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Author Topic: Peter Lik, master salesman, does it again  (Read 36150 times)

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« on: December 10, 2014, 09:11 »
+1
I can't quite imagine how he manages to get people to pay so much for his images, nice as they are, but fair play to the guy.

http://www.lik.com

A rather more bitter take on it here:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/dec/10/most-expensive-photograph-ever-hackneyed-tasteless



PaulieWalnuts

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« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2014, 09:25 »
+6
Why? He has managed to brand himself so that buyers have a high perceived value of him and his work.

I'd love to be my own brand where I could command that kind of money.

I also think it's a good example that images still have plenty of value to the right buyers and not every photo should be free or $1.

Maybe Peter looks at people like us and thinks "I can't quite imagine how he manages to get people to pay so little for his images"


« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2014, 09:27 »
+2
Maybe Peter looks at people like us and thinks "I can't quite imagine how he manages to get people to pay so little for his images"

Ha! You're probably right.

« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2014, 09:34 »
+3
Nice shot, but the article is correct.  In the underwater photography world I could never figure out how this one dude was getting so much traction because his photography was really not very good (I am not saying Peter Lik's image is crummy, just going to make a point). In fact I used to kick his a-s-s in international competitions, but what I learned was that he was a much better marketer than me. Marketing expertise, in my example, far outweighed the quality and uniqueness of his images. He was a master at that and it got him fame and some fortune.


Just an aside: He died, though, in a diving accident on a deep wreck with his 14 year old son. Photography distracted him in 140 feet, his son, not well trained for technical diving, panicked and caused three deaths, including his father. Some publishing house wanted to use his images from that dive to market them (no matter how bad the image might be) simply because of what happened on that dive and the person's fame.  His wife refused, but the point is that this company would have marketed those images, no matter how mediocre they were, and made a lot of doe. It's all about marketing.

I went to the funeral and it was really sad seeing a small and large coffin next to each other. It changed my life.

« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2014, 10:47 »
+2
Thanks for sharing Mantis.

Back to Peter Lik.... I don't think it's worth $6.5 M, but to be able to understand in any way you really have to see his work displayed.  He prints on silver paper and mounts underneath a 1/2" sheet of plexi.  They will take you into a viewing room and display a piece you may want, lowering and raising the lights - and just something about the way they are mounted that the photo appears to be going from sunrise to midday.  We actually considered buying an aspen pine forest in fall (but then had a reality check).

Have to admit... I did catch myself walking around the gallery uttering... purple fringing... perspective distortion...  grain....

« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2014, 10:58 »
+2
Having occasionally dabbled in the antiques business it doesn't surprise me in the least. The jaded auctioneer's answer to the eternal question - "how much is this chipped old plate worth?" is always "as much as the highest bidder is prepared to pay for it". 

« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2014, 11:25 »
+2
Back to Peter Lik.... I don't think it's worth $6.5 M, but to be able to understand in any way you really have to see his work displayed.  He prints on silver paper and mounts underneath a 1/2" sheet of plexi.  They will take you into a viewing room and display a piece you may want, lowering and raising the lights - and just something about the way they are mounted that the photo appears to be going from sunrise to midday.  We actually considered buying an aspen pine forest in fall (but then had a reality check).

That's true - I've seen his galleries in Key West and Las Vegas (I think) and the images do look absolutely fantastic the way they're displayed. It's a large part of the selling technique I imagine.

Hobostocker

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« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2014, 11:49 »
+1
wow, for the first time i'm in agreement with a Guardia article.

i would even go further and point out that there are actually better pictures of that canyon available in high res as public domain or CC licence or for a pittance on micros !

but the guy who bought the photo is not a fool as the Guardian claims, he's a wise expert collector and he expect to make a fat profit on his investment, he won't give two sh-its about what this photo is all about, he bought it only because it's a LIK and because he expects the LIK brand to be worth a lot more in the future and especially after Lik's death.

art is never defined by the market !

« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2014, 14:17 »
0
I think someone is laughing at us. If I had to guess I would say it's military intelligence. Read the art papers by Miles Mathis if you want to get a clue about the "high-end art market".

http://www.lik.com/news/newsarticle24/ [nofollow]

Hobostocker

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« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2014, 20:53 »
+2
I think someone is laughing at us. If I had to guess I would say it's military intelligence. Read the art papers by Miles Mathis if you want to get a clue about the "high-end art market".

http://www.lik.com/news/newsarticle24/


modern art has been as a scam since the beginning, as in every classic Ponzi scheme the idea is to give enormous value to a worthless thing and keep perpetuating the system over and over making it so complex and hard to grasp that nobody will understand it's nothing but a scam.

the intelligence community has never drank the kool aid about modernism, they're the only ones who know what's really going on.


Hobostocker

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« Reply #10 on: December 10, 2014, 21:00 »
-1
by the way, can't find a SINGLE photo of Peter Lik where he's not wearing a hat, his head is always covered even indoors ? he must be bald but having a hard time getting to grips with it.


« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2014, 21:45 »
+4
Some of the most successful photographers I know are mediocre or competent photographers at best but are incredibly good marketers. They all share one thing: An unshakable confidence that they are the best,  reasonable or not. When you are selling from that belief, others will often buy into it. A star is born.

