Brandei Estes is the Head of Photographs at Sotheby’s London, and spent over ten years working in photography and contemporary art galleries in London and Paris before joining Sotheby’s in 2013. Brandei is regularly a judge and nominator for numerous international photography awards including the Prix Pictet and the Deutsche Borse, and served for five years as the Chair for the advisory committee of The Photographers’ Gallery TPG Contemporaries. Brandei also lectures throughout the year on collecting photographs and the photography market for public and private institutions, museums, galleries and fairs.
This year Sotheby’s celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first photographs auction, which took place at Sotheby’s London in 1971. Coinciding with this occasion, Helen Trompeteler spoke with Brandei about the evolution of the art photography market. They discussed what drives her passion for photography and her advice for new collectors.
So, to begin with, please can you tell us about how you first became interested in photography? I understand that your work with David Gill’s collection helped shape your early experiences. So, could you start by telling us a little about that time?
When I was at university, I studied History of Art and Italian at University College London. And I never took a class over 1850. So, I completely missed photography as a student. I thought I would go into the restoration of paintings. But I met David Gill, by chance, and he offered me a job as his gallery manager. And he's known in the design world and has worked with Zaha Hadid and discovered Grayson Perry and Tom Dixon. He had a personal collection of photographs, which I just fell in love with and found fascinating. I think whatever you do in the art world, it's good to have that foundation and understanding of art history, but I never thought I would make a career in photographs. And from working at David Gill, I met Michael Hoppen and started working for him. And the rest is history.
Sotheby's was key to establishing the art photography market in the mid-1970s, with numerous landmark sales, such as the Julia Margaret Cameron Herschel album. Please can you talk about a few personal highlights from Sotheby's most recent years, which, in your opinion, have dramatically shaped the market?
For me, the sale that stands out was the 175 Masterworks to celebrate 175 Years of Photography – Property from Joy of Giving Something Foundation. It happened in New York – each work was a cornerstone for photography - all exemplary prints. It was from such a great collection, and the catalogue showed a work per page with a lovely essay.
And then, more recently, this year, we had our 50th-anniversary sale. That was a joint effort between the New York department and us in London. It was the first time I think that we've ever done a sale together. So, it was nice to have 25 works sold in New York on one day, and then the next day, the other 25 sold in London. Even though we hung the works in the salerooms, in the galleries, and we could have some visitors as Covid restrictions had been relaxed enough, what was interesting about that sale was that it was all online.
Right now, it's all about embracing technology and the shift online, which of course, COVID has accelerated. As an auction house, we had already made a lot of investment in online and AI. So, we were quite ahead of the curve. And I think there are some pros and cons, but what's so important is the outreach you can get online. So that was interesting to have this very pivotal sale for 50 years and embracing the new technology.
Gustave Le Gray, The Pont du Carrousel Seen from the Pont Royal (Pont du Carrousel, vu du pont Royal), 1859. Courtesy Sotheby’s
Chris Levine, 'Lightness of Being', 2008. Courtesy Sotheby’s
Since the late 60s and 70s, with the more widespread establishment of photography departments within museums, major museum retrospectives and monographs often influence commercial value. This relationship between museums and auction houses is complex, especially around the reappraisal of women photographers. What do you see as some of the challenges and opportunities of this ongoing relationship?
I think it's a really good point. And context is so key. When you look at the photo markets, we talk about New York, Paris, London, and arguably New York has the strongest market; by size, volume, but they also have had a history in museums with photo curators. Compared to the UK, MoMA had its first curator in 1940, whereas Tate Modern had its first photography curator in 2009. So, you have this significant disparity between these two locations.
There’s an ecosystem. And arguably, there are more dedicated photo museums and galleries in Paris and New York than in London. So, this museum creation affects the market. I don't feel like we're at a loss here in London, but we're a bit behind, and we have to catch up. And I think that explains the type of work we see in London compared to New York or Paris. You know, you see the bigger names, the Ansel Adams’, the Edward Weston’s, the super high-value works in New York, and maybe that super high value Man Ray being sold in Paris. And in London, it can happen, but less so - it's also the same with single-owner sales, you don't often see these here. There’s been a really strong push and effort from museums to show photography, so hopefully, it’s changing.
