Photography is one of the few artistic mediums that consistently pursues the latest innovation, and it’s not just camera technology that’s evolving; a new Web3 photography organisation, Fellowship, aims to mark a turning point in the blockchain, connecting both seminal and breakthrough photographers with the possibilities of NFTs in a new, lucrative method of digital auction.
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Promising lovers of photography a new path to discover, trade and collect works, Fellowship features weekly “spotlight” exhibitions and auctions of photographers on a rotating basis, and in the coming weeks will showcase works by Guy Bourdin, Katy Grannan, Joel Sternfeld, László Moholy-Nagy, Pieter Hugo, Hank Willis Thomas, Mitch Epstein, Joel Meyerowitz, and Laurie Simmons. Most recently on August 2, Fellowship commissioned and presented an auction of three works from Gregory Crewdson, an American photographer known for his cinematic, tableaux-style images of small town existence that evoke a sense of suspense and unease.
The impressive roster of photographers spotlighted by the Web3 platform are selected by a board of founders and funders pieced together from the diverse art world, including photographers Chadwick Tyler and Alejandro Cartagena, Wallpaper*’s Holly Hay, curator Fernando Gallegos and a myriad of collectors who are scoping out new grounds for art-buying in the digital ether.
“We believe the digital art market is just getting started,” say the founders of Fellowship. “We looked around and didn’t see a space that showed up for artists, so we built it. Fellowship is creating new opportunities and best practices for photographers at every stage in their career to create, exhibit and reach new audiences via the virtual realm. We’re pushing photography forward by offering an extension of the artist’s presentation model beyond prints.”
Joel Meyerowitz, now in his mid-80s, is known for his more traditional practice of photography using film and long exposure, yet he shares his excitement in bringing the centuries-old art of photography into the blockchain, saying: “Photography is our world’s most democratic art form.
Now, we have the NFT. A remarkable new way to collect the great images of the past and the present, with the exception that now one can have only a single minted image, rather than there being an unlimited number of prints.
