1jennifer s Crusade for Your Art Best Practices for Fine Art

Crusade for Your Art Copyright Dedication Introduction Making the Work Set the Stage Identifying Goals and a Plan for Your Work From Goals to Action Conclusion Online Photography Blogs and Magazines Portfolio Review Programs Contributors Thank Th ank you. About Ab out the Author the Author

Crusade for Your Art Copyright Dedication Introduction Making the Work Set the Stage Identifying Goals and a Plan for Your Work From Goals to Action Conclusion Online Photography Blogs and Magazines Portfolio Review Programs Contributors Thank Th ank you. About Ab out the Author the Author

PRAISE FOR

Crusade for Your Art “In Crusade For Your Art , Jennifer Schwartz has written one of the most comprehensive guides to date for both the professional and and emerging fine art photographer to navigate the current world of Photography. With contributions from leading photography museum, gallery and photo directors, the expert advice given giv en is instrumental in creating cre ating what every photographer needs to know to navigate navigate the current art market. market. I absolutely love this guide. It covers all bases! I whole-heartedly recommend this masterful guide to the photographic community.”  – Elizabeth Avedon, Independent Independent Curator, New York, NY www.elizabethavedon.com www.elizabethavedon.com,, www.elizabethavedon.blogspot.com “Crusade for Your Art  is  is a valuable roadmap for those who wish to navigate the fine art field and a nd elevate their professional practices.”  – Laura Pressley, Executive Executive Director at CENTER, Santa Fe, NM www.visitcenter.org “Jennifer Schwartz is a guardian angel for photographers. Crusade for Your  Art   is a passionate call to arms for image-makers around the world to get your work out there and in front of people like me. This is how you do it. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.”  – Michael Foley, Gallerist Gallerist and Educator, New York, NY www.foleygallery.com www.foleygallery.com,, www.thesummershowproject.com “Crusade For Your Art: Best Practices For Fine Art Photographers  is a mustread

for

anyone

who

works

in

the

fine

art

photography

realm.

Photographers at all stages of their careers and practice will be well-served

to read this guide cover-to-cover, and photography collectors and enthusiasts can also learn a lot within these pages that will help them better understand an artist’s business. Jennifer Schwartz answers hundreds of the most common questions and hundreds more that people are probably scared to ask. Who would think to write out a step-by-step guide on how an artist can best use Twitter? Jennifer Schwartz did. The contributing authors offer advice based upon years of experience and countless hours of observation. Jennifer Schwartz takes the mystery out of the fine art photography world by outlining the business and taking the photographer through the entire process of creating and sharing photographs. As the author says, it’s a lot of work, but this book removes one of the biggest tasks of all — identifying what needs to be done.”  – Bevin Bering Dubrowski, Executive Director of Houston Center for Photography and Editor of Spot magazine, Houston, TX www.hcponline.org “Jennifer demystifies the steps towards a long and invested career as a photographer. An overdue and necessary resource for us all.”  – Brian Ulrich, Photographer and Educator, Richmond, VA www.notifbutwhen.com “The 21st-century photography world is at once complex and accessible – an aspiring artist needs an eye, the will, and a good map to explore the terrain. This welcome and highly readable book combines Jennifer Schwartz’s amazing breadth of knowledge about guiding photographers on their journey with trenchant insights from photo-world pros on both sides of the reviewing table. Between them all, the landscape of photography seems friendlier, clearer, and maybe even rewarding. “Jen of Art” leads an inspiring crusade!”  – George Slade, Writer, Curator, and Consultant, Traverse City, MI www.rephotographica-slade.blogspot.com “Young photographers need this information. While academic programs at colleges and universities are developing new art talents with incredible work,

most are not offering enough in professional practices and preparation to support fine art careers. This book offers a great resource for the practical, hands-on information that artists need to navigate the marketplace. With both traditional and innovative approaches on promoting and exhibiting work, as well as developing relationships with galleries, curators and collectors, it is an easy read, full of invaluable advice and direction for entering the art world today.”  – Michael Marshall, Chair of the Photography Department at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA www.mmars.myweb.uga.edu

Crusade For Your Art BEST PRACTICES FOR FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jennifer Schwartz Crusade Press Atlanta, Georgia

Copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Schwartz. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below. Crusade Press PO Box 8688 Atlanta, GA 30306 www.crusadeforart.org Ordering Information: Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the “Special Sales Department” at the address above. Crusade For Your Art/ Jennifer Schwartz. —1st ed. ISBN 978-0-9912779-3-3

For the photographers – you are an inspiration.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.  —MARK TWAIN

Introduction The art world has been turned on its head, and no one knows what to do about it. Long-time gallerists tell stories of mythic proportions about the days when they could not keep art on the walls. With more and more people buying art online and in alternative venues, many traditional galleries cannot stay in business. Career photographers talk about the days when career photographers existed. Days when they could support themselves on their art and they recognized the value of their work. Days when photographers would not dare give it away for the glory of a photo credit. Up-and-coming photographers lament the digital era where everyone with an SLR (or better yet, an iPhone) calls himself a photographer and layers and filters can turn the dullest images into something

… “special”.

Nostalgia is easier than change. Routine is more comfortable than innovation. The past is like looking through a soft-focus filter, while the present has a hard-edge. And yet. The truth is, we have the tools to take this upside-down art world and own it. The Internet has leveled the playing field for everyone, and may the best photographers and galleries win. We can take things into our own hands, and we can create our careers. Gone are the days of sending slides to galleries and waiting for the call that would signal the start of something. Photographers with talent, creativity, and ambition can start their own fire. So rise up. Take your career by the reins. Be thoughtful, purposeful, and develop a plan to get you where you want to go. Form a plan, tighten your work, create your brand, and launch your project. Make your mark on the world.

PART I

Making the Work First you have to make the work. This guide addresses “bodies of work” or “projects”. A body of work or photographic project is typically twenty strong images with a cohesive concept, feeling, and look. To get to a portfolio of twenty strong images, a photographer usually makes significantly more over a long period of time. Rarely does a photographer go on a two-week trip and return with a depth and breadth of imagery to constitute a full, complete body of work.

Bodies of Work While twenty images is appropriate for a project portfolio, there are situations where you would want fewer images (for display on your website, to submit to certain portfolio competitions) and instances where more images are appropriate (a book edit, for example). Having a much larger selection of good, strong images offers the opportunity for creating different edits of the work to suit different purposes (meeting with a curator whose tastes you feel would prefer a certain type of selection or submitting to a competition with a theme that favors a different edit of the work). Creating a photographic project involves an idea, a plan, and the elasticity to allow your concept to evolve. What started out as a project about one thing can turn into something different over time, most likely something with more depth and emotional pull. There is no need to rush. Let the images simmer and percolate. You and your project will be all the better for it.