As our conversation continued, we specifically discussed the need for greater representation of women artists, both within museum programming and commercial spheres:
Looking at photography in a broader context is so important in the wider art market. It’s having those conversations and showing contemporary collectors who don't collect photography how important it is that many women artists use photography to document their work. So, I think that side of museum shows focusing on women is important. If you think of performance artists like Marina Abramović, Ana Mendieta, or Helena Almeida – they were not purely photographers, but photography was a big part of their practice. So, I think it's more interesting for collectors to have those broader dialogues. I'm not a fan of siloing photography and keeping it separate. I think it's nice to live with and experience art together; there are dialogues between periods and people.
NFTs have been in the news lately but are controversial due to the harmful environmental impact of crypto technology. In April 2021, Sotheby’s held its first NFT sale. Part of their appeal in an art market context is the trackability of information inherent in the NFT. Brandei commented on this evolving area:
As a company, we are putting a lot of time, effort, and resources into it. I'm still trying to get my head around NFT's, but I want to learn. I think what's interesting for us is to capture that tech crowd, who don’t normally transact in the traditional categories, and translate that interest into a broader sense of collecting. People I've spoken to who are very knowledgeable about NFTs say it caters to that potentially younger generation of collectors who are experienced-led in their spending. I don't think it's the end of what we do with physical, two-dimensional, three-dimensional artworks - I think it would be nice if they can coexist.
In the last year or so, I've noticed very different models of auction house such as Greenhouse Auctions, for example, which actively pursues philanthropic goals as part of its business model. And during the last year, we've seen private commercial galleries fundraising for COVID relief funds and Black Lives Matter. I wondered if you could say a few words about how you try to align your values with your work at Sotheby's.
It’s tricky because I have a bottom line, and we're not a charity. So, you want to have personal integrity in the work that you sell, but you also have to make money. So, it’s trying to find that balance.
Last year I auctioned a photograph by Misan Harriman that he took of a woman holding a sign saying, ‘Why is ending racism still a debate?’ He shot that at one of the Black Lives Matter protests in July here in London. I feel like you have to do things carefully, sensitively, and really think about it. And I felt like that was a good moment, and all the sale proceeds from that photograph benefited blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan. The sale had that charitable side, so it felt meaningful, and that was good to do.
It’s hard because you can't please everyone, but you have to be really careful with anything political, not that this should be political, but how some people view politics. But then you could also argue that art is always political,but as a traditional auction house, I think we have to be careful what we do and what we align with. But the company does a lot of charitable support and involvement.
We’re definitely selling more and more women photographers. For us, we sell where there is demand, not that we react 100% to the market – but unless museums, galleries start showing more women, you won’t see that filter through to the market.
Investing in early career artists is also integral to creating a healthy market. Firstly, please could you talk a little about some of your favorite places to discover new contemporary photographers? And secondly, what are some of the factors you look for to ensure that an ‘emerging’ artist, of any age, holds their value in the art market.
I'm a big fan of the Photographers’ Gallery, and they do a really good job of having a program that profiles big names but also emerging or overlooked names. I also love TJ Boulting. My favorite place to discover new artists is FOAM, and the show they do every September, which coincides with Unseen.
Where else would I go? I do look a lot at Instagram. I feel like in the past year, with the pandemic, I've got a lot of really nice things and met amazing photographers through social media.
For me, what I personally look for, it needs to be something that's different from anything you've seen before. If you think of Richard Mosse, when I first saw his installation at the Venice Biennale in 2013, you just had never seen anything like that before. So, what's your USP? What makes you special and stand out? I look for that if I buy young works myself, but also, for Sotheby's. It’s a tricky balance because I do think emerging artists should first have a solid gallery program.
In the last year or so we have seen increased discussion around the politics of photography, including the legacy of colonialism within photography. I wondered if any of that critical debate has translated into the art market. For example, there are many great collecting initiatives in India and China, which rarely get any coverage in the Western media. Could you talk a little about Sotheby's global strategy and how you engage with such markets?
