-century images from well-known artists Cartier-Bresson and Sudek respectively. Paul Belanga from Stephen Daiter Gallery bought a great Kessels nude for his personal collection. And I made sales to several other dealers just visiting the fair.

I also bought photographs from dealers here myself, including an important Kertesz from Stephen Daiter, which I had reserved prior to the show. And I bought four prints from AIPAD dealer Andy Smith, ironically including a lovely Atget that I had sold to him years ago. I told several clients to forego bidding at auction and buy pieces directly from exhibitors at the show that represented the artists. Taking my advice would have saved several collectors more than 10-50% versus what the pieces sold for at auction. And there are plenty of other reasons to buy through a gallery/dealer instead of auction.

One of the other top 20th-century pieces that we had the pleasure of placing included a lovely vintage print of Henri Cartier-Bresson's famous "Rue Mouffetard" with the boy carrying the wine bottles up a street, which sold to a Texas collector. He beat out several other collectors and dealers eyeing the photograph.

Our wall and box of Eugene Atgets attracted several collectors' attention. Five of them went to one Florida collector alone. He happens to be a good client and a long-time friend. Another went to a brand new photography collector. We've just replenished some of those Atgets, but they continue to sell well before, during and after AIPAD at prices from $1,000 to $50,000. We've made recent Atget sales to institutions, collectors and dealers alike. Several pieces and collections of 19th-century work also sold to several collectors, including an old friend who collects important early Japanese photography. We are still working with one artist/collector who is interested in a number of our 19th-century photographs.

Several museums put earlier pieces on hold, including New York's Metropolitan, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Amsterdam's newly reopened Rijks Museum. After the AIPAD Show, the National Portrait Gallery put a piece on hold as well. This year has surprisingly been a very strong year for museum purchases for us, but we have alway tried to have the kind of work that is rare and important enough to attract discriminating buyers at all levels and believe in placing such work in public collections when possible.

Big contemporary pieces also attracted strong interest at the fair for us. We sold a large color Araki hanging nude to a collector/artist, who plans on donating the piece to a New York museum. Our front left wall had a huge Vik Muniz of "Orphan Girl at the Cemetery, after Delacroix from Gordian Puzzles" that had many collectors measuring it for their wall space. There is some serious after-show interest in the photograph by this influential contemporary artist, but it still hasn't sold as of yet. We brought two pieces of Lisa Holden's large color work that was displayed for the first time at AIPAD. Again, we had great interest in this best-selling artist.

On a slightly smaller scale, a vintage print by Tom Baril of "Beach Storage, Rockaway, NY" sold to a wife and husband, who were new clients. Contemporary Works/Vintage Works is the sole representative for Baril's vintage work, whose rare vintage prints retail for $4,000-10,000. I also had a partner sell a Mapplethorpe that we owned together at the show.

One important piece that I swore was sold five or six times was the iconic "Penny Picture Display, Savannah, GA" by Walker Evans. The print was not from the portfolio and had been printed by Evans himself prior to 1966, and possibly well before considering that it did not fluoresce under black light as many later Evans' prints do. In any case, only a very few photographs were ever printed by Evans himself of this image--most in institutions. The last one to come on the market (and maybe the only other one) was actually a later print than this one; and it sold for well over $90,000 at Sotheby's NY a number of years ago. Likewise the stunning Gustave Le Gray masterpiece of "Le Vapeur (The Tugboat), Normandy" drew tons of attention, but is still currently available. Important photographs like these do not come along very often. Maybe it was the overwhelming abundance of riches in the booth that distracted potential buyers, but these masterworks will definitely find appreciative homes soon.

But I wasn't the only one with a great show. It seemed as if collectors were truly excited by the work here, and the exhibitors were ecstatic with their results.

Bryce Wolkowitz, Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York, noted, "AIPAD continues to prove itself as a wonderful venue to showcase contemporary photography and new media. We were successful selling work by Edward Burtynsky, Joakim Eskildsen, Jim Campbell and Airan Kang."

Wendy Olsoff at P.P.O.W. said, "We're so happy about our first time at AIPAD. The collectors are friendly, smart, and knowledgeable; and we had very healthy sales."