Stages of Fine Art Photographers As photographers move through the process of making work, there is a natural evolution from experimenting to creating with intent. Fine art photographers can be thought of as falling into one of three stages or levels. The levels are not a hierarchy – it all depends on the goals of the individual photographer. The first stage is centered around experimentation, technical competence, and stylistic development. The second stage moves to working within projects and telling a story through a body of work. And the third stage takes the experience of the first two and applies it to work that is truly connected to the individual photographer. Most photographers straddle and fluctuate between all three, because there are important components to each that remain part of an artist’s practice no matter how experienced or established he or she is. When people are first learning and experimenting with a camera, they take photographs of everything around them. They often carry a camera with them and shoot a lot of different subjects in a lot of different circumstances, to get familiar with the equipment and to figure out how to capture an image and have it look the way they intended. This is so important, and often a stage no photographer really leaves. This is the way a photographer develops not only competency with the mechanics of a camera, but also his or her eye and photographic style. If the photographic bug starts to stick, and the photographer wants to take this passion beyond documenting vacations and family, he or she may consider investigating what it would mean to move into fine art work. At this level, the photographer tends to start looking at the work of other admired, established photographers and begins working on a photographic series. In the beginning, the photographers may make work that roughly falls into categories (people, landscape, nature), but over time as he or she becomes

seriously interested in pursuing exhibitions and other fine art photography opportunities, the images become more concept-based. The distinction between a category and a concept-based theme is important in the world of fine art photography. Contemporary photography dictates that strong work be about   something. So brainstorming project ideas and then going through the exercise of telling a full and compelling story in twenty strong images is a very significant step, if your goal is to be recognized in this realm. It is challenging to tell a story in images where each image is able to stand on its own and the body of work as a whole does not feel repetitive or schizophrenic, but the most talented artists do this and do this well. Finally, there is the level that could be considered truly “arriving” in the fine art

world.

Photographers

at

this

stage

have

made

thousands

of

photographs, spent time with them, and determined what worked and what did not work and why. They have distilled the group of images, through careful editing, into a body of work they can be proud of. But they also have a little extra. A photographer can create interesting bodies of work where all of the images fit together and feel strong and consistent. But then there are photographers who do this and then go beyond. They are making work because they have to make it. They have found their voice and are able to connect viewers to their work on an emotional level, because they are connected to the subject on an emotional level. If you have this figured out, you are rare. You are going to make the viewer feel something. And what other reason is there to look at art? I have been working with young art students for well over a decade. My favorite part of teaching visual art has been the actual drafting process for creating a new body of work. I encourage students to explore widely in developing an idea for  a project. “Look under stones” was advice given to me as a child that spurred my creative thinking. The spark of an idea

will come eventually and it is this creative process that gives the most satisfaction to an artist. Some photographers travel all over the world to find subject matter. While this works for  some, it is not always necessary. There is creative fodder in the everyday. Other advice I offer students is not to be afraid to make mistakes. Some of the best work has been generated by  accident. The creative process is a cyclic journey. It involves drafting and redrafting. It involves living with the work over  time and casting a fresh eye on it periodically. It involves starting over often. “When is a body of work completed ?,” I am asked often. I guess the work is done when there is nothing left to say. For some artists this could be a lifetime. – Paula Tognerelli, Executive Director and Curator at Griffin Museum of Photography 

Context You make photographs because you have to make them – the subject compels you, and you have something you need to express. The art fills you up, and you create. What can be challenging is taking a step back and viewing your work in a larger context. In order to understand to whom your work will most appeal and to target that audience in your outreach, it is necessary to know what type of work you are making and how it fits within the larger context of the medium. What genre best categorizes your images? What photographers have influenced you? How does your work fit within the history of photography? Who else is making pictures or has made pictures that relate to yours in subject and/or style? The more fully you can answer these questions, the better you will understand your work and be able to passionately convey its significance to others. I think there is a strong impulse to see one’s own artwork as original or unique – and I understand that there is often a premium on “innovation.” The best works of art are unique because they come from the voice, the unique point of view, possessed by each individual artist, and shaped by his or her  distinctive background, life experiences, concerns and passions. But in addition to seeing one’s photography as offering something new, it is crucial to understand how one’s own work  fits into the larger continuum of the history of the medium, and other work being created today. I appreciate it when artists can tell me whose work has influenced them, who they like to look  at, and how their project relates to others’. Knowing kindred artistic spirits can help you identify appropriate commercial gallery representation, curators who may be attracted to your  work, and competitions and juried shows that will be a good fit. I often find myself recommending works in various media –  children’s books, music, movies, blogs and websites, literature, installation art and video – as well as in photography, for artists

to consult. I believe that we each need rich artistic lives, with many sources of input, to stay inspired and challenged. – Rebecca Senf, Norton Family Curator at Center for Creative Photography and Phoenix Art Museum Appendix A offers a reference list of popular photography blogs and online magazines. Keeping current with photographic trends and practices will help give you important reference points for your own work.

Residency Programs It can be challenging to have time to focus on creating and evaluating your work outside the context of a university setting. Your job, your family, and your daily commitments can push your art practice so far down your to-do list that it can feel as if you will never have the opportunity to focus on your work and pull it all together. Artist residency programs allow you the time and space to work, as well as give you an opportunity to connect with other artists. You may have access to technical facilities you may not normally be able to use. Programs can range from one week to a year or more, and the financial structure varies as well. Some programs require you to pay to attend, others provide food and lodging, and still others are free to attend and include an artist stipend. To attend, an artist must get accepted through an application process, and some programs may require artists to participate in public programs or donate art to a collection. As you can see, the programs vary in almost every logistical way, but the benefit of having the time, energy, and resources to focus on your work is constant across the board. Participating in an artist residency program is an absolutely  transformative

experience.

It

is

a

declaration

of

your 

commitment to your own practice. It is an opportunity to strengthen your community and gain stakeholders for your  career. One of the most important things to prepare for when embarking on a residency is allowing yourself the time to adjust to your new setting. It can be quite a shock at first, the feeling of being a 24/7 artist (though no doubt one you will quickly get comfortable with). Get to know your surroundings; take the time to get to know the people who will be there to

facilitate your residency; allow yourself to take breaks and take in your new environment. Regardless of the type of residency you’re embarking on (e.g. a workspace residency where you may be one of just a few or  the only artist participating at one time and where technical and curatorial staff are present, or an artist colony/community  situation where many artists may be there at once and you are left to more independent means of production), you’ll have the opportunity to enter into and become a member of a lasting community. Your time there can be the foundation for a much longer and deeper relationship throughout your career and opportunities not yet apparent to you. When support staff are involved, be honest and open with them about your needs and expectations – you’re in it together. Be clear and direct about your plans. They can be your best  advocates, making things possible that would not have even been conceivable before. If you don’t ask, they can’t say yes. Pending the hosting institutions’ guidelines, a residency can be about starting something new, continuing an ongoing project, gaining access to a specific set of resources or region; or  hunkering down and bring closure to an existing project. Keep in mind that a successful residency should not be measured by  “how much work you’ve made” but rather by the growth you’ve achieved – embrace risk taking, welcome failure, and travel down roads not previously ventured. – Ariel Shanberg, Executive Director at The Center for  Photography at Woodstock 

PART II

Set the Stage Tighten your work and build your brand. You have made the work – what an amazing accomplishment! Truly. There’s plenty more to do, but pause and think about how far you have come. To have a concept and turn it into a photographic project is a remarkable achievement. After you have reflected on your efforts, it is time to make the most of this body of work. You want it to be as strong as possible and give the viewer everything you put into it. So let’s tighten it up.

