On the occasion of Paris Photo LA, The New York Times ran some numbers on the photography market showing the price volume returning to pre-crash levels but the average price still trailing behind:

This reality — along with the fact that the average auction price for photography is down 10 percent since 2008, to around $12,000 per picture — presents an opportunity for younger collectors, said Florence Bourgeois, the director of Paris Photo. “Photography is a medium that is more accessible to novice buyers and budding collectors. This is not just in terms of pricing or availability, but on another larger level,” said Ms. Bourgeois, who noted that Instagram and other photo-sharing sites make consuming photography a daily feature of modern life. “We can all connect to it in some way.”

Photography’s Place in the Global Art Market – NYTimes.com.