Bug Light/Snowstorm©Michael Heiko. Open edition, any size, any presentation.
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Ask this question of 20 fine art photographers and yes, you will get 20 very different answers. These days it seems every artist who sells digital prints of their work is re-thinking the issues: whether to edition, how to edition, when to edition and why edition. If you are selling custom sizes beyond your set sizes, are your editioned sizes then eroded and diluted in value? If you are selling images on paper, on metal and face-mounted, do they all count in the edition? Spend some time searching for answers online and it just gets murkier.
Here are some responses I received from artists to whom I posed a few of these questions:
Do you think editioning a fine art photograph is important?
• Yes, I consider it a necessity.
• I edition, but to date no client has discussed it.
• I’m under the impression that “successful” artists have to edition to maintain the value of their work.
• Not interested in editioning so my options can stay open.
• I think limited editions are more important to the dealer than the artist.
• What dollar value can you put on an open edition print? It becomes a poster at that point.
• I have always been told it is critical to the success of my work.
• It’s a ridiculous way to pump up the perceived value of a photograph.
Do you sell custom sizes of your digital images? If so, how does that affect the edition of that image?
• Custom sizes are not counted in editions.
• This is a sticky issue.
• A custom size is one of a kind.
• I don’t custom size, but control the print sizes available.
• A custom size is a new edition.
• It would only be fair to count custom sizes in the edition total.
• It counts toward the edition no matter what.
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I have to be honest – I don’t think I would lose a sale to a collector here in Maine if a photograph was not editioned, but dealers in Boston, NYC and beyond state unequivocally they couldn’t sell a fine art photograph that isn’t editioned. I get that. I’ve made the point when a short edition is running out to encourage an immediate decision from a collector. The many sales I make through design professionals to their corporate clients are never discussed in the light of editions – it’s all about the image and custom-sizing it for the client’s specific space needs.
One thing I do know: if you are editioning, you MUST make those editions very small. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Anything over 15 is unacceptable to me, any size. The editions should be 10 and fewer, and preferably 3-6. If an image sells out, good for you! It’s an all too rare situation for most fine art photographers, frankly, especially based in Maine. You can use this “sold out” history to sell more work (“Ten of my images sold out last year.”) and you are shooting constantly, right? So putting a whopping edition on an image because you fear it will sell out and may still be sought after, is nothing more than insecure and unprofessional.
Pastel Series#5©Jane Yudelman. Total image edition:10, any size from 16×16 to 40×40.
Jane Yudelman, a new artist whose work I’m taking on, surprised me with an approach totally new to me: she’s going to edition the image, period. Not editions for specific sizes of an image, but the image itself. I can’t believe how simple this approach is and how much sense it makes in this day and age of easily custom-sized digital work presented on a number of substrates.
I asked Brian Clamp of ClampArt, NYC, what I was missing with this concept and he shocked me when he said it is, in his mind, the best approach and he’s all for it for most artists. Once your client gets the point that there will be X number of prints of this image, any size, the value of that image immediately rises. Dealers love it because editioning an image generally results in fewer images being allowed in the marketplace – which drives up prices from the beginning.
Whiteboard#10©Meggan Gould. All Rights Reserved. 16×20/10, 24×30/8, 32×40/5.
In a recent conversation with George Kinghorn, Director/Curator of the University of Maine Museum of Art in Bangor, I asked him what he thought of editioning the image and whether an uneditioned image would ever find its way into the Museum collection. Although he, too, had never heard of it before, he wholeheartedly embraced the concept of editioning an image rather than sizes of an image for most artists. He would consider including an open edition photographic print in the Museum collection, but would expect the price to reflect that. And he clearly feels that artists who restrict the image size and will not custom size it must be respected for their artistic license to do so.
Passenger Pigeon-#1232 1997- Gelatin silver print with dye transfer
Framed size: 47 in diameter / 119.4 cm
Unique work©Todd Watts. All Rights Reserved
Case in point: Todd Watts corresponded with me on the topic of editioning his work. He wrote: “For me the scale of an image is an integral part of the artwork so I make each image in only one size and I number them according to editioning conventions. When it comes to presentation / framing I believe that it is also part of the artwork. I personally use frames and design them for each piece. If the piece is sold without a frame, which I try to avoid, I include instructions on how to build the frame designed for the piece. I put each new piece on my website with all of the information that a collector, dealer or curator would want. I also include information for conservators. That way everything about each work is public record, is helpful, and avoids confusion…” He concludes: “I think the total creative act must remain with the artist. The collector can choose to purchase a work or not, but giving any aesthetic control to the purchaser clearly defeats the purpose of artists.”
If you spend time on Todd’s website, you’ll appreciate where he’s coming from and I agree with him wholeheartedly on his approach to his own work. However, many artists’ work lends itself to varying sizes and presentations and I disagree that every artist needs to control both issues of size and presentation. My experience proves the opposite for many artists. As well, a compromise is possible: edition the image, but limit it to the sizes you feel best represent it if you feel strongly about it.
Dawn/Scottish Farm©Robert Moran. All Rights Reserved. 12×12/15, 18×18/20, 24×24/10. Custom sizes available. This artist will reduce the edition sizes in 2012 on any previously unsold works.
Here’s my dream world and I’m going to encourage most of my photographers to consider it: EDITION THE IMAGE and keep that edition to 10 or fewer. I prefer 3-6. If limiting the sale of an image to 6-10 total makes you quake in your boots, you need to grab that camera and get to work, frankly. You will always be making new photographs, so what’s the harm if you sell six and that image is no longer available? Your work is “in demand”! Run with it!
But editioning the image really is a clean solution going forward. I can think of no down-side and although it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, it fits most of us.
Fiddlehead©Thomas Birtwistle. All Rights Reserved. 15×12/12, 30×24/12, 36×24/12.
So…talk to me. Would you edition an image rather than sizes of an image? Would you allow the collector to decide whether he/she wants it presented on paper, on metal or face-mounted?







