Edit and Sequence One of the most difficult challenges for a photographer is to edit his or her own work. It is nearly impossible for artists to be completely objective about their own images. An experienced outsider can look at a body of work and comment on which images feel like outliers, whether or not the work feels cohesive, what images propel your story and which do not, which images feel technically or aesthetically weak, and how to make adjustments to improve the project. An artist sees more than just the image – the artist looks at a photograph he or she made and remembers that it was the most beautiful day out, the windows were down, and a favorite song was playing on the radio. The artist cannot divorce the image from the context, and that is ok. But that is why soliciting experienced, objective feedback is critically important. First, seek out experienced people whose opinions you trust to give you constructive criticism on your edit. Asking a supportive spouse or neighbor without any industry knowledge will make you feel great about your work, but will not help it improve. And it can always be better. Utilize the resources around you. Most local gallerists and curators will carve out 15-20 minutes to sit with you and review your work, so long as you respect their time by making an appointment and clearly outline your objectives from the meeting. Explain that you are looking for constructive feedback on your project in order to improve it and get it ready to launch. Be clear that you are asking for their time and feedback, not an opportunity for exhibition or representation. If the work is fantastic, that will come naturally. Second, be as critical and objective as you can when looking at your images. If you think an image is strong but does not completely fit the project, take it out and save it for a future body of work. If you are thinking, “I know this photograph is too soft/isn’t really working/has a different feeling/etc. but  _____ (insert any excuse here)”, then take it out. Again, just because it does not fit this project does not mean it will not fit in another project in the future.

Finally, do not dilute the impact of your project or series by including weaker photographs to meet a self-imposed image count. If you only have 13 strong images so far, then only include 13 in the portfolio. Adding two weak images to bump up the total to 15 will leave the viewer remembering two out-ofplace photographs and thinking you may not know the difference between a weak and strong image. Once your edit feels tight, the sequence is your next challenge. Sequence can strengthen or ruin a project. If the images feel like they are jumping around and the viewer is jarred moving from one to the next, the story you are trying to tell gets lost and the photographs will not hit their mark. Quite simply, the flow needs to work. Let the story unfold in a clear, logical way that makes sense as the viewer moves from one image to another. Make sure you are telling the complete story without hiccups (images that take the viewer off-track) or narrative gaps. Allow the viewer to move seamlessly through the work. Keep a consistent vibe and feeling, building a narrative or emotional arc without disrupting the viewer’s eyes or emotions. In addition to considering a logical ordering strategy (chronological, narrative, etc.), pay attention to aesthetic qualities in the photographs. Colors and shapes can bridge transitions between images and create a smooth flow. Less obvious connections also create an interesting sequence. Consider what associations a straight read of an image bring to mind and what other image in the series creates a logical link to it. In

talking

with

photographers

about

their

editing

and

sequencing practices, one thing that comes up again and again is the value of living with the work. Many artists find it useful to take their work prints and hang them, or spread them out on a worktable or the floor of a studio. And then they “live” with the work—they look at the edit or sequence repeatedly over a period of time. Connections reveal themselves; pacing, and narrative and emotional arcs change or fluctuate; and individual images gain or lose importance.

– Conor Risch, Senior Editor at Photo District News

Artist and Project Statements The term “artist statement” is often used to refer to a general statement about the type of work an artist makes and also to a description of a particular project. In photography, where artists create different bodies of work with distinctive narratives, each project needs its own statement.

Artist Statement Typically a photographer will have a general artist statement that summarizes the way the work is made, the major themes that tie the different bodies of work together, and the way that photographer looks at the world. The general artist statement can be combined with a short bio on an artist’s website to create a few paragraphs that give a high-level overview about the photographer and his or her work. Below are two examples of artist statements incorporated into the photographer bio. They are short and effective. They give the reader a sense of an overall concept or focus area for the photographer. Heather Evans Smith is an award-winning fine art and conceptual portrait photographer based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her work captures both the everyday and the whimsical, telling stories of women and struggle, reality and the surreal. Tatiana Wills is intrigued by the essential spirit of the creative vanguard. Her portraits celebrate the excellence, dedication, and integrity of those who make, do, and inspire. Tatiana has won

honors

from

Communication

Arts,

PDN,  and

the

International Photography Awards. Her work has been seen on the pages of Time, GQ, HiFructose,  and IdN  and on the silver screen in Banksy’s street art film, Exit Through the Gift Shop. Her book Heroes & Villains was released in 2011, marking the

result of a six-year collaborative project with co-photographer Roman Cho. Tatiana currently lives in Portland and Los Angeles.

Project Statement The project statement (which is often called an artist statement and for the rest of this section will be referred to as such) is a much more specific description of one body of work. A photographer should have a project statement for every body of work. Photographers will most likely need several versions of their project statements. A short, concise statement is appropriate for an artist’s website and in most cases is also sufficient for submitting work to juried shows and competitions and for gallery exhibitions. A photographer may need a longer, more in-depth statement for academic uses, exhibition catalogs, museum exhibitions, or other printed or high profile uses. This guide offers advice and examples for how to write a succinct statement for your website and other general uses. Yes, Artist Statements Are Important  The thought of writing an artist statement can sicken even the most accomplished photographer. We are visual artists after all. We express ourselves in images, not words. There is often a lot of griping that occurs when the topic of artist statements comes up. Many people (mostly the artists tasked with creating the statements) feel the work should speak for itself, and that statements are unnecessary and meaningless. Although not every gallery and collector is concerned about a well-formed artist statement, there are a lot of benefits to having a concise, compelling description of your work. Nearly as difficult as writing about your work is speaking about your work. The process of writing a statement allows an artist to get the swirl of elusive ideas and concepts that make sense in his or her own head out and

organized in a concrete, meaningful way. We all know what we are trying to say with our images, but many of us have a very difficult time communicating those thoughts to others. As discussed in the upcoming section on portfolio reviews, preparing your pitch is critical to presenting your work to a potential gallerist, curator, or collector. Writing your artist statement can both assist you with this and can act as your agent if you are unable to make a face-to-face connection with the person viewing your work. Putting Words on Paper  Oh, but where to begin? There are three critical questions an artist needs to ask and answer fully before the writing can begin. Get these hammered out, and you are well on your way. What are you trying to say with your work? Think about not just what you are photographing, but what you are trying to communicate to the viewer. What is the story you are telling? Why are you making this work? How did you come to create this work? What inspired the project? Why did you feel you needed to photograph this particular topic in this particular way? Why should the viewer care? Finding a topic that hasn’t been done before is not a compelling reason to create a photographic project. Why is what you are saying significant and valuable? How are you making me see something in a way I wouldn’t see it otherwise? How are you making me feel something unique or important? What are you making me think about that deserves attention? And above all, why is your voice the best one to transmit this information? Think about these questions and start a stream of consciousness flow of writing. Or speak out loud and record your dialogue. Have a conversation

with another person who is familiar with your work and whose opinion you value, and then use these questions as a springboard. Once you have let flow, read or play back your musings and pull out themes that are strong and reoccurring. From there, begin to organize the themes and cull down the extraneous information. I’ve Got A Lot of Words – What Do I Include? The purpose of the artist statement is to provide insight – a context and framework in which to understand your art. Tell the viewer about your concept and motivation for making the work. Draw people in and make them want to see your images. The statement is an introduction and supplement to the work, not a detailed description or a biography of your life with a camera. Take a look at all you have written down and organize it in a way that makes sense and tells the most cohesive story. From there, cut out any pieces of information that seem unnecessary and that do not really talk about the work (the age you first picked up a camera, how you have always been drawn to color and light, where and when you got your MFA). Then GRASP the key elements to avoid: Generalizations Be specific when you write. Avoid sweeping generalizations and vague language. Say exactly what you mean. Analyze every single word and make sure you are not adding “fluff” in an attempt to sound deep, artsy, or smart. You should sound like yourself, just more polished and succinct. Reticence Admittedly, there is a fine line between presenting your work confidently and sounding arrogant (see “Self-importance” below), but sounding like you believe in yourself and your work is essential. Artspeak

