Photography Sell-Out, Gus Fisher Gallery

This is a reposting from photoforum's blog site, with text and pictures by John B Turner.... thanks John.

Photographs from last night’s ‘Photography Sell-Out’ at the Gus Fisher Gallery, Shortland Street, Auckland, at which an estimated crowd of around 400 lined up to purchase photographs by notable practitioners for $15 a print. The idea for this event, organised by Craig Hilton, was for 15 photographers each to provide a 15 prints for sale at bargain basement prices. In the end 17 invited photographers participated: Mark Adams, Edith Amituanai, Fiona Amundsen, Harvey Benge, Conor Clarke, John Collie, Jennifer French, Darren Glass, Sam Hartnett, Rebecca Hobbs, Jae Hoon Lee, Ian Macdonald, Fiona Pardington, Haruhiko Sameshima, Ann Shelton, Shigeru Takato, and Ans Westra. Some provided sets of the same image, while others, like Ans Westra, proffered 15 different images (proof sheets in her case). Harnett provided both a print and CD of work, while Shelton provided a dyptych (for $30).

A long queue formed down Shortland Street from the entrance to the gallery which opened at 6pm sharp to let in the expectant but patient crowd. The work was fully sold out in just over an hour, grossing just over $4,500, at what must be one of the most unusual events at this year’s Auckland Festival of Photography.