Justine Durrett, director of sales, David Zwirner Gallery, said, "As a still new participant, we appreciate the warm welcome by the entire AIPAD membership and photo community. Our second consecutive year at the fair proved successful once again, as it's the perfect way for us to meet and get to know so many exceptional curators and collectors at once."

Another contemporary gallerist, Yancey Richardson, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, reported, "We had a record-breaking AIPAD and sold work by Andrew Moore, Zanele Muholi, Bryan Graf, Alex Prager and Ed Ruscha." The gallery sold 29 photographs, many to major museums.

Burt Finger from PDNB Gallery of Dallas told us, "We were extremely pleased with the results of this year's fair. It was one of the best AIPAD Photography Shows ever--and we have been doing them for over 15 years! The crowd was alive, and it seemed that there was a hunger to spend money. Even the first night was very successful for us. We sold five pictures including a very nice Eggleston just at the opening.

"Six Egglestons are still available, as well as a signed 16 x 20 inch Martinique by Kertesz. We also have a vintage Stephen Shore of Palm Beach, FL, and a very nice Danny Lyons from Conversations with the Dead."

Finger remarked that "the show was more beautiful then last year's. Seems like there is improvement each year. I attended a fair the week after returning from The AIPAD Photography Show and the contrast was apparent. It is hard to find a better fair then AIPAD. I'm thinking that the fair was a very positive experience, and the collectors were really trying to find pieces to buy. The economy is improving and I am planning my booth for next year already."

Santa Monica gallerist Peter Fetterman always has an interesting perspective on the fair, and he emailed me to say: "I know it sounds like hype, but we had one of our best AIPAD's ever. It seemed like all the stars were aligned. Our two star contemporary photographers Sebastiao Salgado and Stephen Wilkes really delivered for us. The release of never before seen images from Salgado's new "Genesis" series brought in crowds and many buyers too, I'm happy to report, to marvel at the sheer beauty and power of his images urging us to respect and preserve the remaining 46% of the world's environment that we haven't managed to destroy yet as a species. We also received great response to Stephen Wilkes' new "Day To Night" releases, particularly his amazing "Inauguration", which we featured in our booth and "Jerusalem", which we also sold to a Catholic University.

"I would never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I would be in the business of selling and shipping large color prints as my first love has always been small, handcrafted silver prints one can conveniently put in a easy to handle museum box. I find myself now in the logistics business but change is good, and one must embrace it."

Fetterman continued, "The show was full of interested, knowledgeable people who are there for the 'right' reason--to imbibe, learn and consume the best of the best in this medium--rather than the usual run-of-the-mill contemporary art fairs where it seems like an orgy of self aggrandizement. Wish there were more fairs of this quality around to participate in, but that is what makes AIPAD so special."

Fetterman was typical of many of the exhibitors who I talked with at and after the show.

Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, sold a number of photographs including one by Alejandro Cartagena for $30,000 and said, "It was the best AIPAD yet."

Edwynn Houk of Edwynn Houk Gallery said, "It's been a very successful show for us. We sold about 20 works including a $135,000 Manuel Alvarez Bravo. We had a good mix of existing clients and new clients, both New Yorkers and out-of-towners."

Keith De Lellis of Keith De Lellis Gallery said the show was "excellent" and that the collectors were "knowledgeable, enthusiastic, charming and appreciative." He sold 25 images including a c.1950 Irving Penn for $25,000.

Robert Burge/20th Century Photographs, Ltd., New York, said, "It was the best yet. Collectors seemed more serious." The gallery sold ten images including a 1974 Irving Penn for $85,000.

Julie Saul Gallery, New York, sold ten works including a 2007 Karin Apollonia Müller for $24,000 and commented on the good attendance and wide range of collectors.

New York gallerist Lawrence Miller told us, "We did about 50% better this year than last and had one of our best AIPAD shows ever. There were many new clients from different backgrounds, and they tended to be older. I sense a new shift of older purchasers--not necessarily collectors--who are finding, once again, the great values still available in photography, especially as contemporary art and modern art are getting hugely expensive. Mid-level painters now sell in seven figures. People are decorating, in a serious way, with contemporary photography. But we also did very good business at the gallery on the mornings before the show with major collectors and museums.