Throwing in technical terms, art history or flowery language will only put the reader off and detract from your concept. Self-importance Declaring your work to be exceptional or sure to change the way the world looks at art is unnecessary and off-putting. If it is brilliant, it will be obvious to the viewer. Past tense You are writing about work that is being viewed in the present tense, and you should write about it that way, regardless of when it was made. Writing in the present tense is active and lends a feeling of relevance and vitality. Examples of Strong Artist Statements Below you will find examples of strong, direct artist statements that do not have a lot of extra information to distract the reader. These statements are concise, but provide important context with which the viewer should look at the images. Statements such as these are especially appropriate to accompany images on photographers’ websites, because if too long, the viewer is not likely to read them. The Sorority Girl Project  by Kelly K. Jones I was surrounded by hundreds of young women in black cocktail dresses and stacked heels. It was 1pm on a Sunday. And so began The Sorority Girl Project. The constructed public personas we all assume are magnified within this community – a community where young women live under tremendous and contradictory pressures. The “sorority girl” is as revered as she is detested. Her perfection is a wellguarded myth.

The images in The Sorority Girl Project reveal the cracks in the façade. By focusing on the moments that surround the formal photographic portrait, we are given access to a rehearsal for the camera and a fleeting vulnerability. Small-Town Hip Hop by Jared Soares In a small city in the corner of Virginia, the production of a song begins with some remodeling. You remake the basement into a recording studio. You rename yourself Palmz or Zulu Watu or Sha Fantastic. Meet the hip-hopportunists, the starry-eyed aspirants, reaching for a gleaming karat in the distance. It is an American pursuit, told in tight focus – people who want to go from Here to There. But despite knowing how to strike the poses of success – the gold teeth, the defiant sneer – There rarely comes. The reality of Here is a grind – working a double shift and stretching to make ends meet. But the workaday life is a little more palatable when there are beats to be made and rhymes to be written. In front of the microphone, There seems within reach. Even if only for a song. Buried on Her 90th Birthday  by Elizabeth Fleming Buried on Her 90th  Birthday   is a project of discovery and wonder. My grandmother was a woman I knew without knowing. She was never a talker, a story-teller, or someone who shared her affection. But after her death, I found her quirks and charm behind cupboards and inside drawers. When my family gathered to go through and divide up the things she accumulated over 61 years of living in the same Midwestern home, I was fascinated to find the most unusual objects in staggering volume – spools of thread, plaster foot casts, an album of only penguin photographs. By meticulously photographing

these

objects

and

totems,

I

had

an

overwhelming sense of how even the seemingly insignificant

becomes important after death. In piecing together a puzzle of a woman, a life, a forgotten era, I attempt to hold on to something that is now, inevitably, ephemeral. Interface by David Kressler Interface examines the margins of our contemporary landscape  – the intersection of urban and wild areas that are found in the most normal, everyday places, in plain sight. In this interface there is evidence of a dance where human construction invades and nature persists. These photographs of the interplay between the man-made and the natural reveal a surprising

formal

beauty

that

challenges

the

ideas

of

conventional beauty in the landscape. Three Millimeters by Greg Kahn Human nature, or perhaps American nature, prevents us from dwelling too long on events that are unsettling. A dramatic natural disaster will capture our attention, inspire us to action, and then recede to the background of our lives. In Chrisfield, Maryland, the natural disaster is a long, drawn-out event – a rising sea level occurring at the rate of three millimeters per year – slow enough to ignore, but dramatic enough to overtake the town in 50 years. It’s not the swift impact of a storm, but a slow drowning of a culture. Chrisfield is a tiny apocalypse unfolding in plain sight, but even its own residents want to deny its inevitability. Generations of watermen created a tight-knit community with its own cultural ecosystem, and they do not want to see it washed away. These photographs depict the last breaths of a community as they are forced to adapt to the smallest but most devastating tidal wave. Examples of Less Effective Artist Statements

The statements below are not effective in providing the viewer with information about the project. In the first, the use of complex words and phrases detracts from the overall message and may exhaust the viewer before he or she even looks at the first photograph. In the second, the addition of too many unimportant details creates a long-winded statement. The goal is to give the viewer enough information to provide context and the artist’s motivation, but not too much that the viewer cannot enter the images in his or her own way. Example 1 (Project Title) is a meditation on the fragmentary nature of presence and the collision between external reality and the internal space of memory, daydreams, and the subconscious. The

mundane,

rote

engagement,

daily

landscapes

and

moments of seemingly little import provide a vacancy and spaciousness allowing for psychological drifts into a presence of greater resonance. This body of work illuminates and in turn embraces these interstitial moments that make up the majority of ones life. (Project Title) considers how to describe this obfuscated reality. The images serve as keepsakes of a desire for presence within the poignant normalcy of life’s in-betweens. Example 2 My first job was as a delivery boy for (newspaper name), my town paper. Growing up, I scanned it daily to read the printed details of our sleepy community. There is something about seeing your name in the paper for a sports statistic or academic achievement that solidifies one’s feeling of place. When I began photographing my hometown newspaper printing presses as an adult, it left me overcome with that same feeling. In the presses I saw the passage of time,

machines saturated with the events of the communities they serve, and I saw my passage through time as well. I was struck with the realization that newspaper presses are the silent watchers of our communities. They dutifully record births, deaths, wedding notices, and much more; they archive the day-to-day narratives of our cities and towns. The dust collecting within them is the debris of our history. The rich patina coating each machine individualizes its character and testifies to its constant use. Each press is soaked with memories and the psychic energy of information. Whenever I walk into a pressroom, I take a deep breath and draw in the scent of oil and printer ink. It was that same smell I encountered in my Grandfather’s truck in Pennsylvania. Our family worked oil leases, and his work truck was saturated with the smell of crude oil. I loved riding in that truck. It was like being let into the secret world of men. The newspaper industry has been on a steady course of consolidation as readership and subscriptions dwindle. Smaller cities and towns have formed media groups trying to stave off the obsolescence. Even the large ultra-efficient automated presses will one day be unprofitable. The age of the printing press is by no means over, but sadly, as newspapers disappear, so does a unique component of our shared experience. I think of an artist statement or a project statement like a stepladder that helps people get closer to your work. We imagine that we’re such a visually literate culture, bombarded with images at every turn, but I’m not sure that’s true. Maybe we’ve  just learned to skim pictures easily, without necessarily engaging with them. Your image has to attract an audience by itself, it’s true, but your statement can help viewers stay with the picture and enter its world. Some people will only take one step, some people will take two. That’s where the action is.

