Wednesday night's panel with Elizabeth Avedon, Ruben Natal San-Miguel, A.D. Coleman and yours truly, moderated by Susan May Tell, was a lively discussion about fine art blogging, enhanced by the fact that we all come to it from a different perspective. Alan Coleman comes to it as a social commentator, and has been blogging since 1995. As a leading writer on the subject of photography at Photocritic International, he uses his blog as a platform to be a journalist, having exposed and followed such stories as the dismantling of the Polaroid collection. He's now reporting on the story of the recently "rediscovered" Ansel Adams negatives.

Elizabeth Avedon likens blogging to, "putting a message in a bottle and throwing it out into the ocean. You don't know if anyone will read it." But with an international audience Avedon shows work by not just photographers, but all artists whose work moves her. And "knowing how few shows galleries put up in a year, blogging is a good forum."

The idea of blogging reaching out to an international audience was echoed by Ruben Natal-San Miguel, who sees his blog, Art Most Fierce, as a business whose purpose is to promote art collecting. He began collecting art after Sept. 11, and after buying the art he writes about it. He promotes artists and not-for-profit organizations to raise money for them. He was most direct in talking about the importance of using Facebook and Twitter in concert with his blog to promote photography.

For me the important thing is to know why you're blogging. Without a strong definition, a blog can just be more noise. I love the fact that I can say anything I want, and the work I feature is work I like. It's discussing the creative process that I find most satisfying--giving photographers a chance to talk about what they do, why they do it, and what it means to them.

The one problem we find with blogging is that it is not going to make money--but then none of us started with that intent , although Ruben is adamant about it being a business for him. He sees his blogging as a way to put info out there for others to benefit from. He curates shows which sell work, and speaks of treating work as special--not overexposing it everywhere. Avedon had a different opinion of that, saying putting work out there was a way for people to find out about it. But the idea of scarcity creating interest for collectors was Ruben's impetus for cautioning people about overexposure.

While both myself and Avedon look at more work online, both Ruben and myself go to shows--although he goes to many more than I do. Coleman doesn't go to shows, but he goes to FotoFest, and the Palm Springs Photo Festival to see work.

There was a large crowd who seemed to hang on every word, and I think we all enjoyed the discussion, hearing each other's point of view. If you weren't there, plan on being at the next panel. If you were, let us know what you thought by commenting here.
Photos by Frank Rocco
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  1. A very nice write up. Sorry I missed the event.

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  2. Stella, thanks so much for sharing this post. I have thought for years about the value of starting a blog. It was good to hear the opinions of some experts!

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  3. Stella, Great blog about the great blogger event.

    One of the many things that I appreciated the most was that the panelists were "real" and down-to-earth.

    These are some of the comments I've received by people who were there:
    - "spicy"
    - "spirited and informative."
    - "really interesting and fun as well as quite visual"
    - "Another thing that made yesterday’s event so successful is that all of the participants could communicate effectively with the audience."

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  4. I've been writing an art blog for several years. I have actively avoided the descriptor of "fine art" because the line between fine art and pop culture is both tenuous and fascinating.

    This quote from Lawrence Alloway is true now even more than when he wrote it in 1958:

    "...rejection of the mass produced arts is not, as critics think, a defence of culture but an attack on it"

    At any rate, art blogs are a wonderful contribution to the ways we can think about and view art, and I appreciate all your contributions. Avedon is on my RSS feed, now I will find the rest of you.

    Liza Cowan, Vermont

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  5. It was an excellent panel... with healthy debates and different point of views on the matter. So glad i went!

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  6. Stella, good summary and yes, I was there and enjoyed as well as benefited from the lively debate. The difference of opinions and the openness of the panelists made it special. thanks
    viviane moos

    ReplyDelete
(A wonderful perspective and advice for our community.)

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I've been in the art and photography industry for 15 years as a photographer, curator and art consultant. I've been fortunate to work with ASMPNY as a portfolio reviewer as well as a panelist for photography events here in the city. Earlier this year my exhibition, "Hotter Than July" was reviewed by senior art critic of New York Magazine, Jerry Saltz. In the past I founded veaux.org, a site for emerging creatives with a gallery space in Chelsea as well as curator/consultant of exhibitions for the Hipstamatic iphone app. Currently I'm working on a project documenting the New York art world while curating exhibitions around the city.
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