10 6 July 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
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few months ago I saw a series
of paintings by Bob Dylan in a
gallery. I’m a big fan of Dylan
the singer-songwriter, but it
turns out that I’m not a big fan of Dylan
the painter. One image, ‘Woman in Red
Lion Pub (Green), 2008’, features the
outline of a lady painted with thick, rough
brushstrokes. It’s an unfl attering picture,
with oddly placed lines giving her lumps in
all the wrong places. Another picture, ‘Train
Tracks (Orange), 2008’, reminds me of a
perspective exercise I carried out in an art
lesson at school. These paintings were
priced at over £2,500 each.
Looking at the display made me a bit
cross – if it weren’t for Dylan’s name
these paintings would probably never
have seen the light of day. It made me
think about how art is valued, and how
much of it is to do with supply and
demand rather than artistic merit. It also
made me think about all the talented
photographers I have met who would
give their back teeth to receive gallery
representation. Dylan is a superb
singer-songwriter – one of the best – but
shouldn’t he have to start at the beginning
with everyone else when it comes to
branching out into new mediums?
In recent years the number of models,
actors and musicians describing
themselves as photographers seems to
have skyrocketed. One of the most
obvious examples is Brooklyn Beckham
who, despite questionable talent, shot a
campaign for Burberry. Having seen the
results Jonathan Jones, art critic for
The Guardian (who, incidentally, likes
Dylan’s paintings) wrote, ‘these pictures
have no bite and no drama, nothing to
say.’ It’s the fi nal part of the sentence that
wounds – to be told that your pictures
have ‘nothing to say’ would cut most
photographers to the quick. Thankfully I
think the son of Victoria and David can
handle the criticism.
And then, of course, there was
Bekham’s photography book, What I See.
Now I’m not going to add fuel to the fi re
by offering a full critique here – all I’ll sayis Beckham shoots with a Leica and has
done us all a great service by proving it’s
the photographer and not the camera
that creates great pictures. Again, it’s a
case of supply and demand. Penguin
(who published the book) knows the
name Beckham sells, and whether or
not he has anything worth selling is
pretty irrelevant. To be fair, if you think
back to your fi rst photographic efforts,
no matter how terrible, would you have
refused a book deal if it were handed to
you on a plate?
The only way to stop fi lling galleries and
books with celebrity nonsense is to place
the emphasis back on artistic merit. Sure,
it’s a harder sell, but I would love to see
more work from relatively unknown
photographers. These people might
not have a backstory that features rich
parents or award-winning music, but the
quality of their pictures will speak for itself.THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED
© LOUIS LITTLE/MARTIN PARR FOUNDATIONWe all know celebrity sells, but in the rush
to meet targets are galleries and publishers
providing enough opportunities for true talent?View point
Tra cy Calder
Tracy Calder has more than 20 years of experience in the
photo magazine industry. She is the co-founder of Close-
up Photographer of the Year. Visit http://www.cupoty.com.‘The way to stop fi lling
galleries with celebrity
nonsense is to place the
emphasis on merit’
© MAARTEN MELLEMANS© JAMES PATERSONCONTENT FOR NEXT WEEK’S ISSUE MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGEGuiding light
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In next week’s issue
Portrait Special
On sale Tuesday 9 July
Martin Parr believes that post-war British
documentary photography is underrated,
and aims to redress the balance with some
lesser-known bodies of work at his gallery