Why wouldn’t you use any tool at your disposal to achieve that?  – Katherine Ware, Curator of Photography at New Mexico Museum of Art Does It All Add Up? When thinking about a body of work and its impact on the viewer, consider using this metric to determine whether or not a project has come together effectively. Look at a portfolio and give it a score of “0”, “1”, “2” or “3” using this system as a starting point to think about the work: “0” if the images do not seem compelling enough to want to look farther “1” if the images are interesting, but the artist statement does not seem to match the work “2” if the work is good and the statement seems to match what the images convey “3” if everything comes together and the work is truly exceptional – the images are interesting, the statement directly reflects what you are seeing, and you are left thinking and feeling something and wanting more Think about this when looking objectively at your own work. Why are you making the work? Why should the viewer care about the work? Do the images reflect what you are trying to say? All visual arts projects are trying to say something. For documentary and journalistic work, the literal narrative, and often also the photographer’s interpretation, are essential. But even in fine art photography, you should be clear about why you are making the work and what you are trying to share with its viewers through that effort. Even the most abstract or most

personal work, works best when it connects the viewer in some way to your impulses and inspirations. Serendipity and discovery has a place in art, but without some clarity of intention, you are leaving your project’s success to chance.  – Jason Houston, Documentary Photographer and Photo Editor

Sizing, Editioning, and Pricing Work Most artists have no idea where to begin when thinking about sizing, pricing and editioning their work. The impulse is to put off this decision until the work begins to sell or be exhibited. But it is much better to be deliberate and thoughtful, do your research, and confidently make a decision. This is your work. Only you can do a gut check and value it.

Size The current trend seems to be to “go big and then go bigger”. But consider the size that you feel best suits the work. If the images are intimate and would work best in a small size, then stay true to your vision for the photographs and offer just one small size. Think about what you imagine the ideal size for viewing the work should be. Photographs should typically be offered in two or three sizes. Often the size that looks best in an exhibition is too large for an average collector, so offering a smaller size helps the work be more accessible to a wider audience. Also consider the jump between sizes when creating multiple size editions. One standard paper size difference between two sizes is not a significant change. For example, there is very little difference between a 16x20 and a 20x24. Instead, opt for selecting 16x20 and 24x30 and then 30x40 or larger for the largest size. If you are offering two sizes, make sure there is a significant difference between the two options.

Edition While it is true that the old photography masters did not edition their prints, it is contemporary practice to do so. Editioning guarantees that the image a collector is buying is not infinitely reproducible, and therefore will hold its value.

The size of the edition impacts the price. A smaller edition means fewer images will be made, which makes each more valuable. Typically the smallest print size for each image will have the largest edition size and the largest print size will have the smallest edition size. For example, if you are offering photographs from a particular body of work in two sizes (13x19 and 24x30), you may decide to create an edition of 10 for the 13x19 size and an edition of five for the 24x30 size. To be clear, once you set your edition for a photograph, you may not print that image again in any of those sizes. This is an honor system, and your reputation as an artist depends on it. In order to reserve the right to print one or two more of each image for personal use (to keep for yourself, give to a friend or family member, donate to a museum, or sell at a high price if the rest of the edition has sold out), you can create an edition size with APs (artist proofs). If you wanted to add APs to the example edition above, you may decide to create and edition of 10 + 2 APs for the 13x19 size and an edition of 5 + 2 APs for the 24x30 size. In general for edition sizes, smaller is better. A small edition size means fewer prints will exist in the marketplace, making the image more valuable and more attractive to a collector. While it may seem limiting to the artist to create editions that are small, having images that sell out will create more demand for your work and justify a price increase for your next body of work. It is natural to want to have a large edition of 50 prints in every size because you are attached to this work, but it helps to look at the big picture: a large edition means that when you go on to make new   work that you care to promote, this older body of work will be left with largely unfulfilled editions.

Price Determining how to price your work is complicated and often feels awkward. You want to value your work but not price it higher than the

market will reasonably bear. It is a delicate balance, and if you are working with a gallery, the gallery should be able to advise you. When deciding pricing, consider these variables: What does it cost you to produce the work? This should not be the only factor in determining your pricing, but you want to make sure your costs are covered with enough profit left over to make the sale worthwhile. Do not price different sizes the same just because your cost may be similar. If an image sold, what is the minimum amount you would want to receive? Keep in mind that if you are selling through a gallery, you will receive 50% of the sale price (in most cases). With that in mind, you must always assume that you will only receive half of the dollar amount you set. In order to protect the investment for collectors, all of your work needs to be priced consistently, whether you are selling through a gallery (and receiving half) or directly (and retaining the full amount). It is unfair and detrimental to your reputation and the value of your work for one collector to pay full price and another to pay half that amount. Your pricing should always reflect the gallery price. How commercially salable is the work? This is a critical question that needs to be fleshed out before you go any farther in creating goals for the project. This issue of viability is addressed further in Part III. The market for your photography should influence the sale price. If your work is challenging and hard to sell, the price should be lower than if your work flies off the walls. How are other photographers with similar work and at a similar level of their  career pricing their work? Again, consider where you as a photographer (the stage in your career, your experience, your sales and exhibition history) and where your work fits into to the larger context of the photography market when determining your

pricing. Make sure you get out there and go to galleries which are showing emerging photographers’ work and observe the pricing structures. What feels right? You should consider all of the variables above, but at the end of the day, the price has to feel appropriate and good to you. But do not trust your opinion alone. Many photographers intrinsically undervalue or overvalue their work. Ask a few trusted and more experienced friends or approach a gallery owner for advice. Tiered pricing can be a great compromise between selecting a price that seems too low and a price that seems inflated. Let the sales determine the value. Tiered pricing means the price of an image goes up the closer it gets to selling out. Here is an example of a three-size pricing structure with tiered pricing. This is not based on any particular body of work. 16x24 edition of 8, starting at $800 Prints 1-3 priced at $800 Prints 4-6 priced at $950 Print 7 priced at $1100 Print 8 priced at $1300 24x30, edition of 5, starting at $1200 Print 1-2 priced at $1200 Print 3-4 priced at $1450 Print 5 priced at $1700 30x40, edition of 3, starting at $2000 Print 1 priced at $2000 Print 2 priced at $2500 Print 3 priced at $3000

In deciding about a size, I recommend to all artists to print the image in three or four sizes and pin them all on the wall. Spend the next three weeks looking at them. Do not make a quick  decision. You will notice that certain images, portraits, and narratives transform and translate very differently in various sizes. It is important to know how a photograph will look as an 11x14 (11x17 digital) up to a 50x60, depending on how the image is taken. Then give it time and more time. If you are using a traditional 8x10 or 4x5 format, you will find that the photograph

can

handle

larger

sizes.

