Update for International Photography Hall of Fame

Art photographs have sometimes been called the "poor man's collectibles". This is slowly changing however as evidenced by the 2011 auction of an anonymous photo of Billy the Kid which sold for $2.3 million.

About half of my art collection is photographs as opposed to oil paintings or limited runs of lithographs. I had the chance to add to my collection last Saturday. However, let's do the "back story" first.

In April, it was announced that the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum (I.P.H.F.) would be moving to St Louis from The Science Museum Oklahoma; its collection includes 6,000 historical cameras and 30,00 images.

A capital campaign was started this summer and the I.P.H.F. received a $50,000.00 "challenge grant". Last Saturday, the board of directors held its first annual St Louis photographic print sale at Ferguson and Katzman Photography Studio, 2745 Locust, St Louis, MO.

With approximately 200 persons in attendance and 125 prints up for silent auction, there was a tangible excitement in the air. The photographs were of places, people, and things from Australia to the Delmar Loop.

Bidders consumed snacks, wine, and beer during the bidding process. Dr. Lucy Morros, Director of Development, said, "This is only our second event and it was tremendously successful in letting St. Louis know about the only photography museum in the world with its own hall of fame".

As of today, monies raised were still being counted toward the challenge grant; up til the event, the capital campaign had raised about 18 percent of its $1.2 million goal.

While this blogger did not win any bids, he saw a fantastic display of photographic prints. If these were any indication of the quality of I.P.H.F. exhibits, then this museum should be a "feather in the cap" of Grand Center when it relocates here in 2013 above Triumph Grill.