INTERVIEW: Yamaji on elements & "Distinctively' / Photographers / News

INTERVIEW: Yamaji on elements & "Distinctively'

17th Jun 2009

16 JUNE 2009

The Interview with Yuka Yamaji, Head of the Photographs Department, Christie's London

BY REBECCA NEWSON

How did photography come into your life?

Photography entered my life at graduate school while I was pursuing an MA in Art History at Tufts University, just outside of Boston. I took a seminar in History of Photography and was immediately hooked, thanks to a passionate professor. Photography invented in the early 19th century is a young medium and the notion that I could possibly wrap my head around its entire history intrigued me. I was also fascinated by photography s multi-faceted aspects and implications technical, scientific, aesthetic, social and cultural.

How did you become a photographs specialist?

After obtaining my MA in Art History with a focus in History of Photography, I drove cross-country from Boston to Los Angeles. Determined to combine my auction house experience in Business Development with my passion and knowledge in Photography, I asked at Christie s Los Angeles. At the time they did not have a Photographs Department in LA but the Head of Photographs in New York happened to be visiting and suggested I drop by for a chat. This chat turned into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to launch Photographs in LA. I vividly remember my maiden sale in January 2001 especially my LA and New York colleagues who helped make it a great success (despite the rain that flooded our view!)

With today s technology, photography is something we feel we can all try our hand at but what is it that sets a great photograph apart from a good one?

A great photograph will grab you then draw you in. For me it s foremost about the image and the elements that make up the image such as light, shadow, line, form, colour and space. From there, my approach would vary according to the photograph. If I m looking at an anonymous 19th century photograph, for example, I d want to know about the print type and process, as well as the original context of the work. If I m looking at a contemporary photograph, I d want to know about the artist, the concept behind the work and the process analogue, digital or both?

For many people, their photographs are personal; they are their memories. Buying photographs is a very different experience. What do you think?

We have all taken a photograph and have all been in a photograph. Photography in its many forms is part of our daily lives and informs our visual culture. I think it s this accessibility and connectivity that appeals to collectors.

This July we see the next installment of the highly successful Distinctively programme which you spearheaded. What was the inspiration behind this?

With Distinctively , launched last spring, we wanted to come up with a new way of presenting contemporary photographs within an auction context. Our primary concern was how best to offer works by emerging artists who are appearing at auction for the first time.We knew that with the right strategy, we could offer our audience something new and fresh and at the same time promote these emerging artists on a global platform and over time develop their auction market. To sum it up, Distinctively is a curated sale, focusing on specific regions and their artists both established and emerging and features photo-based works that are sold-out and no longer available on the primary market. So far, we ve put the spotlight on Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Britain, Japan and Korea. And what s next? Well, you ll need to wait for our next sale to find out!

You must have your favourites in the July sale?

For the 'Distinctively' sections, our curatorial approach enables us to be selective and we are thrilled to debut over 15 artists at auction in the forthcoming sale. Among them is Korean artist Lee Myoungho who photographs trees. This is hardly new in photography William Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of the negative/positive process on paper, photographed a solitary oak tree in the early 1840s. What excites me about Lee s work is that he challenges us to see an ordinary tree in a new way (Lot 37). By presenting it against a giant white canvas backdrop, the tree is isolated from its environment. I am also intrigued by the gap between the simplicity of the concept and image and the complexity of the execution. It took two cranes to erect the backdrop!