However,

many 

photographers using smaller format cameras make the mistake to print larger when the image cannot handle the size, and they willingly sacrifice the quality and resolution. Big mistake. Many dealers are interested in quality and look hard at the print. If the print loses or breaks up digitally at a larger  size, it is technically weak. Make sure your photograph is technically strong. Be very careful in creating an edition for your image. It would be to your advantage to consult an art lawyer to find out the editioning laws in your state. Many artists will create an image, then the size, then edition, and lastly the price. Then later you will see that artist decided to add a new size/edition because they sold one image quickly and now it is no longer available. Suddenly you have a museum calling you to buy this piece or  you are asked by a huge collection to make a one-time commission in a huge size of this fantastic image that sold out. Agreeing to do this after the edition has been set compromises the value and is unethical. When you determine your editions and sizes, you can decide on three sizes and editions but only  offer two in the beginning, knowing that you have the option to open up the third size later. What you cannot do is decide on two sizes in an edition, then add another edition and size later.

It is always good to consult someone in the industry as you are making these important decisions. These decisions have a tremendous impact down the road. As for pricing, I have several thoughts. I sometimes disagree with the step/pricing structure, because it can cause more work  than it is worth and complicates relationships if you have more than one gallery representing your work, and editions have to be split up between them. My recommendation, which is also the same policy with several reputable NY dealers, is to price each size differently, but all of the editions within that one size are the same price. Perhaps the last edition is higher or the AP. This way everyone has the opportunity to sell or purchase the work at the same price, and you avoid angry avid collectors that were “unavailable “ when the work was released or the entitled dealers that want to hold “lower” less expensive editions for an exhibition or art fair, leaving the more expensive editions available to the other disgruntled dealers. Keep it  simple, the art world is hard enough. – Anna Walker Skillman, Gallery Owner at Jackson Fine Art  When I was preparing for my first big portfolio review at  PhotoNOLA, I kept remembering what everyone told me about  portfolio reviews – it takes time for opportunities to happen. Sometimes these opportunities take months, sometimes they  take years, but I made sure not to get my hopes up. Well, sure enough, my first reviewer asked what my edition size was. Then, my second reviewer asked how much my photographs cost at various sizes. Having just come up with my edition sizes, I had half of an answer for her but I had somehow never  actually thought about how much I should sell my images for. Luckily, I connected with a few trusted advisors, and we were able to come up with a pricing plan that made sense for my  work and stage of my career. I decided to make a tiered-price

that increases as the edition sells out and more importantly, a price that would make sense for me financially if or when I do establish a relationship with a gallery. The lesson I learned was that regardless of my preparation collecting my reviewers’ bios, having leave-behinds made, and spending time printing new  photographs, I entirely forgot about the big picture –  sometimes I have to be my own advocate … and gallery rep. – Matthew Conboy, Photographer 

Branding Developing consistent branding across your website, social media, and marketing materials raises your level of professionalism and sends a strong message that you are thoughtful and dedicated about your work. In this field, as in all things in life, the way you present yourself both in person and otherwise impacts whether or not people want to work with you and to what extent.

Logo A simple logo is the easiest and most impactful way to tie your brand together across different platforms. It is not necessary to hire an expensive graphic designer. Often your name in a specific font and color scheme is sufficient to begin a cohesive branding effort. You do not want your logo to overpower your images. Strive for simplicity and consistency. Because of the heavy use of avatars online and in social media (profile pictures and favicons), remember that your logo (or a version of it) will need to fit a square format.

Marketing Materials When you are thinking about the type, look, and feel of marketing materials to create, first consider your work. Is it masculine, feminine, or neutral? Is it simple or intricate? Is it natural, very produced, whimsical, dry, serious, quirky…  ? Just like your logo, your marketing materials should compliment your imagery and have a consistent feel. The first type of marketing material to produce is a business card. Include your name/logo, website, email address, phone number, and twitter handle. Many photographers are using printing companies that allow you to include an image on the back of the card, which is a great way to give a quick sample of your work. There are also companies that give the option to select

several different images to include within one set of cards, so you can create business cards that highlight different projects or different images within a portfolio. When you meet people, you can give a quick glimpse of your portfolio by offering them a choice of cards – a great conversation starter (or continuer) about your work. The next marketing piece to have is a postcard. This can be used as a leavebehind for a portfolio review, as a mailing piece to reach out to collectors and supporters, and as a larger calling card to give away. The most effective postcards are simple, with a single “signature” image on one side and your contact information (name/logo, website, email address, phone number, twitter handle) on the other. Like with business cards, some printing companies let you print a different image on each card. To stand out, you may consider also creating something that is unique or includes a small work sample. When you make a great connection with someone you hope to work with or if you want to submit your work to a gallery, a special piece can leave a great impression and show your professionalism and commitment. Be clever. Be awesome.

Email Address Another way to elevate your brand and professionalism is to have an email address that is specific to your website’s URL. Most website hosting companies include email addresses with your hosting plan. Consider using [email protected] instead of a generic gmail or yahoo address.

Email Newsletters Email newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with your supporters. It is important to use an email marketing company so your emails will comply with all spam regulations. Mad Mimi is my recommendation for its ease of

use and great customer service. (Full disclosure: Mad Mimi was a sponsor of the Crusade for Collecting Tour.) Using a service also lets you manage your email list, save templates, and track how many people open your correspondence. Email newsletter services also have the ability to connect to the “contact” page of your website to allow people to sign up for your newsletters directly from your site. You must also actively collect email addresses from anyone and everyone who expresses interest in your work in order to have a quality list of contacts. Create a template for your newsletters that match the look and feel of your website and the rest of your marketing materials. Use your logo, link to your website as often as possible, and include social media links. Everything you create and share is an extension of your brand. Keep it consistent. You will want to send out an email newsletter when you have important news to share. Communicate upcoming exhibitions, awards or recognition, publications, and new bodies of work. Do not overwhelm your audience with email communication, but send updates often enough to stay on everyone’s radar. An email every few months is appropriate – more if things are really popping for you, less if you do not have any updates to share. I can’t emphasize enough the value of building your network. Anyone who is even obliquely associated with or interested in some aspect of your work (method you used to take the photos, geographic locations where they were taken, themes you explore, etc.) is a potential advocate for you, collector of  your work or both. Don’t forget to meet and engage local curators who produce pop-up exhibitions and events as well as art consultants who may not have a gallery, but handle sales to individuals and corporations privately. Brainstorm who else should know about  your work. Also, don’t jump the gun and try to market a body of  work that is not ‘there’ yet. Make sure you have done all the

preliminary work of having the best edit of your strongest  photos accompanied by your most impactful statement and branding. Your time with this important audience is limited. Make it count. And as always in life, thank people for their time and follow up, follow up, follow up. — Amy Miller, Executive Director of Atlanta Celebrates Photography 