"Here is a partial summary of sales, which are actually continuing:
--Thirteen Ray Metzker prints and 2 Metzker "composites"
--Seventeen Michael Becotte prints
--Six Toshio Shibata large landscapes
--Three large Luca Campigotto prints
--Three Yas Ishimoto prints
--Single prints by Kazuo Sumida, Eadweard Muybridge and Miguel Angel Garcia

"There is definitely new energy in the field; the doldrums of the Lehman Bros. fiasco are finally lifting. Overall the show was very well presented, the quality higher and more diverse, with many new exhibitors present making the show more youthful and vibrant. I think it is a fine compliment to AIPAD that major contemporary art galleries now want to participate. This trend will likely continue. The downside will be that smaller galleries and private dealers may be unable to get space as larger brands start taking over the real estate."

Miller continued, "As for the auctions being at the same time, I am not sure it makes much difference. I don't think the auctions impacted us at all, and in fact, as prices were high for very desirable pieces, several collectors found themselves with money free after the sales, as they did not purchase at auction as much as they had hoped. People buy what they want to buy with the money they have to spend. Of course we want all that auction money to come to the dealers, but perhaps as much as 20% of what is at auction is coming from dealers themselves."

Rick Wester of Rick Wester Fine Art noted, "The foot traffic was the best we've ever experienced. We met dozens of new collectors, whose interest and passion for collecting lasted the entire show. Sales were very strong."

Photo Gallery International, Tokyo, reported that sales were "great" at its first AIPAD Show.

Charles Isaacs Photographs, New York, sold an 1857 Gustave Le Gray seascape for $85,000, among others.

Alan Klotz, Alan Klotz Gallery, New York, reported, "We did very well, as usual, with a good balance between 19th and 20th-century work, as well as contemporary. It confirms my belief that I don't have to choose. The best pieces that we sold were a vintage Sudek Still Life, a vintage Peter Hujar of Chloe Finch, a vintage photogram by Theodore Roszak, and a vintage Walker Evans of an African-American Women on 42nd Street. We still have available a Sudek image of an early morning tram in Prague ($9,500), Sudek's White Rosebud in a Glass ($15,000), and a couple of Seine images by Atget ($9,500-12,000)."

Klotz remarked on the show itself: "I think the show has really hit its stride, both in the quality of work presented and the appearance, as well as the smoothness of the operation for exhibitors.

Klotz, noting the conflict that the auction houses set up, told me: "It was irritating that they chose to force this choice, but it is hard to say what did or didn't happen for me because of it."

Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, sold more than 15 works including a 1997 Herb Ritts for $40,000.

Karen Marks, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, said: "There was a great turn out. We met lots of new and interesting collectors. Overall it was a great year at AIPAD."

Caroline Foulkes, Daniel Blau, London, stated: "I am happy to report that the show was a big success for us. It is clear that major collectors and museums are excited about 20th-century photojournalism. We greatly enjoyed AIPAD. The enthusiasm of visitors to the fair coupled with the positive energy of the other exhibitors made it a good experience for our gallery." Daniel Blau himself told me, "It was a good one for us. Some museums stepped up to the plate, happily carrying off some of our treasures, and last, but not least, a private collector secured the significant set of Hindenburg disaster pictures!"

Terry Etherton, Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ, told me: "We did fairly well with pretty much the same gross as the past three years. The show looked as good as it ever has. I thought the opening night crowd was very good compared to past years. I do think the auctions did have a negative effect though. By Saturday a lot of people were out of money. There were too many photos for sale in New York City at the same time. We sold a Callahan Eleanor for $15,000 and a 1975 Ken Josephson portfolio, New York State, 1970 ten silver prints for $30,000, plus a good Danny Lyons from his Conversation with the Dead series."

Etherton said, "We had a large set of Aaron Siskind's Divers from the Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation series, which had a large amount of interest, and may sell it in six months, but that's not guaranteed."

Looking around the show, Etherton noted, "I loved the Chris McCaw in Yossi Milo's booth. This was the large five-part piece, which was a real tour de force."

Hans Kraus, Hans P. Kraus Jr. Inc., New York, noted "Long time AIPAD visitors have commented that the fair looked better this year than ever before. Our experience of the fair this year was a positive one. We sold a variety of pictures to new clients, as well as existing ones."

Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA, sold a print of Ansel Adams’s Moonrise Hernandez, New Mexico for $85,000, seven works by Edward Weston, a Robert Frank, and a rare vintage Yousuf Karsh portrait of Winston Churchill, among others. The gallery had also brought a magnificent Edward Steichen of Black Canyon, one of my favorite photographs that I saw in the fair.

