28 January 2009

Cotter River up For Sale

| chrisurfer
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In a bold move to grow local arts, celebrate and respect our environment and offer an investment in fine art, Canberra photographer Chris Holly is selling the Cotter River at its source as two limited-edition images, then cutting up the originals.

There will only ever be 60 copies of each image. After the images have sold, the original transparency film will be cut into pieces and shown online, making the images a limited edition investment opportunity that will appreciate in value.

The images depict the source of the Cotter River, looking across a sweeping arena of polished granite slabs, on the side of Mt Scabby. It takes a day to walk into the area which adjoins wilderness along the ACT and NSW borders.

Photography is now considered a valuable art investment. With current digital technology, the benefit is easy replication. You can make millions of copies of an image, however the art collection value is lower because supply outweighs demand. With film, once the original image is cut, no more copies can be made and demand grows because supply has ended.

This reflects the source of the Cotter for Canberra. It is our supply of fresh water and clean air. We only have one Earth. It cannot be replicated and our demands must be considered carefully so our assets are valued.

“I have a debt to repay to the earth for making these images. Just as one would respect the work of a model and pay them to pose in a photograph, one can make a payment to respect the natural environment, and give our talents and art a fresh purpose.”

The sale is a great exchange for everyone. Local artists are supported, people have access to affordable fine art of a precious local asset, and proceeds from the sales flow back to environmental projects.

Each print is signed and numbered by the artist and is $220. They can be viewed online at http:www.holimage.com/cotter

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Overheard @19: Me too. I love it when hippies get passive-aggressive (it’s a very particular type of passive aggressive).

Not yet Granny – just talked it up 🙂

Ill write a story ’bout it tonight with a slideshow 🙂

Mr_Shab said :

I thought I’d seen this fruity language before. Thank you for pointing out this huckster’s last attempt at making a few dodgy clams, Skidbladnir. To reiterate from that thread: Back in your box, hippy.

Yeah, it sounds dodge city alright, but at least some kudos to the poster for his/her retorts to your comments in the original thread, Mr_Shab. Gave me a good laugh.

Ooh, Danman! You’ve put up our light painting!!

: )

I thought it was spelt ‘sheister’, not ‘shyster’.

I thought I’d seen this fruity language before. Thank you for pointing out this huckster’s last attempt at making a few dodgy clams, Skidbladnir. To reiterate from that thread: Back in your box, hippy.

Skidbladnir said :

2 photos, 60 prints of each, $220/print…

Jb, what rate does RA make from advertising on projected sales of $26,400, considering this is the second time Chrisurfer has advertised on RA?

Nothing yet, but advertisers tend to get sick of seeing their post sliding off the front page and realise that in this medium the paid ad is worth more than the editorial.

2 photos, 60 prints of each, $220/print…

Jb, what rate does RA make from advertising on projected sales of $26,400, considering this is the second time Chrisurfer has advertised on RA?

available for nixx of course 🙂

Oh and by the way, if you’re selling the cotter, then I’m giving away various pieces of infrastructure and buildings around this wide brown land – have a look – http://www.flickr.com/danman_cc high res available for your mega inkjet love

so, can i buy the river now?

Thanks everyone and an apology to you all,

I hear all your comments and upon reflection, see that I have made a mistake by promoting my own wares here in this way.

Sorry for my naiviety and any infringement on the spirit of RA. I now know much better and feel the sting of the pixels above.

Thanks for the insights and constructive comments of my work.

yours humbly,

Man, I took a photo the other night that I have been plamnning for years – I had help in the execution and the shutter was open for 9 minutes.

During this time, I walked around the scene lighting up various parts with coloured light. I was even crafty enough to use my technique (Gathered over several years) to sign my work in light alone.

What resulted was a normally barren concrete structure magnificently transformed to an image of great beauty.

I have been honing my art since 1999 – on film and digital. I started with a fully manual minolta WW2 model camera. I have shot several events and a few wedding (All paid gigs) but have not yet taken th eplunge into an ABN (Earning less than $5000 a year)

Given that I have years of experience, all I ask is for in return for my photography using years of acquired technique is the time for people to appreciate my art – and in return their joy at my sharing of my talents.

By the way, if I took several photos on film, of the same scene, had 5 prints made up from one frame, and then cut the negative that I had enlarged to make th eprints, are those prints now limitied edition, as their source negative has been destroyed. See where I’m heading?

Sorry but a fool and his money soon part ways, and it seems there are a lot of highly paid fools in the art appreciation world I need to get to know.

“Don’t discount the integrity of good art or photography just because it is a medium that is readily available to all of us. It takes a lot of practice, skill and many years hard work to learn to take technically good and visually interesting images.”

I am quite aware of the skills needed to take good photographs. I also have little regard for the images in question, run of the mill landscape snapshots with little skill or soul.

But, my post was not about their photographics skills or lack of, but their dodgy sales method.

perhaps not, LH – chrisurfer should perhaps have done a little more research on the site before plunging in, as it were. one might have thought he knew better?

still, you make excellent points and do a credit to the poster – but maybe a little (or a lot) more on exactly where these proceeds will go might soften the attitudes of the rioters.

good luck to you both, though – nice images…

phototext said :

Can I advertise my photographs too, no con story about limited copies and art as an investment though.

Sure, but only the first hit is free.

It is common practice for photo artists (ie. artists that exhibit in galleries as opposed to commercial photographers) to sell images as a limited edition, often destroying the original afterwards. And most photo artists/commercial photographers have trained for many years, much in the way any other type of artist has. Don’t discount the integrity of good art or photography just because it is a medium that is readily available to all of us. It takes a lot of practice, skill and many years hard work to learn to take technically good and visually interesting images. Think of painters that sell their original painting, or printmakers that may print only a short run of each image. This is not a scam, however it is not an original idea either, photographers have been doing this for years and galleries usually sell photographs as limited edition prints. Perhaps posting to RA is a blatant ‘plug’ and possibly not the right target audience to give the ‘hard sell’ to…..

dang. I thought it was actually the river. I was going to put it beside my Sydney opera house and Harbour bridge…

photos have been done, shauno, you’ll have to flog off those bronzes in the back yard. or the finger painting stuff…

HAHA what a scam. I’ll have to come up with some arty sentences and flog off some of my photos as well. Maybe some of the dodgy Angolan pics I’ve got I could flog off as a humanitarian collection for $220 each.

“In a bold move to grow local arts” Yeah, right.

“however the art collection value is lower because supply outweighs demand” What BS, like they where going to sell thousands of prints otherwise. It is rare for most photographers to sell 50 prints of an image anyway, except perhaps as postcards at the markets.

“making the images a limited edition investment opportunity that will appreciate in value” Yep, the first and foremost reason to create art, as an investement for others.

This is just an ad to sell some photographs, make some money with a dodgy twist.

Does this now mean that anyone can start flogging off their wares on RiotAct ?

Can I advertise my photographs too, no con story about limited copies and art as an investment though.

Dodgy post.

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