Website Your

website

is

your

hallmark,

and

its

importance

cannot

be

underestimated. Your branding strategy should be carried through (logo, font, colors, general look and feel), and the site should be easy to navigate and work on all devices. Attention spans are short, and the list of places to visit online is long, so make your images and information accessible and inviting. Nothing is better than being able meet someone face-to-face and show real prints, but 99% of people will first learn about you and your work online, so focus your efforts to impress them with your website. First, find a theme or template that is easy to customize and update. There are

countless

companies

that

offer

clean,

sharp

templates

for

photographers at very reasonable prices (Virb and Squarespace are two great choices). Look for these options when deciding what vendor to go through and what theme to use: Selection

of

a

custom

URL

like

www.yourname.com

or

www.nameofyourproject.com Scalable to all devices (smartphones, iPads, different browsers) Ability to change background colors, font colors, and font type Place to upload your own logo Choice of how you want your image portfolios to be viewed (horizontal scroll, vertical scroll, slideshow, click through) Option to include social media links (for people to connect to you) and social media sharing buttons on each page or image (for people to post about you or your image on their social media outlets) Integrated blog so you can control all of your content through the same back-end platform and the blog looks like the rest of your website (as opposed to redirecting to a wordpress or blogspot site) Ability to post audio and video (if applicable to your work) Option to have a “shop” feature if you are interested in selling your

work directly through your website (Big Cartel is also a fantastic site to use to sell your work, and you can link to them from your website.) After selecting a theme that you feel best showcases your work, it is time to start customizing it. Use the same logo, colors, and fonts that you use for your marketing materials. Keep it clean and simple. Busy background wallpaper and complicated navigation distract from the main focus – your photography. Music can be an immediate turn-off and should not be on a fine art photography website. Let the images set the tone.

Website Pages At a minimum, your site should have three pages: Portfolios (can be called Projects, Images, etc.), Bio (About), and Contact. Portfolios Include pages for each of your current or significant bodies of work. Each project should have its own page that includes the project statement and images. Ideally the viewer would be able to enlarge your images, if interested. Be mindful of edit and sequence, and only include your strongest photographs. If your project is very large, edit down to 15-20 images for your website. While it is a common impulse to want to include every body of work you have ever created, think about the perception you are giving to a viewer. Showcase the work you want to be known for and that best highlights the purpose and direction of your photography today. Just because you took some cool photographs on a trip to India ten years ago does not mean they should be included on your website. Only put work that you would want exhibited and that you feel is an accurate representation of you as a photographer. Bio Give your audience a sense of who you are as a person and as a photographer. This page is a great opportunity to let people connect to you

in the absence of meeting you. Include a picture of yourself, but not one where your face is covered by a camera. You do not need to prove you are a photographer. Let people engage with your face. The bio can have a bit of personality and also highlight what your work is about and any significant achievements. As stated earlier in this section, most photographers will have a general artist statement that summarizes the way they make work, the major themes that tie their different bodies of work together, and the way they look at the world. The general artist statement can be combined with the bio on your website to create a few paragraphs that give a high-level overview about you and your work. Contact  The contact page should have all of your relevant contact information – email, phone number, and social media links to connect to you on Twitter, Facebook, and any other platforms you use. This is also the place to have a link to sign up for your email newsletter. Additional Pages Other pages to consider including on your website: Blog Create a blog only if you want to consistently create content for it – a blog with a very outdated post or haphazard content does not reflect positively on you. A blog can be a great way to share your thoughts, new images, links to articles and sites you find interesting – all points of contact for people to connect to you as a person and photographer. CV If you have a significant exhibition history, educational background, and/or awards and honors, you may want to have your CV on your website. Otherwise, you can highlight a few things on your bio page and write “CV available upon request” or decide not to mention it at all. Do

not apologize for not having a gallery-worthy CV. If you hear nothing else, hear this – it’s all in the positioning. A CV is not the end-all, be-all. If you are an emerging artist with a thin resume, spin that in your favor. You are a new discovery! Strong work, ripe for the picking! Awards/Honors/Press Publications If you have a book or other publication to promote, keep it front and center on your site.

Fine Art vs. Commercial Work A lot of fine art photographers also have a commercial photography practice,

whether

that

means

weddings,

portraits,

editorial,

or

photojournalism. Whereas including your fine art work on your commercial site may be advantageous and help you get more clients, having commercial work on your fine art site can be distracting. There is absolutely nothing wrong with working in both areas, and a lot of gallerists appreciate working with photographers who have a commercial background. Websites are so affordable and easy to maintain, that there is no barrier from having two separate sites – one for commercial and one for fine art. Keep your fine art site clean, focused, and sophisticated. I echo all of the above. Do not underestimate the impact your  website will have and never underestimate how annoying a poor site can be. Slow loading (your files are too big/your host  is too slow/your site doesn’t pre-load images) is a drag for the busy photo professional. Do not think you should be entitled to more patience than the next slow website. And, really, no music. Display your images at a good, decent size - nobody is on a dial-up connection any more, and if you’re worried about 

people “stealing” your images, well, that’s a whole other  chapter. If you have no money at all for your web presence, consider  whether you are in the right industry at the right time. With no budget to market yourself, how will you be successful? A small number of special people can make it without spending cash but they are few and far between. Your potential clients want  to feel confident that you are a professional or aspiring professional artist who takes his or her career seriously. Use free platforms for your more frequent updates, if you have them. They are a great way to show more of your personality, so link out from your info page and give viewers a choice as to whether they want to see what you did last week. Blogs are a super way to show what you’re like on a shoot, or how well you scrub

up

for

your

exhibition.

Do

try

to

keep

your 

blog/Tumblr/whatever fresh and reflective of who you are. “Stills don’t move” is in the manifesto of my personal web designer - don’t make me work out where to hover to stop your  images moving. Avoid showing one and a half images at a time in a left/right scroll. Endless scrolling is a drag, and gives no sense of how many images you’re showing. You don’t want  your viewer to crap out half way through a portfolio because she’s overwhelmed and doesn’t know where the end is. Your

target

market

and

personal

preferences

reign

in

categorizing, but don’t make me guess what’s in a portfolio by  calling it an obtuse name. If you are a fine art photographer  your categories might reflect subjects and series. If you’re commercial they might reflect people, places, things. Do make tight edits and try to have a minimal number of different  categories to navigate. Consider hiving off a special project to its own website.

Nothing takes the place of a good edit of images that is simple to navigate in a clean environment. Don’t let the design of the website overwhelm your images. Do get help editing if you can. Please please please please please get an email address that  reflects the URL of your website. It’s easier for us to remember  and makes you look more professional than that AOL account  you’ve had since 1998. Do include it, and your location, and your phone number, on your contact page. Photographers sometimes claim they don’t want marketing calls to their  business numbers - well, go live in a cave then. Do not just  have a contact form, it’s obnoxious. Bio or contact pages definitely benefit from a portrait of you we’re only human and it’s important to make a connection. Don’t miss a chance for me to recognize you later at an event. Include your personal interests in your bio because you never  know when you might be considered for an aerial gig because you skydive, even if you’re a food photographer. – Julie Grahame, Editor and Publisher of acurator.com and Industry Consultant 

Social Media Social media is an extension of your brand and should be used thoughtfully and strategically. With so many platforms to engage with, jumping into a social media practice can feel very overwhelming. And then once you do, it is easy to get sucked into a black hole of posts and links and shares, to the point where you feel trapped inside a news feed instead of out in the world making pictures. Start small and be strategic. Take a close look at the major platforms and decide which one or two make the most sense for you. Try to find a balance where you can have fun with it, but it does not become all-consuming. Also know that every comment and rogue thought is a reflection of you. Be conscious of the image you are putting out to the world, and post accordingly. Other users will be receptive to posts that are engaging and add valuable and interesting content to their lives (photo-relevant articles and features). It is acceptable to humblebrag, but social media is not a place for a hard sell. Think less “look at me!” and more “I love being part of this community”.