It’s hard because we’re a small global department. I feel like we're making progress, and we want to do more. We have a big seat in Asia, and you do sometimes see photographs coming up for sale there. We had a beautiful selling exhibition there a couple of years ago of Fan Ho’s work. So, I think things need to change, and these conversations need to be had. I feel like it’s trickling down into the commercial side, but there's a lot of debates and conversations to have.
I know you have a particular passion for fashion photography. Many fashion photographs were originally intended for magazines and the printed page. This genre is an area that has grown significantly in the art market during the last 10 or 15 years. Can you say a little about why that genre particularly appeals to you? And perhaps some of the context for this genre’s transition into the fine art market?
What interests me a lot was there was so much technical and stylistic innovation that happened in fashion photography. So, I love that there was a development of photography through that filter and purpose, but it was always originally meant for the magazine.
So, when you look at Guy Bourdin, for example, now you get these massive posthumous prints that are huge, beautiful, luscious color. And you think, gosh, they were intended to be on a magazine. And Guy was very conscious of the gutter. So, when you know that, just wow.
But equally, some fashion photographers work better in a magazine and in a story sequence. But I think it's just so interesting because, as you say, fashion photography has really taken off in the past 10 to 15 years. And as we know, the market started in the 19th century, which came out of the book sales at auction and then went more towards photojournalism and modernism. So, fashion photography was late to the game, even though and maybe because it was part of our daily consciousness of seeing magazines.
Think of the Avedon portfolio of Paris and that whole fashion story. And like you said at the beginning, museums making monographs and portfolios changed the market. When the Met had the Avedon show in 1978, that was their first retrospective of a living photographer. And while he wasn't exclusively a fashion photographer, I love that they chose to make a portfolio of his fashion images from the late 40s through to the late 50s. And, of course, that period covered the end of the Second World War. And this idea of rejuvenation, and let's go back to fashion and glamour. Imagine being in America looking at American Vogue, seeing women in Paris dressed in new Dior, not stuck in a studio posing, but living in the fashion and having fun. So, I love all these layers that you have in fashion photography.
I think people overlook that context now. I feel fashion photography is democratic; it is by nature from its origins in magazines. The prices have gone up for the big names and depending on the scarcity of the image and so forth, but it’s still very accessible and relatable.
Guy Bourdin, ‘Mousehole’, Charles Jourdan, Autumn 1979. Courtesy Sotheby’s
Masterful technique and handcrafted photographs are crucial drivers for Brandei’s personal collecting. Her collection encompasses diverse themes, including portraiture, architecture, surrealism, and an eclectic range of artists. To close our interview, I asked Brandei what advice she would give to someone just beginning to start their photography collection:
I tell my clients, you shouldn't buy something for the name or the investment value; it doesn't matter if it's 20 pounds or 20,000 pounds; you still have to look at the same criteria. Is it a good print? Is it signed? Does that matter? But do you like it? Is it a color print that's falling apart? If so, know that that you might not have it for much longer. These are all areas that people should understand.
I would say, really try and make friends with experts in the field and build relationships. So, be it a gallerist, an auction house specialist, a curator. How do you do that? Go to exhibition openings, go to photo fairs, and support an institution where you get invited to events directly with photographers. And we all know each other in the photo world, and we will hold each other much more accountable. We want to spread the joy of photography and talk about it. So, I think it's easier for younger collectors to collect because you have that access and proximity to experts that you won't have in other fields.
Do your homework; it’s so easy now to do research and find what you like. Try and learn the difference between the different techniques because that will be intrinsic to value. Your tastes can change, and you move on, and you evolve. And that's okay, too.
I’m always learning; that’s what makes it fun; every day, I learn something new. For me, bringing photography into conversation with other categories is really important. Photography has always been holistic – it’s not just monetary value but also how important photography has been to so many artistic movements. I think there is a real shift - I’m interested in, and I think collectors are interested in looking more at the craftsmanship and that touch value. I think the value of something made by hand is really interesting; that took time and the whole global story around a work.
Marlo Broekmans, Self-Portrait, 1983. Courtesy Brandei Estes
To find out more about Brandei Estes’ work with photography, follow her on Instagram @brandei_estes