[by Thomas Werner]
You can drop off your portfolio for review at a museum. Just call to find out what their policy is, and be aware that they may keep your portfolio for up to 6 months or more. You should also know that in most instances a junior staff member will be reviewing your portfolio.
[by Thomas Werner]
Whether selling editioned or uneditioned prints at a gallery, store, or as an individual it is important to remember that when you set the price for your work you are only setting the price for an individual print. Mounting, matting, framing, laminating, shipping, or other expenses should be charged accordingly. This may seem like common sense, but we become so excited about selling our prints that “Sure I’ll put a mat on that for your” or “Sure I can mount that, no problem” slips out without our ever asking for additional funds or explaining the additional cost. This is bad business at best, and at worst undermines the value of your work.
So when someone asks you how much it costs to purchase your artwork, remember to quote them a price for an individual print, and to quote an additional amount for each additional request. Other businesses do it, and you should as well. Your art is a personal expression, but the sale of it is business and if you want to gain respect and turn your art into a revenue stream, it should be treated that way.
[by Susan Carr]
I had the privilege a few years back of hearing photographer Ken Josephson speak at the Society for Photographic Education Midwest Regional conference. While discussing his own struggle with blocks in creativity or direction, he clearly stated his own mantra, “work begets work.” These three simple words have hung with me and continue to ring true.
The most difficult times for me, as an artist, are those periods between projects. It frequently takes me a while to know when a given personal project is complete, thus, the creating new work slows gradually, the emphasis shifts to exhibitions or other outlets for the project and my lack of producing new work sort of creeps in unexpectedly. Ideas for new projects start brewing, but the day-to-day work of making a living and getting my existing images seen takes over. Then, what feels like all of sudden, it will hit me that the real love of my life, making photographs, is being neglected.
I moved to Chicago four years ago. Relocating my home after 25 years was a daunting task and my move coincided with the completion of a significant personal photography project. Between actively exhibiting this body of work – a documentary project of home interiors – and settling into a new home and business community, I didn’t think about photographing beyond my commercial client work. Fast forward to this year, I acknowledged that my own photography needed to become a priority again. I simply feel lost without it.
My idea is to photograph my new home, the Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park. I struggled with how to get started. I predictably tried to answer the why and how of the project before I initiated the work. Then I remembered Ken Josephson’s lecture. Work begets work. The process of creating work is the process of discovering the why and how. I wasn’t going to solve anything unless I simply walked the neighborhood camera in hand.
I am happy to say that this past spring and summer were productive. I walked miles, shot many rolls of film (yes, film for this work) and slowly the project is taking form. My advice for anyone struggling with their own vision is to simply get to work, pick up a camera and stop asking yourself so many questions.
As noted in my last post, photographs exhibited in higher end contemporary galleries are signed on the back, or reverse of the print. In addition to contemporary practices, there are two other reasons that you should consider when deciding whether to sign the back of your print as opposed to the front, these are; market and concept. This post will briefly discuss concept.
When you create a photograph to hang in a contemporary space you need to realize that everything about your work has a “meaning”. Everything that you do “contextualizes” your photograph, and how it is viewed and interpreted by the viewer. This includes the signature on your print as well as your decision whether or not to use a mat and frame. If you sign and/or edition your work on the front you are “referencing” a certain time period in photography. If you frame your photographs in black frames with a mat, and under glass you are “referencing” a specific period of photography. If you are going to reference that time, then you need to be able to explain “why” you are doing so. Are you commenting on that period? Are you addressing social issues of the time, creating nostalgia, or speaking about memory or loss, creating an homage in reference to an artist or photographic style? Is your signature on the front part of your concept? Does it move you closer to the “why” of your photography?
Much of contemporary photography is not about creating images that represent something, it is about creating photographs that comment on something. When you are making commentary, every choice, every symbol (and your signature is a symbol), every detail, is part of that commentary. So the decision to sign on the front goes beyond whether you or your client simply likes it there, it becomes part of your concept, part of the conversation that the photograph creates.
Photographers exhibiting in contemporary galleries sign their prints on the back of the print, also called the reverse, or verso, and not on the front of the print. (more on that in another post)
Sign in the upper left hand or lower right hand corner of the print, inside the print area (remember on the back of the print), and not on the border.
You should include the following:
Title of the piece
Year that the image was taken
Edition size
Year that the image was printed (If you desire)
Copyright (Suggested)
Your signature