Changing Places: Rebranding of Photography as Contemporary Art

In this text Moschovi explains the journey that photography has taken to be accepted as a contemporary art form. The way that photography has changed throughout the years has affected the way it is seen from an artistic point of view. It was originally seen as something that would accompany art, or an extension of work already produced by artists. Having little ‘artistic value’ just as a photograph. Alan Bowness (Tate Gallery director in 1982) said at the time that they would not collect the work of artists who are exclusively photographers. He would only exhibit photographic work that was a natural extension of an art piece.

Moschovi talks about Harvey’s political economic theory of ‘monopoly rent’ with specific reference to the art market. This may be described as the ‘ability to realise a monopoly price for a commodity’ (Harvey, 1982, 349). He goes on to explain that a piece of art that is considered prestigious, and exhibited in a specific gallery holds a high monopoly rent, as people will come from all over to view this one piece of art. However, as photographs are more easily accessible, and can be exhibited in multiple galleries at the same time, we reduce the monopoly rent or advantage for these galleries. Does this then reduce the desirability to view the photograph, because it isn’t reputable enough to only be exhibited in one place? Would it be considered the ‘real thing’ if there were multiple versions out there?

Throughout the 80s, as technology evolved, photography became more widely recognised and appeared more frequently in museums. The field expanded to a large array of practices including film, digital, advertising, video and fashion. People started to embrace the ‘anti-art’ movement which saw art museums adopt the ‘return of the real’ and a little less of the traditional as the media started to play a big part in modern life. The demand for more contemporary art came in the eighties after the economic hardship of the 70s, and photography fit the bill, being more affordable and accessible to the masses. Nowadays, photography is exhibited in museums all over the world, appreciated as its own contemporary art form, not simply an extension of traditional art.