Photography’s Moment On Chain

The below reflects observations and anecdotes on my early collection journey and why NFTs will fundamentally disrupt photography.

Walking Away From the First Picture

I really appreciated the beauty of photography in a Peter Lik Soho gallery eight years ago as I pondered buying a stunning landscape print. I couldn’t understand why a 1 of 1,000 print was thousands of dollars. Especially given the volume of his work and the number of collections. Today, I still look back with the same bewilderment as Peter Lik Open Editions sell for $1,800. I realized something back then subconsciously in my decision not to purchase. An idea that has taken me nearly a decade to articulate.

The Purchase-Ownership Divide

I loved the beauty of Peter Lik’s art but I hated the ownership model as a patron. Acquiring that print meant I would never own it. Rather, I would share a copy of it with many others. The same photo was printed over and over again and sold by Peter at astronomical prices with Peter always holding the original. It’s not Peter’s fault, he needs to make a business. It just comes at the price of destroying the very nature of ownership and worth to me as a collector. Eight years later, I have acquired my third photo in a month. What changed?

The Power of Blockchain and Tokens

I will preface by underscoring that I am an amateur art collector. I am also not sure I still know what art is. I only know what art is to me.

When I think about art, I think about the intense artistic process of generating or creating a certain composition. And then the artist(s) exposes that process to a community to value its worth. There is substantial preparation in developing a collection. Skills are required to set an ambitious vision and then pull it off. And there is courage. The courage of the artist to be completely vulnerable as they expose their work.

With photography, I realize photos capture something that is so ephemeral; often a real moment put into object permanence. And there is no less preparation and craft in producing a final photo than executing a great painting or series of generative art.

The blockchain and use of NFTs have become increasingly more powerful for photography. It is solving the disdain I felt stepping away from that Peter Lik photo so many years ago. Building an indestructible, non-replicable, metaphorical “negative” for the image with clear ownership. And that ownership comes at no loss to the creator as its contract is simultaneously programmed with an ongoing loyalty reward as the piece of art exchanges hands in perpetuity. An artist commission. And the best features to me. 1) I could transfer ownership and sell on a marketplace in seconds anywhere in the world and 2) I could print it exactly how I want it displayed in my home (or display it digitally).

A New Era of Photography

I personally have come into NFT photography through the world of Generative Art. These artists and builders run closely in similar circles of collectors. Specifically in member groups like the Proof Collective. It’s reminiscent to me of the impressionist movement and the close friendships with artists like Monet, Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille. The same is being built by a digital and fortunately more diverse group of artists.

The first photo NFT that caught my eye was Twin Flames. A Magnum Opus Moment for NFT Photography. Twin Flames by Justin Aversano is seemingly a relatively simple composition of people on the surface but so interesting. As I stared at the collection, I thought: Maybe I like it because I am a twin? And because only 3% of births are multiple births? Maybe others like it because of a broad fascination for twins? Maybe it was because it was the first major NFT drop by a soon-to-be photographer legend. Maybe it is because it is a 100 all-original collection. Or the diversity and “realness” of the subjects, the twins in the photos.

Next, I discovered Platon. I heard about Platon through the Proof podcast from Kevin Rose. A traditional iconic portrait photographer I immediately recognized seeing his work before. Lucky for me, Platon was also an early mover into Web3 with a Genesis NFT drop collection that didn’t get the attention it deserved. I couldn’t believe the intimate moments Platon spent photographing the most powerful figures of our generation and he had NFTs available at that price. What must have those intimate moments to capture a perfect portrait been like? And then, I saw a photo that spoke to me I could access from Platon’s Genesis drop. A photo of Willie Nelson which was part of a 25 print series.

(Platon photo of Willie Nelson; 1 of 25)

To me, this photo was a symbol of a distant, fond memory. Sitting in the backseat of my dad’s Buick with my two brothers as we drove down remote Florida backroads to Frostproof to visit my grandma. My dad would put on Willie Nelson listening to classics like Pancho & Lefty, On the Road Again, and Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. Wow, what a photo to collect.

The second photo I purchased was one from Quantum.art (a project Justin of Twin Flames is the co-founder of). I was pulled in by a series called Anxious Pleasures by Amy Elkins as part of the Quantum Curated collection. Partially because of it being an origin drop for Quantum and mainly because of the art. The series of 377 photographs were representative of the shared, lived experience we all went through as part of a global pandemic. I’ve since purchased a Quantum Key, which will become a membership pass to a series of real access and cultural spaces opening across the globe. LA to start and New York closely after.

(Anxious Pleasures; November 20, 2020; the week before no Thanksgiving)

Most recently, I had my attention captivated once more by a new project Strong Hair by Yatreda. 100 beautiful video portraits of different people in Ethiopia including the artist herself. The series is encouraging women of color to embrace their crown hair. Maybe it speaks to a part of my half-Kenyan identity and a reminder of my mother who grew up in Ethiopia’s neighboring African country. My early fascination with the Maasai with equally “Strong Hair”. Or that it holds a similarly simple and powerful 100-piece collection vibe to Twin Flames put into object permanence. It was a reassuring signal that Twin Flames (and Quantum.art) creator Justin Aversano bought one. I am most excited about where this project could go.

https://foundation.app/@yatreda/strong/77

Moving Forward

Photography, I believe, is poised for an interesting trajectory forward we have yet to witness. This is true for art broadly but Photography is special. Photography’s current existence is primarily digital-first. It has been that way for over the past decade. We instinctively understand and accept this. Tokenizing photography allows us a greater sense of ownership that makes the market more liquid for creators and patrons alike; this will propagate photography into a new Renaissance faster than we think.

Maybe the next time I look at buying a Peter Lik print, it will be an NFT.