Contemporary Photography in a Cyber Gallery
Contemporary photographers who straddle the line between art, fashion, and celebrity have a new home: Photographers LimitedEditions.com. Based in Vienna, Austria, this recently launched art gallery is entirely Web-based. Collectors can browse works from 17 artists. When an order comes in, the site's founder Andrea Preiss contacts the artist, who then ships Ms. Preiss a signed, limited-edition print from his or her studio. Ms. Preiss then sends the work anywhere in the world.
Photographers Limited Editions
Gérard Uféras, 'Salzburger Festspiele #1, Salzburg, Austria' (1996).
The effort is designed to open up the work of highly sought-after photographers — whose talents appear in glossy magazines, advertising campaigns, and museum collections — to a global audience. The photographers represented by Photographers Limited Editions are: Guy Aroch, Andreas Bitesnich, Bruno Bisang, Iris Brosch, Arthur Elgort, Jesse Frohman, Greg Gorman, Russell James, Roxanne Lowit, Nigel Parry, Rankin, Howard Schatz, Ben Watts, Timothy White, Christian Witkin, Marc Baptiste, and Gérard Uféras. Prices range between about $2,400 and $5,400. The number of editions varies according to the work, but does not exceed 25.
Ms. Preiss, who spent 20 years in advertising and has her own agency in Vienna, launched the project after discovering the peculiar difficulties in buying pieces by contemporary, working photographers. "Usually, if a photographer has an exhibit in a gallery, and you don't happen to be in that city at that time, you won't be able to see it. This way, you can see and buy the work all the time, no matter where you are," Ms. Preiss said.
Organizing the photographers' offerings took some time; Photographers Limited Editions was two years in the making. Ms. Preiss had to make sure that each photographer she wanted to represent had an archive in order and at the ready, so that when a client purchased a print, the transaction could be completed quickly.
If the gallery has an aesthetic emphasis, it is on raw sexuality and glamour by way of nudes, celebrity portraits, and high fashion. Ms. Lowit's shot of Pamela Anderson (in a microscopic skirt) with David LaChapelle in the back of a limo is here, as are Mr. Parry's portraits of celebrities including Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Though there are street shots of random New York characters by Mr. Watts, pristine still lifes by Mr. Frohman, and dance photography by Mr. Witkin (of Paul Taylor Dance Company) and Mr. Elgort (of Mikhail Baryshnikov), make no mistake: This is the place to buy that Bruno Bisang shot of Claudia Schiffer you've always wanted.
