Famous Black and White Photography - A Good Investment

Famous black and white photography prints can go for a lot of money in the fine art photography market. Today investing in good prints may be a sounder investment that investing in the stock market.

Have you ever been frustrated for not being privy to a certain artist's work when it was still affordable enough for you to invest in it? When it was cheap enough for you to buy some pieces before it started going up and up like a jet taking off for the wild blue yonder? Well here's your chance. The black and white photographs of Alfred Cheney Johnston, a contemporary of Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz are gathering momentum in the black and white photography collector's market.

Alfred Cheney Johnston started his career when he was first hired by Flo Ziegfeld, the creator of the Ziegfeld Follies. During his reign with the Follies, Cheney shot some of the most famous and beautiful people in the world - the stars of the Ziegfeld Follies.

During his career, Alfred Cheney Johnston shot thousands of fine art black and white photographs. He favored classical poses because of his fine art training. With the addition of masterful lighting, Cheney Johnston is considered by some to be the Rembrandt of photography.

Johnston started out as an art student in New York City and was a protege of artist Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the "Gibson Girl". While Cheney was still in art school, Dana Gibson recognized that the medium of photography was gaining ground as an acceptable art form. It was Gibson who brought Cheney Johnston's attention to photography in the first place. He encouraged Cheney to delve into it as a potential commercially viable way to express his artistry.

During the Jazz Age, before the big stock market crash which triggered the Great Depression of the 1930's, Alfred Cheney Johnston was in enormous demand. Not only was he recording the images of all the major stars and many of the chorus girls of the Ziegfeld Follies, he was photographing the denizens of Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Before long the California film industry came calling hoping to hire Cheney to photograph stills of their movie stars. At one time, Johnston was as famous as many of the people he photographed.

The Great Depression brought ruin all across America. Money grew tight and not enough people could afford luxuries such as going to Broadway musicals. Eventually Flo Ziegfeld was forced to close the Ziegfeld Follies forever. Out of a job ACJ and his wife retreated to an old Connecticut farm where he lived out his life in out-and-out obscurity. He tried to revive his career but never succeeded.

When Alfred Cheney Johnston died thousands of his black and white images were found in his studio. A turkey coop on the property was found to be filled with all his glass negatives. Most of the negatives were carted off to the local dump. The black and white photographs were inherited by a close friend. Eventually the entire collection was sold to an east coast photography dealer.

Thanks to the Internet, especially Ebay, Cheney Johnston's stunning black and white prints started being offered for sale on the auction site. Ever since they first appeared on Ebay, Alfred Cheney Johnston's work has been regaining its once famous position in the world of black and white photography.

Ava Land is a black and white photography enthusiast. To learn more about collecting the famous black and white photography of Alfred Cheney Johnston at affordable prices visit this link http://alfredcheneyjohnston.com/Photography.htm