Hobostocker

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« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2014, 22:03 »
0
Some of the most successful photographers I know are mediocre or competent photographers at best but are incredibly good marketers. They all share one thing: An unshakable confidence that they are the best,  reasonable or not.

yeah, and probably also suffering from Narcissistic personality disorder, megalomania, and believing their own BS ?

the simple fact there's such a heated debate about Peter Lik among pro photographers should be a major red flag !

however, this kind of large format fine art can only be appreciated inside a huge art gallery where they're printed as big as a wall, watching thumbnails on the web won't give you any feeling, Lik's works are gorgeous but totally overpriced and overestimated, that's all, but how's that any different from the works of any famous primadonna doing music or movies ? we're shocked about Lik's being worth a few dozen millions and nobody complains about Lady Gaga or DJ Tiesto ?

i mean, thinking about it's hair raising to think DJ Tiesto is actually making more money than Peter Lik and by a huge margin ! at least Lik is a real artist.



Hobostocker

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« Reply #13 on: December 10, 2014, 22:08 »
0
When you are selling from that belief, others will often buy into it. A star is born.

They're all selling emotions.

And i'm ok with that, but how much an emotion is worth ?

What these buyers are doing is basically setting a precedent and setting the value of a product, once the value is set in stone the product magically becomes valuable and the sky is the limit but in fact it's still a scam no matter the whole art mumbo jumbo, anyone could get better photos paying some professional landscape photographer on assignment, it will not be cheap but centainly not a 6 figures affair !

now that's the real cost with no BS involved, anything else is hot air and marketing and Ponzi schemes.

Lik got the foot in the door in the art market and after 30 yrs finally hit a goldmine, that's the only moral of this story.



Hobostocker

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« Reply #14 on: December 10, 2014, 22:14 »
-1
there's an article in his blog where's he boasting about a Sony event in australia earning almost 1 million AUS$, his photo at the entrance of the show is made of a boat on the sea !

now the irony, i was just editing a very similar set of photos yesterday morning and i ended up deleting the whole batch because i felt it was rubbish ! hahaha ... i should really get the foot in the art market too, guess i'm wasting my time with stock ....


« Reply #15 on: December 11, 2014, 06:54 »
+2
The article is troll. The fact that this is not convincing art does not mean that photography is not / cannot be art - or that it does not belong in a world of art. Which is what the article is arguing.

Hobostocker

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« Reply #16 on: December 11, 2014, 07:06 »
+1
The article is troll. The fact that this is not convincing art does not mean that photography is not / cannot be art - or that it does not belong in a world of art. Which is what the article is arguing.

photography can be art, indeed, but only a small part of the photo industry is artistic and giving any meaning or emotion or feelings, most of the pics we see around are just meant for illustration, ediorial, news, real estate etc .. ths is not art at all, but fine art photography is art 100% or at least they try.

the problem i see with Lik and landscape photography in general is that maybe it's me but i don't get much feeling or emotions looking at these photos, maybe i should look at them printed as big as a wall, maybe, but to me they're no match to serious stuff like you see from the top travel and war photographers.

the best war photos are a punch on your face, the best travel photos will make you dream about far away destinations, landscape doesn't do that to me but again maybe it's me ...

moreover, there can't be any political/ideological message inside a landscape, it's merely about the watered down concept of "beauty" which can be all and nothing depending on the viewer.





« Reply #17 on: December 11, 2014, 14:00 »
+1
Did you see this: http://www.lik.com/thework/aviator.html ?

I wouldn't hang this anywhere in my home even if he paid me. And people actually give money for this, and good money.

L to the f*cking ol.

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #18 on: December 11, 2014, 16:15 »
+1
Ansel Adams must be turning in his grave

« Reply #19 on: December 11, 2014, 17:33 »
0
Peter Lik likely bought it himself, to generate publicity and get the record.

Hobostocker

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« Reply #20 on: December 11, 2014, 21:46 »
+2
while it's impossible to please everybody Lik's bullsh-its can only fly in the US in my opinion and this is shockingly obvious if you watch a dozen of his videos on youtube where he plays the macho/adventurer role !

said that, he really knows how to sell his sh-it.

jareso

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« Reply #21 on: December 12, 2014, 05:33 »
+2
It's a proof that photography is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it, just like anything else. You just need to find the right type of buyers! ;)

« Reply #22 on: December 12, 2014, 05:49 »
0
Mantis, from your post I can not quite understand who died in that diving accident?

Hobostocker

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« Reply #23 on: December 12, 2014, 06:25 »
0
That's true - I've seen his galleries in Key West and Las Vegas (I think) and the images do look absolutely fantastic the way they're displayed. It's a large part of the selling technique I imagine.

it seems he's printing on Fuji Supergloss, he must use top notch lighting in his stores to bring the maximum out of his photos but it won't look the same in your home unless you redesign the lighting of your room which can probably cost an arm and a leg ...


Hobostocker

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« Reply #24 on: December 12, 2014, 06:28 »
-1
You just need to find the right type of buyers! ;)

he's validated by some of the top photographic authorities and for the gullible buyer that's all there is to know.

in Europe presenting himself as "master photographer" would never ever fly ! same for his cowboy hat and all the mumbo jumbo he did on TV.

but hey, at least his photos are great, he's not a total scam like Gursky & friends.


« Last Edit: December 12, 2014, 06:31 by Hobostocker »


 

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