Photography Market Report – February 2017
- Analyst:
- Pages: 7
- Access: Analyst
Overall photography market down 12.5% in 2016, although contemporary photography sees a 23% uplift in sales.
The overall photography auction market has remained steady since second half of 2015, with an average half-yearly sales total between $15.8 million and $16.1 million. Whilst the Modern Photography auction sales have slowed down considerably in 2016 (down 22.6%) – the contemporary photography market, mainly propelled by Phillips auctions, saw a 23% increase in sales in 2016. The positive trend in contemporary photography sales, offset some of the negative impact from lower auction sales of Modern and Vintage photography.
Phillips is changing the competitive landscape. For the first time, Phillips have taken the lead in terms of market share in the photography auction market. Since 2014, Phillips have increased its share from 21.5% in 2015 to 40.3% in 2016. This has left Christie’s with 34% market share (down from 39% in 2015) and Sotheby’s with 26% share against 28.3% in 2015. The competitive edge has been built up in the contemporary photography segment, which accounted for more than 60% of Phillips dedicated photography sales in 2016.