Fine Art Photography Grows in Popularity

On 4/9/14 the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) announced, the creation of the John and Lisa Pritzker Center for Photography, which will be the largest exhibition space for photography and among the most advanced photographic arts centers of any art museum in the United States.

With the construction of the 15,500 square-foot center, SFMOMA will be adding close to 11,000 square feet of exhibition space dedicated to photography. The museum will be adding photographs to its collection by artists: Edward Weston, Minor White, Imogen Cunningham, Jay DeFeo, Robert Heinecken, Lewis Baltz, John Divola. Ansel Adams, Ken Graves, John Harding, Hal Fischer, Michael Jang, Pirkle Jones, Dorothea Lange, Mark Ruwedel, Stephen Shore, and Larry Sultan.

So is this move by SFMOMA an anomaly or is the popularity of photography as fine art on the rise? As stated in a piece by Gareth Harris in The Art Newspaper, will the crowds turn out to fill the galleries? If exhibitions at other museums are any sign, the answer is most likely yes. Harris goes on to say that this popularity exist especially in the 20^th century classics of photography.

To read more on this topic I have included links to the two articles I have used as sources below.

SFMOMA Expansion

Mass Exposure Why Museums are Focusing on Photography