Collector's Corner

We Buy and Consign Photographs

The Ansel Adams Gallery regularly buys, consigns, and sells original works by Ansel Adams in excellent condition. If you have an interest in selling an original photograph, please contact Matthew Adams at matthew@anseladams.com.

Understanding the Market

There is an active secondary market for Ansel Adams', as well as other photographers', originals, served by galleries, dealers, and auction houses. We have created a summary of the market for your benefit.

Art as Investment

The Ansel Adams Gallery does not employ licensed investment advisors, and therefore cannot and does not make any statement regarding returns, investment value, or future prices. What we can do is say that historically, prices at auction houses and dealers for comparable Ansel Adams originals have followed a long-term upward trend, with the occasional dip and plateau. There are several services that provide auction price information, however they lack condition information about each piece, which we consider critical. We know Ansel isn't making prints anymore, over time prints get lost or destroyed, and interest in his work continues. The best recommendation we can make is to purchase a photograph you love.

Build Your Knowledge

When you are purchasing fine art photography, it is good to be as knowledge-able as possible. We have gathered a fair amount of information here, by no means comprehensive, to help collectors of all experience levels educate or refamiliarize themselves. Our glossary may take some digging through, but has quite a bit of information. On the left side of this page is an index of articles on collecting . If there is more information missing, that we can provide, or that you are curious about, please contact Matthew Adams at matthew@anseladams.com .

Appraisals

We do not offer appraisal services. The basic reason for this is that the code of ethics for the major appraisal associations do not permit a financial interest (buying, selling, or brokering) in an appraised work within 5 years, before or after, of appraising a work. We do work with some appraisers and auction houses to provide estimates and comparable sales information for their research, and our experience does give us a great depth of knowledge about current and historical values. If you need a recommendation for an appraisal, please contact us at fineprints@anseladams.com.

Value Statements

We can provide what we call a Value Statement, at a cost of $30 per photograph, which provides a range of value for a particular Ansel Adams original based on certain assumptions. Some insurance carriers accept them, some do not, you should check with your insurance company. If you would like a value statement, please contact Glenn Crosby at glenn@anseladams.com .

Other Services

We do offer other services , including art and auction consulting and helping build private and corporate collections.