On art and economics

The economics of art isn’t a new problem. One example is that of the painter Paul Gauguin’s final exhibition in Paris. The paintings he created in the Marquesas Islands are now considered masterpieces, but during his last show, 85 percent did not sell. Just 7 of his 49 pieces found a buyer. For much of his career, he was broke. And he wasn’t the first, or last, artist to find himself in that position.

As much as I would like to separate art from accounting, for most of us, it’s not possible. The need for nature photography today is just as great as it was decades ago when artists like Ansel Adams and Philip Hyde were taking their large format cameras into the wilderness to show people what we should be working to save.

So how do we get that important work done? To do it requires time and money to cover the travel, equipment and regular expenses of life. The number of publications and grants to produce this work is a tiny, tiny fraction of what it once was. Is it better, in an effort to keep your art pure, to take a desk job to cover the bills and photograph only on weekends or vacation? Or is it better to photograph as much as you can, shooting some subjects because you know there’s a market demand for them and other subjects only because they matter to you? What is the difference?

Too often artists equate “popular” with “bad.” We act as if anything that has any commercial appeal is garbage. We practically consider it a crime to produce such work. In doing that, we lose sight of the fact that anything with commercial appeal also reaches a wide audience. But isn’t that what we hope for with our messages about conservation or other important issues?

You could say that I’m working on both sides of the fence by making art for me, and art that affords me the ability to keep making art. Over the years, I’ve discovered that fence isn’t very high. Some of the images I have produced that I was certain would matter only to me actually rank among my most financially successful works. Shows you what I know about what people want.

Other artists may be embarrassed by this, but I am really proud of the fact that my images are in children’s books and park kiosks as well as art books and galleries. I took up nature photography to show people the amazing wonder of nature. I see the “commercial” end of my art as doing for a wide audience what my parents did for me: introducing me to nature. It doesn’t compromise my vision; it is my vision.

(Kevin’s book, Five Minutes in Nature, collects images and stories about his experiences in the wilderness, curated to help you have deeper encounters of your own. Preview and order it here. Prints of his images are available through LivingWilderness.com. Learn about new work by joining his mailing list.)