Buying art

I just visited a photography exhibition - Wanderlust organized by a very good friend of mine. Some of the photos in the exhibition were really great. I think the images on a computer screen or monitor don't do any justice as compared to a large print. I do take pictures as a hobby and even to me some of these images looked very surreal and appealing. However, I didn't feel like buying any of them.

I stood there thinking - why is this. I mean, I go to a shopping mall and look at a really nice shirt or a really nice trouser and the very next instinct is to own that piece of clothing. I have to really resist the urge to buy or do something else. The same applies to a variety of things, that you start coveting, even as they sit in the showroom shelves. Why didn't the same reaction come about when I saw these beautiful photographs.  Is it that I don't really appreciate art ? I am a hobbyist photographer myself and I have taken some decent images in the past. So not appreciating an art form is not entirely true.

Is it the price tag ? Well I did spend a fortune buying a carpet in Kashmir ( again related to art ) which now lies unused. So why did I buy that carpet - the first feeling I had was that of charity - a means of providing livelihood to those artisans who toil day and night to create this carpet. Two - it is truly a masterpiece of art - the silk changes to different shades of color with lighting. Three - it's a one time buy. I never really bothered about the price - as you can never establish the 'right price' for these items. You either just pay what is stated or just bargain for a random discount - which I did.

So what is it that didn't hit my impulse to buy. Deciperhing my thought process does provide some insights into my buying and owning instincts.  I still don't have concrete answers, but at least I do have some understanding of what appeals and what doesn't. I have to print some of my images and see what kind of response those images elicit in my mind.