A lot of my favorite street photographers work, the photos in physical prints are only sold on Magnum. And the price feels ridiculously expensive, $10000-$20000 for a photo poster. And its not like I can get the actual digital file or negative to print myself. Is this simply the price I have to pay just for being able to hang the photo as decoration in my room?
and its not like original art or oil painting where there will only be 1 copy ever made. the photo can be printed for very low cost. so I’m basically paying $10000, just for the “idea” of taking a photo?
Searching for a “photo poster”, maybe the art market isn’t the right place for you.
And yes, limited and signed editions are “original art”. The interpretation of a negative in the darkroom or the editing of a digital file is part of the artistic process. So is the choice of paper, the format of the prints, the amount of copies in the edition, etc. The final product is the “original”.