05.04.09
Art For Sale
Selling photography on the high street has come a long way since the proliferation of bad poster art that was popularised in the 1980s.
The ‘crushed coke can’ and ‘tennis player scratching her behind’ that typified the mass market at that time has been countered by the products being offered by serious, design-led interior chains, such as Habitat, Heals and Ikea.
In recent years a change in attitude has brought to light a more discerning art shopper, willing to pay a little more money for something a bit more sophisticated. Ddue to the sudden surge of interest in home decorating, and home improvement television programmes in the mid-to-late ‘90s, the more discerning home decorator now wanted something a little more sophisticated to hang on their walls.
Someone who has experience of supplying this market is Camilla Kemp. She founded 55Max in 2002 and the company now has an extensive library of prints covering a wide range of photographic subject matter by a varied selection of photographers.
“I take on someone’s work largely based on personal taste. We have some award-winning photographers, such as Bruno Mercier and Seymour Rogansky but also some lesser known, but equally talented, names,” she explains.
She started the company purely out of frustration. “There just didn’t seem to be anyone, apart from Ikea and Habitat, supplying good quality prints at affordable prices. The prints on offer were often sentimental images,” she laughs. “A good friend of mine gave me some great prints when I was decorating my home. It gave me the idea to source good photographic material myself, rather than rely on the poor selection on the market.”
She started looking for other suitable photographers and encouraged them to send in their folios so that she could select prints to sell. The value-for-money element was, and still is, a selling point of the business. Although they now stock other products that sell for more, the original idea was to only sell prints for a price less than £55. Hence the name.
A shrewd business woman she keeps an eye on what is selling and has developed an awareness of trends in photography and home decorating.
However, it is often whether or not she loves an image that is the deciding factor. “I like bright, vivid colours and graphic composition so this tends to influence what type of images I select. An element of humour can often help to make a print a popular seller, though. There was a time when everything had to be black & white and moody. I’ve grown to know what makes a good image and I’m always updating our database to ensure that the range is current.”
Although it continues to be run by a relatively small team, the business’ profile has grown considerably since its inception. Web sales obviously make up a large proportion of the business’ trade but it also has a gallery space in West London and a showroom in Harrods.
She has, she says, reached a stage where she no longer has to actively pursue photographic talent; she now receives a steady influx of folios and has to employ a degree of editorial control to keep her library of images to a quality level that she is satisfied with.
As well as keeping an eagle-eye on the quality of pictures, she is keen to ensure that the photographers she is showcasing are different enough in style, to retain a sense of diversity in the scope of work on offer. “Each one should have their own little ‘niche’.”
Name-dropped by Kemp as one of the first high-street outlets to pay more attention to the calibre of artwork and photography it sells, Swedish furniture chain Ikea is as fastidious about what it puts on the wall as it is in other areas of home design. Adrian Webster is the UK sales leader for the ever-expanding company’s ‘Home Decoration’ department. His role within Ikea involves acting as the ‘talking partner’ between the buyers and creatives in Scandinavia who decide the ranges and the stores in the UK selling the range.
He says that all product ranges need to be either adopted or adapted to fit in with what the UK market likes. Despite this, he says that they are nevertheless more likely to use photography that has a Swedish or Scandinavian subject matter.
“We have strategies, and these are centred around the ‘roots’ of Ikea’s identity. We generally prefer good modern pieces and landscapes, art that would have a global appeal, not just targeting the UK market.”
Don’t start approaching Ikea directly. It sources its artwork through its own Trading Services Offices across the world, Webster explained.
“Images are normally licensed to our suppliers and we purchase the finished article from them,” he continues. “Currently though I am working with one of our suppliers on a UK-commissioned texture canvas art range which is selling fairly well in the stores. Photographic imagery, where included in our pre-framed artwork, is bought as a finished article from suppliers.
“The best way for photographers to see their work mass-produced by Ikea is to sell their images to of one our suppliers, such as The Art Group. We regularly buy images from them. We don't deal directly with independent photographers as such. In all honesty, the decision-making regarding how appropriate an image is for Ikea’s market sits within the strategic halls of the head office in Almhult, in Sweden.”
Habitat also works in collaboration with The Art Group, as its public relations officer Nicholas Wiltshire explains.
“Each season our decoration team selects a collection of designs for framed prints, canvases, posters and postcards, through our Art On Demand website. From a stylistic point of view anything goes, from classic skylines to sketches to Manga cartoons and digital artwork.
“Retail seasons are Spring-Summer (March to August) and Autumn-Winter (September to February). Products for each season are confirmed over a year ahead. The design process for certain interior products can begin two years before lines go on sale, but items like artwork are chosen later. The design team works around a very tight creative ‘orientation’, specific to each season. This takes into account colour palette, style and cultural influences, so the art choices are based on this too."
Wilshire also suggested that The Art Group may be the best point of contact for a professional wanting to sell photographic imagery. The company was founded in 1987 and, according to representative Mark McGinn, “art for all” has remained the group’s mantra for the last 20 years since its inception.
“We have built strong relationships with over 800 artists, publishing and distributing their work at prices people can afford.”
Initially only offering affordable prints, he says that its product portfolio has been continually ‘developed and refined’. It now sells limited-edition prints, canvas prints, paper prints and a ‘ready to hang’ range of framed artwork. Aside from Ikea and Habitat, it supplies 2500 other high-street stores.
“We never compromise our standards and this has given us an unrivalled reputation in the popular art market,” claims McGinn. A dedicated department is constantly searching for new and interesting artists. In its search, this proactive team visits art shows and galleries all over the world, as well as carrying out a great deal of ‘desk research’. One would imagine that the team is inundated with a steady supply of new work from hopeful young professionals too.
“We commission photographers all the time,” says McGinn. “We usually have a core few London-based professionals whom we deal with directly and can fulfil our briefs for urgent deadlines. We can never source everything we need from libraries or agencies so commissioning provides an excellent solution to this shortfall.”
Despite the fact that monochromatic imagery of cityscapes and panoramic landscapes have been staple best-sellers over the years McGinn says that he has noticed subtle changes in trend. It stands to reason that colour trends are as key to image-based product ranges as to any other decorative element. “Of course natural light is very fashionable for still-life work at present and there seems to be more demand for paler colours. Pale Scandinavian seascapes are doing particularly well at the moment,” he adds.
For pros wishing to approach the company, he has this advice: “We look for fabulous lighting and a pioneering style. For example, the New York cityscape has been shot so many times, we’d be looking for a new angle, unusual lighting or a different take on things. If we see something that reinvigorates a potentially jaded subject matter then we seize it. Originality and technical excellence are necessary. “We are always looking for new talent as we know that a new style may take the whole company in a new direction.”
Phil Clarke
- Average Article Rating 0 Stars
-
Your Rating
Login Required!
Sorry - You must be a registered user & logged in to rate this.
Login | Register
Back to Categories