For a long time, Thierry Struvay collected the big names in contemporary photography such as Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989) or Wolfgang Tillmans (born in 1968). “Until their prices go up and I can’t buy anything anymore”, he confides. Twenty years ago, the Belgian collector referred to the anonymous photo, “Those little family moments that few professional photographers remember” found for three francs six sous at the Brussels or New York flea markets.
In two decades, he has accumulated nearly 100,000 photos, presented twice at the Sorry We’re Closed gallery in Brussels.
Thierry Struvay is not alone in loving the mysteries of vernacular photography. From stylist Agnès b. from cinema producer Marin Karmitz to collector Artur Walther, amateurs for a day quickly become passionate. Museums have also put themselves in the spotlight. In 2017, Sotheby’s sold for 11,250 euros to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, an anonymous photo representing the Capucins market hall, in Marseille, around 1840.
For more modest purses, the anonymous photo allows above all to buy at low prices. “It is an area where we offer ourselves a pleasure and not an investment”, insists Philippe Jacquier, co-founder of the Lumière des Roses gallery, who presents at the Paris Photo international fair, from November 11 to 14, a selection of anonymous between 500 and 3,000 euros.
“What makes the price of a photo, in my eyes, is its power of suggestion. »Philippe Jacquier, gallery owner
For seventeen years, this former film producer has patiently forged this market. “When I consulted auction catalogs, I was struck to find more or less the same images from one catalog to another in a market that seemed quite smooth and marked to me, he recounts. It was therefore necessary to find a new margin in the photography market for the adventure to be exciting. ” An adventure all the more stimulating as “We operate without a priori, it’s pure discovery”, greets Jonas Tebib, director of the photo department at Sotheby’s, in Paris.
Without benchmarks on which to rely, without a reading grid, the amateur is forced to choose with his eyes and not according to a rating. Difficult but oh so rewarding exercise. But how to determine a price for images that were not intended to go outside the private framework?
For Philippe Jacquier, the value lies in the uniqueness but also in the subjectivity of each. “What makes the price of a photo, in my eyes, he assures, it is his power of suggestion. “ The Parisian art brut dealer Christian Berst, who is exhibiting for the first time at Paris Photo, agrees: “The fact that the author is unknown adds a halo of mystery that leaves room for fantasy, projection and imagination. “
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