Anonymous Art Buyers Blog: Art Buyers Are People Too

When I started blogging anonymously over 5 years ago the point was to blow off a little steam, check out this blogging thing everyone was talking about and communicate with other Photo Editors about very mundane things that made up our jobs. This turned out to be much more interesting for readers than I ever imagined. That part of my blog life was short lived unfortunately, but I always expected others to pick up the reins, so I was delighted to recently find a group of Art Buyers blogging anonymously under the title Art Buyers Are People Too. I fired off a few questions and here’s what they have to say about themselves:

APE: Why did you start “Art Buyers Are People Too“, do you think people don’t know it or are you just having fun?

ABAPT: It started off as just a little fun. In the beginning we were just posting silly things that people within the industry said to us. But it quickly changed. Honestly, it sometimes feels as though people don’t know what we do exactly; even those we work with on a daily basis within the agency walls and outside as well. Agents, photographers, photo assistants, stylists, and producers have all said to us, “You do that?”. It’s such a multi-faceted position that we wanted to put it all out there in the open. What started off as a fun spoof, turned in to much more. We began to post about our likes, loves and occasional dislikes and lately we’ve been posting more about what we handle. We see the blog as evolving and we’ve made tons of goals for 2013. You’ll see a lot more from us very soon!

APE: Are there more than one of you? Do you all work in the same agency?

ABAPT: We are a group of Art Buyers at the same agency, but very connected within the Art Buying community. We reach out to other Art Buyers on a daily basis.

APE: Do you plan to remain anonymous?

ABAPT: For now, yes.

APE: I’ve seen your hands, promo wall, mail stack, inbox and feet. Do you realize someone will put the pieces together?

ABAPT: Of course! Some people already know who we are, but are respectful of our privacy.

APE: It seems that you are talking to your fellow Art Buyers, what is your message to them?

ABAPT: We are really speaking to the photo/illustration community as a whole. We have so many friends, business partners and acquaintances who we are communicating with as well. We don’t have a “message” per say. We just want to share our experiences and thoughts and hope that it helps demystify what our role is and to show the different responsibilities of being an Art Buyer.

APE: You have very rich tastes in photography. Do you work for very important clients?

ABAPT: Aren’t all clients important? ;) We love all levels of photography and have taken a real interest in emerging photographers in the past two years. We believe that anything can be produced and we look for the right people and teams to accomplish whatever comes across our desks.

APE: Is there a difference between photography you love and photographers you love to work with?

ABAPT: Yes and no. We certainly have photographers whom we admire and would love to work with someday. Of course there are the greats and the living legends and then there are those with the amazing energy and vision. We love rewarding those who have great attitudes. It bums us out to push for and hire someone who gets on set with their own agenda or just looks at ad work with dollar signs in their eyes. We have been incredibly fortunate to work with some of the best out there. We believe in asking anyone if they are interested and love being surprised by a willingness to collaborate and those who simply bring it and kill it. There is nothing like the perfect fit.

APE: What does the future look like for Art Buyers?

ABAPT: We hope it’s full of big, bold projects! We are lucky to work at an agency that involves us heavily in the creative process. They insist on an Art Buyer attending each shoot, which can be grueling during busy season, yet so rewarding to see the final product. Many believe that with print usage dwindling, the Art Buying world will follow. We’re much more positive than that, and It’s our hope to evolve with new media. We’ve been working on video, cgi, animation and so much more and we welcome every project that hits our desks. It’s all about a willingness to change with the industry.