DARIUS HIMES

Based in New York City and having joined Christie’s in 2014, Darius Himes (Instagram @dariushimes) oversees a global team producing auctions, exhibitions and catalogues as International Head of the Photographs department. During his time at Christie’s, Himes interviewed Sir Elton John and David Mirvish in 2016 about their long love of photography and work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. In August of 2017, Christie’s announced a major deaccession of photographs from The Museum of Modern Art (articles appeared here, here, and here). The November, 2017 auction of the Thomas Koerfer Collection produced a World Auction Record for any classic photograph: Man Ray’s Noire et Blanche, 1926, sold for a whopping $3.1M USD.

World Record Prices

In November of 2017, the Christie’s Photographs Department broke a 12-year-old record for most expensive historic photograph ever sold at public auction, selling a portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse by Man Ray for a whopping $3.1M USD.
SEE WORLD RECORD PRICES

Journey Through the History of Photography

Darius Himes, International Head of Photographs, explores the medium from its birth in the 1830s to modern-day digital processes.

Photography of the Civil War: September 24 – October 7, Online – Sale Total USD 257,625
Browse lots and results

Photographs: 6 October, New York – Sale Total USD 4,776,125
Browse lots and results

American Post-War Street Photography

Watch Darius Himes, the International Head of Photographs at Christie’s, discuss Post-War Street Photography, one of the reaches periods of creativity in American history.
‘In the post-war period of the 1950s, many Americans believed they were living in a paradise. As one writer has put it, “It was an era of almost unbelievable abundance, symbolized by rampant consumerism, car culture and suburban sprawl. But behind the clapboard exterior of those near-identical homes built across the country, some Americans were starting to suspect it was a lie: perhaps consumption didn’t’ lead to a happy society, after all.’

‘If you’re an artist, I really don’t care how you make your work. Just make great work.’

BOOKS BY DARIUS HIMES

His most recent book, Publish Your Photography Book , co-authored with Mary Virginia Swanson, was released by Princeton Architectural Press in the Spring of 2011, with an updated 2nd edition published in the Spring of 2014.

DARIUS HIMES

Based in New York City and having joined Christie’s in 2014, Darius Himes (Instagram @dariushimes) oversees a global team producing auctions, exhibitions and catalogues as International Head of the Photographs department. During his time at Christie’s, Himes interviewed Sir Elton John and David Mirvish in 2016 about their long love of photography and work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. In August of 2017, Christie’s announced a major deaccession of photographs from The Museum of Modern Art (articles appeared here, here, and here). The November, 2017 auction of the Thomas Koerfer Collection produced a World Auction Record for any classic photograph: Man Ray’s Noire et Blanche, 1926, sold for a whopping $3.1M USD.

World Record Prices

In November of 2017, the Christie’s Photographs Department broke a 12-year-old record for most expensive historic photograph ever sold at public auction, selling a portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse by Man Ray for a whopping $3.1M USD.
SEE WORLD RECORD PRICES

American Post-War Street Photography

Watch Darius Himes, the International Head of Photographs at Christie’s, discuss Post-War Street Photography, one of the reaches periods of creativity in American history.
‘In the post-war period of the 1950s, many Americans believed they were living in a paradise. As one writer has put it, “It was an era of almost unbelievable abundance, symbolized by rampant consumerism, car culture and suburban sprawl. But behind the clapboard exterior of those near-identical homes built across the country, some Americans were starting to suspect it was a lie: perhaps consumption didn’t’ lead to a happy society, after all.’

‘If you’re an artist, I really don’t care how you make your work. Just make great work.’

BOOKS BY DARIUS HIMES

His most recent book, Publish Your Photography Book , co-authored with Mary Virginia Swanson, was released by Princeton Architectural Press in the Spring of 2011, with an updated 2nd edition published in the Spring of 2014.

THE HALFTONE: EPISODE 11

Life-long love of photography.

READINGS by DARIUS

Works, by Mona Kuhn

The Recesses of the Soul

A box of ten photographs by Diane Arbus

A box of ten photographs

My passion: Photography

International Head of Photographs Darius Himes talks about his lifelong love of the medium, and introduces key works from our upcoming sales season in New York.

‘Since my teenage years, I’ve been involved with either making photographs or working with permanent collections of historical photographs,’ says Christie’s International Head of Department Darius Himes, describing the beginning of an interest that became a lifelong passion.

  • READ MORE

    Here, Darius introduces a selection of works by some of the 20th century’s most renowned photographers — including William Eggleston’s extraordinary depictions of the everyday, and Paul Strand’s image of an apple tree in full bloom. Giving an insight into processes, he explains how a bulky camera can produce a delicate image, and why photographs can be rarer than we might think.

    Visit Christie’s HERE

My passion: Photography

International Head of Photographs Darius Himes talks about his lifelong love of the medium, and introduces key works from our upcoming sales season in New York.

‘Since my teenage years, I’ve been involved with either making photographs or working with permanent collections of historical photographs,’ says Christie’s International Head of Department Darius Himes, describing the beginning of an interest that became a lifelong passion.

