© Kyle Jeffers.
As the NFT art market continues to boom, ART3.io will be home to expertly curated, exclusively minted NFT photography collections, available to own via OpenSea
By now, many people will be aware of the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the art world: a major sector of the burgeoning crypto-economy, and a new-age way for collectors to secure ownership of digital work. Artists now have the ability to tokenize – or “mint” – a digital image file, thereby giving it a unique and non-interchangeable value. That token can then be sold to a buyer: whoever owns the token, owns the image.
It is no exaggeration to say the value of NFT art has been skyrocketing. In March 2021, American digital artist Beeple fetched a staggering 42,329 ETH ($69 million) at auction for his Everydays series — for which bidding only began at $100. Photographer Justin Aversano has this year seen sales of around 100 ETH ($378,838) for his project Twin Flames, in which he captures portraits of twins around the world.
Every day, NFT sales are helping to bring autonomy and income back into the hands of visual artists. But with respect to photography in particular, its potential in the NFT world is, to date, largely untapped. Relative to a medium like digital art, the evolution of NFT photo projects is in its infancy: the success of projects like Aversano’s indicates extraordinary growth potential, but many traditional photographers and photography institutions are yet to seize the opportunity.
That’s why this month, 1854 and British Journal of Photography (BJP) are proud to launch ART3.io: a brand new online platform designed to bridge the gap between traditional photography and the ever-unfurling metaverse. ART3.io will be home to the most hotly-tipped NFT photography collections – expertly curated, exclusively minted, and available to own via auction on OpenSea, the world’s biggest NFT marketplace.
“NFTs represent a generational shift for how artists can connect with a new collector community, and earn money as the value of their work goes up over time,” says Marc Hartog, CEO of 1854, ahead of the platform launch. “The launch of ART3.io will fully embrace the future of art, introducing photographers to NFTs, and NFT collectors to photography as an exciting collectable medium in this new space.”
To kick things off, ART3.io will be selling the very first NFTs of work made by photographers included in the 10th anniversary edition of BJP’s Ones to Watch issue.
Each year, BJP invites experts from across the arts industry – including leading editors, professors, directors, curators, writers, publishers, agents and photographers – to nominate artists at the start of their careers who are making outstanding work. Many of our Ones to Watch alumni have gone on to lead iconic careers, including the likes of Nadine Ijiwere, Rafael Pavarotti, Kennedi Carter, Cho Gi-Seok and Micaiah Carter. Our 2021 lineup – hailing from Belarus and Myanmar to Japan and Sudan – represent a new generation of photographic artists, praised for their abilities to adapt and innovate in the wake of a year of seismic challenges.
For the first time, exclusively on OpenSea, ART3.io presents a curated selection of 80 works from these 16 emerging artists, as unique NFT editions of one — with exclusive unlockable content for collectors.
Artists include: Md Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, Billy Barraclough, Masha Svyatogor, Muhammad Salah, Silvana Trevale, Matthieu Croizier, Donavon Smallwood, Alex Blanco, Kenji Chiga, Kristina Rozhkova, Shwe Wutt Hmon, Kyle Jeffers, Tayo Adekunle, Fee-Gloria Grönemeyer, Asafe Ghalib and Rehab Eldalil.
Access the sale via OpenSea here.