Art advisor Ralph DeLuca, in his column "Street Smarts" for Cultured, analyzes the struggling photography market. He notes that photography auction sales have plummeted from a peak of $230.5 million in 2014 to just $116.9 million in 2024, attributing the decline partly to smartphones making photography seem effortless. DeLuca, who owns over 20,000 photographs, argues this downturn presents a rare buying opportunity for collectors to build museum-quality collections at lower prices.
DeLuca offers practical advice for collectors, emphasizing condition as paramount in vintage photography, explaining the different print categories (vintage, original, posthumous, copy) and their value implications, and recommending auctions as the best buying venue during market downturns. The column matters because it provides insider guidance from a major collector on navigating a depressed market segment, potentially influencing how collectors approach photography acquisitions and highlighting the enduring value of physical prints in a digital age.