Debra Klomp Ching, from Klompching Gallery, Brooklyn, said, "As first-time exhibitors, we were thrilled to be in the company of esteemed peers. Several fellow dealers made a point of visiting us at our booth to welcome us and to congratulate us on a well-presented booth. We found the foot traffic to be busy and constant most days. Sales were steady throughout the Show. We met many experienced collectors, previously unaware of the gallery. Many of our clients visited us, and a real delight was making contact with the next generation of younger collectors. We also spoke with several museum curators."

Ching continued, "We're happy to report on the sale of "Herero Woman In Patchwork Dress" by Jim Naughten. The 41 x 50 inch edition sold out (Edition of 3 + 2APs), with the retail value on the final piece being $7,000. We sold several other pieces ranging in value from $1,300 through to $4,000."

Richard Moore, Richard Moore Photographs, Oakland, CA, reported that "sales were not as good as last year (my best AIPAD Show), but we are still quite satisfied with the results. We sold over 20 works in the $2,000 to $6,000 range, with a one higher-end sale.

Moore continued, "We made only one sale outside of the U.S., and we had more collectors buy from us this year and fewer sales to galleries and dealers. It seemed like the usual number of curators attending, and I know that AIPAD added several names to our VIP list for the show. The AIPAD show was very well attended by a sophisticated and knowledgable audience. I believe that attendance on Thursday and Friday were record numbers for AIPAD. The mix of top quality vintage photographs with the broad spectrum of contemporary images and work in new media is what continues to make the AIPAD Photography Show stand out among art fairs showing photography.

"We sold multiple pictures by Peter Sekaer (1930s), Ansel Adams and François Szalay Colos (images from 1966, 1973). We also sold a large exhibition print in gum bichromate by the little known Belgian photographer Gustave Servaes to a major New York collector. The intriguing image (ca. 1900) of an itinerant organ grinder and a young boy in a snow storm looking longingly through the gate to a large house created quite a bit of interest."

Moore concluded, "I can't say whether the auctions affected sales at AIPAD, but it was difficult for me to participate in any of the sales. I was able to attend the first hour of the Sotheby's sale before the AIPAD show opened and bid unsuccessfully on two lots."

Galerie Johannes Faber, Austria, sold a series of three vintage prints by Bernd and Hilla Becher for $27,000.

Charles Schwartz, a private New City dealer and member of the I Photo Central website, said, "I had a very good show, and strong after-show sales. The show looked great, the attendance was very strong--one of the best AIPAD shows in recent years."

Schwartz noted: "The most interesting pieces in my booth that did not sell included:
--Very unique Stieglitz and Steichen silhouettes made by John Barrett Kerfoot that were signed by Stieglitz and Steichen.
--A four-part panorama of Hong Kong from 1897 made of hand-colored albumen prints.
--A 1960s 9.5 x 12.5 inch print of Welsh Miners by W. Eugene Smith, signed in stylus on recto, and with the photographers stamp on verso."

Martin Weinstein of Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, reported that he "had a very good show. The weekday crowds were better than I have ever seen before at a show. We sold photographs by Vera Lutter, Alec Soth and Robert Mapplethorpe. We also sold the great image of Niagara Falls by Annie Leibovitz."

James Hyman of James Hyman, London, said, "For the second year running, we focused on 19th-century French photography inside our booth, with a selection of 20th century vintage works on the outside. We were pleased with the response and made a number of sales during and after the fair. We did particularly well with French material including Baldus, Nègre and Le Gray, and also sold a beautiful Egyptian work by J. B. Greene and several rare images by Horatio Ross."

Talking about the fair, Hyman notes: Sales began more slowly than last year, perhaps because collectors had so much to consider with the auctions the same week, but by the end of the fair purchases went through and we were happy with the results. The show looks better every year. Business-wise, I think it was comparable to last year, but things are still slower than the year prior to that."

