Making a Photo Masterpiece

Legendary photographers talk about creating their most famous works

The making of a photographic masterpiece requires not simply skill but extraordinary talent combined with effort. And the process barely begins with the idea, snap of the shutter or first print. A masterpiece needs constant exposure, assessment, re-assessment and long-term planning. The memorable image, the masterpiece, may well be the ultimate intellectual property.

The contemporary photographic masterpiece resonates with a remarkable power in this new millennium, given that the auction, exhibition and track record of photography in the last quarter of the 20th century has upped the ante by nearly 100 times. It seems hard to believe that less than 50 years ago the collector base for photography as a fine art was a small handful of serious investors, even the historical masters of photography rarely sold even their rarest or most famous works for in excess of $1,000. The photographers who emerged or even dominated the field from the 1940s through the 1970s had little heritage to call on to make them believe their signed works would one day sell for tens of thousands of dollars and more. Even Man Ray and Ansel Adams, whose best and rarest photographic works have now danced with the once unimaginable figure of $1 million, were barely eking out a marginal ticket price for the best of their works as late as the 1970s.

Towards the mid-'70s, photography galleries began cropping up in major American, Canadian, Japanese and European cities. Key images from major media publications such as Life and Vogue, particularly the memorable ones of cultural heroes such as Elvis, the Kennedys and Marilyn Monroe, drew a wide paying audience and, like any property, demand can often drive price. By the late 1980s, photography was hot and major galleries and the auction houses were scrambling to get their hands on a piece of photography's evolving history. Lee Witkin, an early collector of photography who opened a photography gallery in the 1970s, perhaps summarized it best. "The way it happened," Witkin said, "was that collectors discovered that photography had a spectacular history full of masterpieces that spanned both the globe and a period of more than a century. They all discovered that it was all for sale, and they could afford these masterpieces, unlike the century's masterpieces of painting which were largely accounted for."

By the 1980s, photography's masters, such as Edward Weston, Adams, Man Ray and Paul Outterbridge, were no longer a secret to the great collectors and auction houses. The photographers who emerged around the fourth quarter of the 20th Century, including William Coupon, Joyce Tenneson and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, among many others, began signing and exhibiting their work right as their careers began. For this core group, as well as many other photographers now in mid-career or emerging, the possibility of earning a substantial income from exhibiting photography is a reality--and the creation of the photographic masterpiece an alluring possibility.

Joyce Tenneson, The Mona Lisa Approach

Joyce Tenneson is one of today's most revered exhibiting photographers. Her work taps a spiritual energy in portraiture and she is often the artist of choice when a major book, periodical or ad campaign wants to exhibit that ever pervasive `new age' look. For example, one of her images of Suzanne, one of her top models, was selected by Marianne Williamson to grace the cover of her book, which became a runaway best seller. Williamson, now a guru-like mentor to numerous media figures, including Oprah Winfrey, cited Tenneson's image as seminal to her success.

"I am not sure how the spiritual feeling comes into my images," Tenneson said, "but it isn't simply a technical thing. The feeling is there whether I shoot 35mm, large format or polaroids. It just appears."

Indeed, Tenneson's images "appear," veritable apparitions rendered on film. In an age when angels top both wedding cakes and the best-seller list, she is clearly a sign of the times. And many say her images of Suzanne invoke viewers to look--and remember the work--two early warning signs of a masterpiece.

For several years Tenneson used this particular model to create her ethereal images. One such image was editioned of 25, originally sold for around $1,000 in the late 80s, sold out by the mid 90s for several thousand and is a ready candidate for the auction house steeplechase, where it could fetch upwards of $10,000. Unlike many of her peers, Tenneson has not re-issued the print in another size or form. She vies for scarcity. Still, the images are courted by periodicals, recently as a cover for Life magazine for a story on angels. For Tenneson, the popularity and visibility for her work increases, while its scarcity as art remains.

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, The Populist Approach

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders is a portrait artist whose work frequently graces Vanity Fair, New York Times Magazine and G.Q., among others. Greenfield-Sanders has photographed virtually every important artist on the contemporary scene and many considered him the photographer-of-choice for any critical portrait of a contemporary artist, testified by his more than 700 works in that arena alone.

Yet, despite this 20 plus years of non-stop commitment that includes museum exhibitions, a major book from Fotofolio and constant art world exposure, his most visible portrait is of the iconic cinematic auteur Orson Welles. "It's both great and almost frustrating," Greenfield-Sanders said. "The image seems to be the definitive Orson Welles, but it is a very early portrait for me and, like any artist, I would certainly like to believe that my years of experience, better studio and total commitment have made me a better photographer. It's a mixed blessing."

While one of the original Welles' prints is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, Greenfield-Sanders credits the reputation of this work with a much more humble source: postcards. "The Fotofolio postcard has sold all over the world," he explained, "tens of thousands of copies, and I frequently get people commenting on the image after seeing it as a postcard. It seems an odd source--a postcard--for promoting a work of art but I think in this instance the postcard has had more impact on the reputation of that image than museum and gallery exhibitions combined."

Despite the fact that most of his other editions are of seven--and in some cases only three--he has elected to keep the Welles in an unlimited edition. "I kept it unlimited because I always thought, or felt, that it could be an important image for a long time so I wanted it to be available enough so that many museums, collectors and institutions could own an original piece and I wouldn't be constrained or limited in choosing where it could go."

William Coupon, The Art & Advertising Approach

William Coupon is widely regarded as the premiere photographic artist working regularly in advertising. His distinctive photographic backgrounds and sophisticated, intimate lighting style are the signatures of his work, whether in galleries, international advertising campaigns or key note portraits in prestigious magazines. Coupon is generally considered the world's most sought-after artist in any medium for portraits of the very powerful, particularly politicians, world leaders and corporate leaders. He had photographed every living president since Nixon, so choosing him to shoot Clinton for Time's prestigious "Man of the Year" cover was hardly a surprise. "I think of that as my seven and seven shot," he joked from his Wall Street studio. "I had seven minutes to shoot and shot seven rolls of film. I don't think people realize how much pressure is condensed into a short period of time for these high powered individual portraits."

Coupon's throw of the Presidential dice was considered a winner, however. Currently one of the most recognized photographs of Clinton, the piece ran as the magazine's "Man of The Year" cover and the signed print was logged into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum. Coupon elected not to treat this work differently than the rest of his body of work, however. "I do editions of 50 for the celebrity pieces--and I don't differentiate between the Mick Jaggers and the business or political celebrities. I make small signed editions, then mass market postcards and keep the image open for continued editorial publishing and advertising, where it applies. At this point in my career, I am both interested in getting my work out there and considering my little blip in the radar screen of art history."

The making of a masterpiece is indeed an ongoing process and these three artists took different approaches to dipping into the well of history.

Will any of these great works have what it takes to live past the life of the artist and on into history, be regarded for centuries even? Time will tell. But for the moment, anyway, the collector still has a chance to place his bet and own a potential piece of history whether one of these important images, or another trying to carve its place in time.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Pfingsten Publishing, LLC
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group