On the occasion of the opening of the Milan’s fair, we talked to two photography lovers. The MIA Fair’s creator Fabio Castelli and his daughter Lorenza Castelli, who is director of the exhibition.
How did you start becoming an Art collector ? How was it going on ? Which kind of pictures are you collecting?
F. Castelli : My interest in photography comes directly from my passion for art and in particular for graphics to which I have dedicated my collecting activity since the end of the 1960’s. I think I can identify the passage from graphics to photography was when I understood the affinities between these two methods of representing the world, after analysing in depth and meditating on the cliché-verre practice of the nineteenth- century, a drawing made on a translucent glass that is applied on a photosensitive paper and exposed to the light of the sun; the paper is then submitted to the production and fixing process. In particular I reflected on the reproducibility of both art languages in terms of circulation.
This gradually brought my attention to photography and I started a collection with the same approach I had with the graphic one. If this last one was starting with incunabula then the photography collection had to narrate its story starting from the photogenic drawing.
I therefore started to collect works of already known authors and emerging ones at a time when Italy didn’t have a market of author photography, aware that sooner or later the delay in this field had to be overtaken, looking at what was happening for many years in other Countries economically more advanced.
Even more than this “commercial” aspect I would like to underline that a collection has to be full of passion and I have to say that the discovery and my total devotion to photography is mostly motivated by a big passion for this medium of expression.
One of the first experiences that touched me as a collector occurred at Paris Photo when I bought a work by an international artist from an important gallery. There was an edition of 3 photos and I immediately paid to put the work in standby. While I was looking at other pictures in the fair I thought that maybe there were more copies of that work so I called the gallery to check it for me. They told me there was another edition of 5 so I asked to at least specify that my work was the number 2 of an edition of 8 but they told me that that was impossible to do because they also had sold a work of the other edition. So I asked for the money back. The artists and the gallerists try to be astute and they let the collector be cheated. There are rules fundamental to building a solid photography market, especially the editions. All these aspects are essential.
What was your best success? Your favourite ? Your biggest disappointment?
F.C : I surely identify one of my successes as a collector to the acquisition of various photos in the 1980’s by Luigi Ghirri. At that time, when I bought those images, a contemporary photographer and today a well known and established Italian photographer, one of the most important in Italy. Today the value of the photos I bought is 12 times higher.
One of the favourite pieces of my collection is a 1922 vintage from “ Arnold Genthe “, a silver salt printing of a still life image of extraordinary aesthetic perfection.
No real disappointment, when I buy photos for my collection I’m driven by the pleasure of the image and by the message I receive by it, so I’m always satisfied with my purchases.
How did you pass the torch to your daughter, now director of the MIA ?
F.C : I have not passed the torch to my daughter, we work as a team. She is the director in charge of the organizational and technical aspects of the fair, whereas I am head of the Selection Committee and responsible of the artistic direction and of the contents of the fair. For example this year I introduced new features for the fair such as:
• 4 hands project: the area dedicated to the presentation of works created jointly by the photographer and the printer. A close relationship develops between these two figures, similar to the one that was established in the past between the authors and printers of engravings, and this is reflected in the decision to exhibit the photographs with both signatures
• The Collector’s Corner, an entire area where collectors can find exhibitors specialising in conservation, enhancement, lighting and protection of photographic works, restoration and conservation experts, framing professionals and an insurance company to cover the risks of an art collection. Also here, the collector will find a section in which MIA Fair offers some fundamental publications for anyone looking for information on how to begin collecting
• The Award addressed to photo archives in conjunction with our sponsor Eberhard&Co. and IO Donna – RCS Editori. The award consists in an economic support to the selected and most deserving Italian archive institution dedicated to photography, for the cataloguing, digitalisation and conservation of its works
Lorenza Castelli, now you are director of the exhibitions of the fair. How did you choose this way? Are you also a photography collector?
L. Castelli : MIA Fair has been conceived in 2011 by my father, Fabio Castelli, and I have been involved in the organization since the beginning. I have a university degree in economics and been working in strategic consultancy business for more than 12 years. Now I have the possibility to transform my passion (I am a photography collector) in a job. I took this opportunity and left my career to run our family business represented by MIA Fair. We are also developing MIA Fair internationally and be present in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands in October 2014. I am not in charge of the exhibitions. I have no specific art background, just my passion for photography.
The fair will take place in Milan. Are there any famous Italian collectors? Is there any photography market?
L.C : Milan is surely the most international and creative Italian city that attracts people from all over the world, it has a very important tradition of fashion, art and design.
During the year the city presents an environment full of fair and events such as the days during the fashion week and the design week where people from all over the world go from one happening to another creating a fascinating atmosphere. One example is the recent edition of “Salone Internazionale del Mobile”, one of the most important traditions of Milan, where in strategic points of the city there are many exhibitions of the most important Italian design brands and related events.
The economy of the city sustains itself on these key strategic points that make the business alive and full of new opportunities; this cultural knowledge of the city creates an environment that certainly welcomes collectors of each generation in any field of the arts including photography. For privacy reasons I don’t like giving names of collectors, but the city is rich and can be considered a very receptive platform where people are very sensible to art and design, and so potentially to photography.
Recently, the collector Jonathan Sobel bought an edition of two photographs but later, it appears that the photographer William Eggelstone produced and sold a new print of the same shot, using a different kind of print. Sobel filed a complain against the photographer. The judge ruled in favour of the photographer.
What do you think? Different prints from a same negative can they be considered as two separate artworks?
L.C : This case is representative of the problems related to the printing editions and I think there should be a big attention on this theme when we talk about a market that has its own rules. A collector should always consider the rules of the photography market even the ones that are not written in order to maintain a solid market. I think that two works of art, produced at different time, with different dimensions or printed in a different way are just the result of the same picture; different prints from the same negative are not different, I think they are part of a unique artwork.
I am even more radical: I think it is a fraud to make different edition depending on the dimensions. If there are 3 printed images of a particular dimension and 10 of a different one, I think you should say that there is an edition of 13 divided into different dimensions. It is true that the dimension is part of the artistic language but it’s not so important to make it a different artwork: it is the same image bigger or smaller. So you made 13 copies of the same image. At the end the important thing is the number 13 adding eventually 1 or 2 artist’s proofs. This is the edition.
The artist’s proofs are another important issue, it’s essential that an artist specifies the number of works that he owns from an edition.
The number should be included in the edition.
Interview by Juliette Deschodt
MIA Fair – Milan Image Art Fair 2013
From 10th to 12th May 2013
Superstudio Più
Via Tortona, 27
Milan, Italy