Hyman continued, "Traditionally, auctions have been dependent on trade buyers to support the market, but it would seem that the focus is very much on private buyers, so the fact that the dealers at AIPAD were focused on the fair and not the auctions probably didn't matter to them. It would be interesting to know, statistically, whether this year the New York auctions sold more to private buyers than in the past, as I would suspect that dealer purchases were down. Personally, I found it hard to focus on the auctions as well as the AIPAD Show, and bought less than usual. I think for my clients it was less of an issue than for many of the other dealers, since most of the material we brought was 19th-century, which is an area the main auction houses in New York seem to have virtually abandoned."

Hyman observed, "Higher end material continues to be the most successful. The best 19th-century work is now so rare that museums and collectors know that the number of opportunities to buy the greatest works is becoming fewer with every year that passes. Despite this even the best 19th-century material remains cheap when compared to much 20th-century work and most contemporary pictures. Given these factors it surprises me that more 20th century collectors don't move into the 19th century. A painting collector interested in 20th-century modernism would be delighted to acquire a Cezanne or a Seurat, yet collectors of photographic modernism do not always make the same connection."

Hyman remarked on a few of things in the show that attracted his eye, "Lee Gallery had a fabulous Ansel Adams, which I particularly admired. I also loved the incredibly rare rural Henri Le Secq salt prints that were on the booths of Charles Isaacs and Hans Kraus."

Catherine Couturier of Catherine Couturier Gallery, Houston, said, "I have been extremely pleased. Sales have been steady to many familiar faces and new collectors as well."

Vasari, Buenos Aires, reported excellent sales, including a portfolio by Grete Stern and Ellen Auerbach.

Sid Monroe of Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe, NM, said, "We were very pleased with our results during this year's fair, both financially and in terms of meeting with collectors and establishing new relationships. The general tenor of the fair was even with steady business throughout the fair. We had a very good response to all of our civil rights material, with especially good results for Steve Schapiro and Ernest Withers work ($2,500 - $15,000). In contemporary photojournalism material, we also had excellent sales and response to Yuri Kosrev and Nina Berman's work ($2,500 - $5,500). Unfortunately, I did not have the time to take in as much of the fair as I would have liked, but I was pleased to see what appeared to me more 'classic' and 'vintage' material."

A few attendees also gave me their feedback on the show. Collector and teacher Robert Yoskowitz said, "The show, in general, was quite good. The dealers were friendly and attentive. It would have been nice to see more European dealers attending as in the in past. My only complaint is that the show's catalogue is not available without a ticket purchase. Now I can't complain too much--my pass was gratis, but the catalogue is a great help for post-show sales and my diminishing memory. I had to take notes (good luck reading them back to myself). The catalogue would provide post-exhibition advertising, and, predictably, post-show sales for the exhibitors."

Andrew Smith, Andrew Smith Gallery, Santa Fe, was attending instead of exhibiting for the first time. I think he may have regretted the decision not to exhibit at AIPAD (he exhibited instead at a small table-top photo show down the street) based on what he told me. "Everyone was so busy I could not even say 'hello' to many folks, and it was so crowded, I could not see into the booths to see the great work everyone had, but that was terrific for the vendors as it kept them on task. The intensity of the show is as palpable from the visitors' side as much as from the vendors' side of the aisle; too intense at some point to do look or do business. Not a bad problem to have but one that calls for some creative thinking."

Kraige Block of Throckmorton Fine Art summed it all up: "The Show has never been better."

Novak has over 47 years experience in the photography-collecting arena. He is a long-time member and formally board member of the Daguerreian Society, and, when it was still functioning, he was a member of the American Photographic Historical Society (APHS). He organized the 2016 19th-century Photography Show and Conference for the Daguerreian Society. He is also a long-time member of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers, or AIPAD. Novak has been a member of the board of the nonprofit Photo Review, which publishes both the Photo Review and the Photograph Collector, and is currently on the Photo Review's advisory board. He was a founding member of the Getty Museum Photography Council. He is author of French 19th-Century Master Photographers: Life into Art.

Novak has had photography articles and columns published in several newspapers, the American Photographic Historical Society newsletter, the Photograph Collector and the Daguerreian Society newsletter. He writes and publishes the E-Photo Newsletter, the largest circulation newsletter in the field. Novak is also president and owner of Contemporary Works/Vintage Works, a private photography dealer, which sells by appointment and has sold at exhibit shows, such as AIPAD New York and Miami, Art Chicago, Classic Photography LA, Photo LA, Paris Photo, The 19th-century Photography Show, Art Miami, etc.