Magnum's Square Print sales - Easy way to collect and invest or money grab?

hoffy

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From time to time, Magnum runs a square print sale, where you can buy 6x6 inch signed (or estate stamped for those photographers who are no longer here) prints for $100 a pop.

The current sale can be found here (apologies if you look at this thread 2 days or more after I post it, as the link may very well be dead):
Dead Link Removed

My question is - could these prints be treated as something that could possibly increase in value, or is it just a money grab, with the prints ultimately worth not much at all in the future?

I'm curious on peoples thoughts.

Cheers
 

plummerl

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I look at the Magnum prints from a third perspective. I've purchased 5 prints so far (from 3 different previous sales) and I could care less about whether or not they will increase in value. I'm just happy to have them framed and hanging on my wall. I have collected quite a few images over the decades and it was never with a goal of making money. They look great, by the way, framed in an 11" x 14" frame.

larry
 

Richard Man

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I have 3 or 4 of the prints. They are excellent quality. Much better than the books'
 

Poisson Du Jour

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Interesting. Dennis Stocks' enduring image of James Dean in that pic (Times Square, New York / 1955) is very reasonable for its enigmatic resonance with viewers who were around that era.

I recall somewhere reading about the huge amount of manipulation that was made on that print -- especially the wet foregound and the background buildings, but right down to the smaller peripheral elements. As joint anniversary prints, they have merit (and are relatively cheap as small keepsakes), but Magnum photographers have never left much of an impression on me (nor these prints), with the exception of Trent Parke's early tonally brutal images, which are conspicuously absent in the line up. As things are now, the James Dean image -- a long time personal favourite that so many people can readily identify, can be bought just about everywhere as a poster or transfer for your coffee mug! Even quilt covers feature him! $100 for a 6x6 is way cheaper than you would be paying for one of mine!

Not sure of their worth as reproductions and collectables, irrespective of what they are printed on and by what means. How many people know any of these photographers, unless they can identify the image that mirrors a name? I can't.

Somewhere out there is a framed original, first-edition print of James Dean, and it would be worth a fortune today. That is what I would want, not a squinty little 6x6 giclée.
 
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moose10101

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pbromaghin said:
James Dean in Times Square looks like a straight print of the neg. Not faithful to the way Stock printed it.

https://meltinlooks.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/james-dean-par-dennis-stock-sur-times-square.jpg

But $100 isn't all that much...
Click to expand...

The test print is the dark one on the right in your link. The one for sale looks quite similar to Pablo Inirio's manipulated print, on the left in your link.

https://petapixel.com/2013/09/12/marked-photographs-show-iconic-prints-edited-darkroom/
 

pbromaghin

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faberryman

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It depends on what you want, but as I understand it the film prints are not from the negatives but from scans, and both the black and white and color images are machine made C-prints. It is interesting that Magnum calls them "museum quality". Is that the current standard for museum quality?
 

calebarchie

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I am pretty sure they are c-prints also. Don't know anything about standards, but just walk into any national gallery and everything is c except for the stupidly large stuff.
 

faberryman

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calebarchie said:
I am pretty sure they are c-prints also. Don't know anything about standards, but just walk into any national gallery and everything is c except for the stupidly large stuff.
Click to expand...
Even black and white?
 

calebarchie

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faberryman said:
Even black and white?
Click to expand...

If part of the artists statement (eg hand printed). C is convenient..

Poisson Du Jour said:
They could also be archival giclee prints... Buy one and find out!
Click to expand...

I have several, just never bothered to check with a loupe or microscope... not much point. They look like c prints to my eyes.
 

Poisson Du Jour

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calebarchie said:
If part of the artists statement (eg hand printed). C is convenient..



I have several, just never bothered to check with a loupe or microscope... not much point. They look like c prints to my eyes.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of art stocks for giclee that look indistinguishable from a C-type print. Canson and Hahnemuhle smooth art stock come immediately to mind (there are many others). Take your print apart for a definitive answer!
 

calebarchie

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I work with all kinds of prints every day, what does it matter anyway? Maybe you should buy one.. or do u need an answer.

hoffy said:
I'm out anyway. $31 to send a 6x6 print to Australia is a bit steep.
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Thats cheap! It was >60 USD for some prints, maybe because it must be sent to photographer and back then to the other side of the world!

I have 3 consolidated and forwarded with some other stuff - should arrive in time for christmas.
 

Poisson Du Jour

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calebarchie said:
I work with all kinds of prints every day, what does it matter anyway? Maybe you should buy one.. or do u need an answer.
Click to expand...

Considering I've sold many of my 20x20cm giclee pinhole prints for $740, conservation matted, I am at a bit of a loss why Magnum is only asking for $100 for a snap of one of history's most iconic photographs. So working along an economy of scale and fast repeatability, these would be giclee reproductions from archive scans. I might just go for the James Dean photo!
 

blockend

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6 x 6" is pretty small for an image that's likely to be presented much larger in a gallery, and would affect its resale value. $100 seems about max as a talking point "yes it's a genuine Martin Parr, Gerald". If they were 12 x 8" I'd be on to it.
 
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