I should also note that photographs, like all art and collectibles, are taxed somewhat differently than stock and other financial investments. Thus you pay more on capital gains for art/collectibles. We need to lobby our representatives on this unfair discrimination in this area. The stockbrokers just have more political pull than the art world. Perhaps AIPAD can join with the major art dealers and collectors groups to lobby this issue. At the least, letters/email from you to your appropriate congress people wouldn't hurt. Here is the site to find out your representatives' email addresses and other contact information: http://www.uscongress.com .
By the way, senators Chuck Grassley, IA and Max Baucus, MT serve on the Joint Committee On Taxation. Republican Grassley is also chairman of the Committee on Finance and Baucas is the ranking Democrat. Both seem to be more interested in giving their constituent farmers tax breaks rather than investors interested in art/collectibles, but who knows. If you happen to live in Europe, good luck with your tax mess and your legislators.
And, finally, let me say that I (and those collectors and dealers who gave us their thoughts below) love photography first for what it is: a wonderful obsession with art, history, anthropology, beauty and mystery. Financial considerations should never become the preoccupation or aim of any collector. That is when you are sure to go wrong, but that doesn't mean you should make yourself an easy mark either. Hopefully this article will help you understand how the market works so that you can avoid the major pitfalls and enjoy your own personal collection without losing any money on it.
I also admit that I have no crystal ball and your own guesses may be more accurate than my own, but there you have it: my current take on the photography market.
Novak has over 48 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.
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