  • READ MORE

    Here, Darius introduces a selection of works by some of the 20th century’s most renowned photographers — including William Eggleston’s extraordinary depictions of the everyday, and Paul Strand’s image of an apple tree in full bloom. Giving an insight into processes, he explains how a bulky camera can produce a delicate image, and why photographs can be rarer than we might think.

    Visit Christie’s HERE

My passion: Photography

International Head of Photographs Darius Himes talks about his lifelong love of the medium, and introduces key works from our upcoming sales season in New York.

‘Since my teenage years, I’ve been involved with either making photographs or working with permanent collections of historical photographs,’ says Christie’s International Head of Department Darius Himes, describing the beginning of an interest that became a lifelong passion.

  • READ MORE

    Here, Darius introduces a selection of works by some of the 20th century’s most renowned photographers — including William Eggleston’s extraordinary depictions of the everyday, and Paul Strand’s image of an apple tree in full bloom. Giving an insight into processes, he explains how a bulky camera can produce a delicate image, and why photographs can be rarer than we might think.

    Visit Christie’s HERE

My passion: Photography

International Head of Photographs Darius Himes talks about his lifelong love of the medium, and introduces key works from our upcoming sales season in New York.

‘Since my teenage years, I’ve been involved with either making photographs or working with permanent collections of historical photographs,’ says Christie’s International Head of Department Darius Himes, describing the beginning of an interest that became a lifelong passion.

  • READ MORE

    Here, Darius introduces a selection of works by some of the 20th century’s most renowned photographers — including William Eggleston’s extraordinary depictions of the everyday, and Paul Strand’s image of an apple tree in full bloom. Giving an insight into processes, he explains how a bulky camera can produce a delicate image, and why photographs can be rarer than we might think.

    Visit Christie’s HERE

BOOKS by DARIUS

Publish Your Photography Book

Bird Watching

Mona Kuhn: Works

THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S PLAYBOOK

Janelle Lynch: Another Way of Looking at Love

ONE

 

Mona Kuhn: Works

by Rebecca Morse (Author), Simon Baker (Author), Chris Littlewood (Author), Darius Himes (Author), Elizabeth Avedon (Author), Mona Kuhn  (Photographer)

A stunning career retrospective of Mona Kuhn, one of the leading figures in contemporary art photography.

Mona Kuhn is one of the most respected contemporary photographers of her time, best known for her large-scale photographs of the human form. Throughout a career spanning more than twenty years, the underlying theme of her work is her reflection on humanity’s longing for spiritual connection and solidarity. As she solidified her photographic style, Kuhn created a notable approach to the nude by developing friendships with her subjects, and employing a range of playful visual strategies that use natural light and bucolic settings to evoke a sublime sense of comfort between the human figure and its environment. Her work is natural, restful, and a reinterpretation of the nude in the canon of contemporary art.

Kuhn’s distinct aesthetic has propelled her as one of the most collectible contemporary art photographers―her work is in private and public collections worldwide and she is represented by galleries across the United States. Mona Kuhn: Works, the artist’s first retrospective, features images from throughout her career, accompanied by insightful texts by Rebecca Morse, Simon Baker, Chris Littlewood, and Darius Himes. An interview with Elizabeth Avedon provides insights into Kuhn’s creative process and the ways in which she works with her subjects and locations, and achieves the visual signature of her imagery. Published to coincide with a traveling international exhibition, opening at Fotografiska in New York, this book introduces Kuhn’s distinct aesthetic to a wide popular audience., It is an essential volume for anyone with an interest in the human form in contemporary art.

180 color and black and white illustrations

 

 

Diane Arbus: A box of ten photographs

by Diane Arbus (Photographer), John P. Jacob  (Contributor)

 

In May 1971, Artforum, bastion of late modernism, featured the work of a photographer for the very first time. On its cover and in a six-page spread, it published selections from Diane Arbus’s portfolio, A box of ten photographs. In the words of the magazine’s editor and photography skeptic, Philip Leider, “The portfolio changed everything . . . one could no longer deny [photography’s] status as art.” At the time of Arbus’s death, two months later, only four of the intended edition of fifty had been sold. Two had been purchased from Arbus by Richard Avedon (the first for himself, the second as a gift for his friend Mike Nichols); another was purchased by Jasper Johns; and a fourth by Bea Feitler, art director at Harper’s Bazaar. Arbus signed the prints in all four sets; each print was accompanied by an interleaving vellum slip-sheet inscribed with an extended caption. For Feitler, Arbus added an eleventh photograph, A woman with her baby monkey, N.J. 1971.

Acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, in 1986—and the only one of the four completed and sold by Arbus that is publicly held—that portfolio is the subject of an exhibition on view at the museum from April through September 2018. This exceptional book replicates the nature of Diane Arbus’s original and now legendary object. Smithsonian curator John P. Jacob, who has unearthed a trove of new information in preparing the book and exhibition, weaves a fascinating tale of the creation, production, and continuing repercussions of this seminal work.
Published by Aperture in association with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

 

 

 

Publish Your Photography Book

by Darius D. Himes (Author), Mary Virginia Swanson (Author)

The book New Orleans native Anne Rice called “a landmark oOur indispensable guide to publishing your own photography book just got better. In this revised and updated edition of Publish Your Photography Book, industry insiders Darius D. Himes and Mary Virginia Swanson take budding authors through the publishing process—from concept through production, marketing, and sales—pointing out the many avenues to pursue and pitfalls to avoid. It’s packed with information, including interviews and contributions from artists, publishers, designers, packagers, editors, and other industry experts who openly share their publishing experiences. This revised edition features updated case studies and resources sections as well as expanded information on digital publishing platforms, with advice on how to make and market your eBook.

 

 

 

Bird Watching

by Paula McCartney  (Author), Darius Himes (Contributor)

You have now before you a representation of one of the most richly coloured of birds, and one whose history is in some degree peculiar.
John James Audubon, The Birds of America

A spotted wren perches on the limb of a pine tree in a field of daisies. A song sparrow stands ready to take flight from a snow-covered limb against a winter landscape. For many, these descriptions depict quintessential experiences of nature. As photographs in a bird-watchers field journal they become something else entirely. Precious and desirable for being so rare, they transform into a kind of trophy that rewards the birdwatcher for his or her skill, tireless patience, and mastery over nature. At first glance, conceptual artist Paula McCartney’s Bird Watching seems to be a most exemplary specimen of a birdwatching journal. Handwritten notations recording species, location, size, and markings describe well-rendered and flawlessly composed photographs of a wide variety of passerines, orperching birds, in their natural settings in locations across the United States. Page after page of the most wonderfully diverse species of birds are perfectly posed in picturesque natural settingsa bird-watcher’s dream.

On second glance, however, the birds appear a bit too carefully arranged amid the tangle of brush and branches. Aneven closer look reveals stiff wire protrusions mounting each bird to its perch, matted tufts of overdyed faux feathers forming wings and splashes of paint creating eyes and beaks. McCartney has activated her atmospheric landscapes by adding synthetic decorative birds purchased at craft stores. This startling revelation has you wondering if the artificial might ultimately be more satisfying than the natural. Part document and part fiction, Paula McCartney’s Bird Watching is a fanciful, homespun field guide to a woodland twilight zone where our unconscious need to controlnature is indulged and our search for an unattainable ideal natural experience is fulfilled. Featuring a design that mimics the tactility of a real bird-watching journal and including essays by Darius Himes and Karen Irvine, this book will appeal to the dreamy naturalist in all of us.

 

 

The Photographer’s Playbook

by Darius Himes (Contributer),  Jason Fulford  (Editor), Gregory Halpern (Editor), Mike Slack (Photographer)

The best way to learn is by doing. The Photographer’s Playbook features photography assignments, as well as ideas, stories and anecdotes from many of the world’s most talented photographers and photography professionals. Whether you’re looking for exercises to improve your craft—alone or in a group—or you’re interested in learning more about the medium, this playful collection will inspire fresh ways of engaging with photographic process. Inside you will find advice for better shooting and editing, creative ways to start new projects, games and activities and insight into the practices of those responsible for our most iconic photographs—John Baldessari, Tina Barney, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Jim Goldberg, Miranda July, Susan Meiselas, Stephen Shore, Alec Soth, Tim Walker and many more. The book also features a Polaroid alphabet by Mike Slack, which divides each chapter, and a handy subject guide. Edited by acclaimed photographers Jason Fulford and Gregory Halpern, the assignments and project ideas in this book are indispensable for teachers and students, and great fun for everyone fascinated by taking pictures.

 

 

Janelle Lynch: Another Way of Looking at Love

by Darius Himes (Author), Janelle Lynch (Photographer)

New York–based photographer Janelle Lynch (born 1969) creates still lives within landscapes that combine similar and disparate elements. Informed by Lynch’s recent immersion in drawing and painting, the biological need for connection and the consequences of disconnection.

 

 

 

ONE

by David Campany  (Author), Teju Cole (Author), Christie Davis (Author), John D’Agata (Author), Michael Fried (Author), Darius Himes (Author), Leah Ollman (Author), Laura Steward (Author)

 

Photography is omnipresent; everyone is photographing everything. How do artists and writers reconcile this voracious urge to photograph with a photographic aesthetic and methodology that has tended to value “less is more”?

One pairs artists and writers to think about this question. Eight photographers―Marco Breuer, Thomas Joshua Cooper, John Gossage, Trevor Paglen, Alison Rossiter, Victoria Sambunaris, Rebecca Norris Webb and James Welling―were asked to submit one image on the theme of minimalism. Eight writers―David Campany, Teju Cole, Christie Davis, John D’Agata, Michael Fried, Darius Himes, Leah Ollman and Laura Steward―were enlisted to respond to those submissions, each paired with a specific image. The results offer a probing assessment of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s maxim: “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”