Facebook For all of its imperfections and constant rule changes, Facebook remains the baseline social media platform. Chances are, your grandparents are even on Facebook now. So in terms of reach, it may give you the biggest impact and easiest way to share updates and images. As with all social media, remember that your name is your brand. Be conscientious about the content you post. If you post polarizing content, you may turn people off to you and your work. With Facebook you can set up a fan page for your photography and keep your personal page for close family and friends. However, the latest Facebook algorithms (as of the date of this publication) do not show posts from fan or business pages in news feeds as

often as posts from personal pages. This is Facebook’s way to encourage businesses to pay for advertising on the site. If you choose to open your personal page to the greater photography community, a good way to start is by staging a “charm offensive”, where you seek out interesting and influential people in the photographic community and send them a friend request. If these people accept, then you can begin making slow inroads by liking posts, sharing relevant links, and making appropriate comments. No one likes a stalker, so going through all of someone’s personal photos and liking every third one warrants a swift “unfriend”. Facebook is a great place to post a new image, share industry-related articles, and join photography forums. The forums or Facebook Groups let you ask questions to other artists who are usually happy to share advice and experiences.

Twitter You can believe the hype – Twitter is a very nimble and efficient platform. But it is also a bit overwhelming for light social media users, which means Facebook may give you a broader audience. However, when all of the chips fall, Twitter very well may be the last platform standing, so it is a good idea to at least dip your toe in that water. In the positive column for usability, Twitter allows you to digest a lot of great content

very

quickly

and

easily.

You

can

also

create

lists

of

people/organizations to follow, which will give you the type of content you are looking for without getting distracted by images of your neighbor’s kitten or the political rant from that person you sort of remember from middle school. Examples of lists could be “photography” (where you add only the twitter profiles that tweet about photography-related things), “news” (local and national news outlets), etc. The options are limitless, and you create your own lists and list categories.

Another positive for Twitter is the ability to make your tweet automatically post to Facebook. Social media specialists will tell you to post different content through all of your social media channels, but you have to decide how deep you want to dive into the social media abyss. A casual user of Twitter may find building an audience on that particular platform challenging. Businesses and organizations tend to add followers quickly and consistently, whereas everyday, individual users have a more difficult time getting traction. As a photographer, it may be most beneficial to think of Twitter as a resource for interesting content (that you can then post on Facebook or wherever your audience is most robust). Twitter is mostly a learn-as-you-go tool, but there are a few things to know to start. First, every tweet has a 140-character limit. There is a character counter below the box where you compose your tweet (your message), and you will spend a lot of time thinking of ways to slim down your brilliant and witty tweet without losing its perfect tone. It’s an art. Second, the retweet (RT) is almighty. This means you take a tweet that someone else wrote and send it out to your audience. It is a good way to give a virtual pat on the back to someone and to bolster your feed with content that is not always self-involved. There are many experts with many different suggested ratios on number of tweets about yourself to number of tweets not about your self – a good rule to follow is 1:5, so one about you to five not about you. There are two ways to retweet: you can retweet to your followers where the original tweet appears in their feed from the original source (this action will not also post the retweet to Facebook), and you can edit the retweet, which puts RT (for retweet) in front of the original source’s twitter name, then their tweet. The second will post to Facebook, and it also gives you an opportunity to make your own comment about the message in front of the RT (as long as the end result is under 140 characters). And finally, do not begin a tweet with @. In other words, even if you are trying to “talk” to someone, do not begin the tweet with that person’s twitter

ID. If you do, the message will only be read by people who follow both you and the person you are tweeting at. For example, instead of writing, “@Crusade4art, when are you coming back to Portland?,” write, “Hey @Crusade4art, when are you coming back to Portland?”. Now that you are totally confused, it is as good a time as any to mention hashtags (#). Hashtags allow you to put a keyword or category on your tweet. People search for certain hashtags, so if you post a tweet and at the end include “#photography”, people trolling twitter looking for photography posts will see yours, which may result in added followers.

Hootsuite Hootsuite is not a social media platform. It is a social media organizer. The service is free and can be accessed on a computer, iPad, or iPhone. Through this single interface, you can create “streams”, which are feeds that you create. For example, you can have a stream for each twitter list you have created, as well as a stream that shows tweets from everyone you follow. You can have a stream for your Facebook feed, and a stream for Twitter “mentions” (every time your ID is mentioned in someone else’s tweet – important to keep track of, so you can respond and continue the dialog). Hootsuite also allows you to schedule posts to Twitter and Facebook, so it can appear like you are constantly pushing out content, even when you are nowhere near a computer.

Other Social Media Platforms There are an endless number of social media outlets with more popping up every day. If you feel adventurous and want to explore Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, Pinterest, Flickr, LinkedIn, or anything else – go for it. Each of them have distinctive qualities and features that can help you expand your audience. But it is easy to get overwhelmed and to spend so much time “connecting” that you have no time left for your art practice, or your life.

This publication focuses on Facebook and Twitter, because they are the most universally adopted and a good way to launch your social media presence. Instagram has been adding new features and is very popular, so it may be a good idea to explore that platform as well. It also has the advantage of being all about images (and it’s fun). Start slowly, manage your time wisely (this is where Hootsuite can help), and have fun with it. Using social media to promote your artwork and connect to industry people can be a very rewarding effort, but it can also be a stressful time suck. Set aside a little bit of time each day  to post updates and check in with the photography community, but if you take a few days off or even a few weeks, it is not the end of the world (or your career). You do not need to dive into every social media platform at  once, or even at all. Just do what you find fun and rewarding. Be kind and courteous, and always be professional. You never  know who is reading. – David Bram, Editor of Fraction Magazine

PART III

Identifying Goals and a Plan for Your Work Choose your own adventure. Everyone has a different definition of success. One photographer may not be satisfied until their retrospective exhibition at MOMA, and another may find getting attention for a project online exceeds their expectations for their work. It is important to think about the arc of your photography career, whether it is your primary focus or an enjoyable side interest. You must determine what you aspire to achieve with your work. If you said you were exactly where you wanted to be with your photography, what would that look like? Time and money are precious resources. You want to spend them wisely. Think about what you would ideally like to see happen with your work, and then come up with specific steps and a timeline to reach them. Do you want exhibitions? Publication? Gallery representation? Do you want to show your work online? Do you want to sell your work online? Every artist has a unique path. Every body of work has a unique path. The path is determined both by your vision/goals for your work and the target audience for the photography. Who is most likely to appreciate your images? How can you best reach this person? What are your obstacles to connecting with this audience?

Exhibition: Non-Commercial Venues Not all work is easily saleable. While the plastic bag typology you have created with all of your heart and soul speaks to you on every level, a lot of commercial galleries may find the images hard to sell to collectors. That is not to say there is not an audience for this work – that audience just may not be best reached through a commercial gallery. The same holds true for most subjects. And it may also be the case that your photography is not at the level – technical, sophistication, subject – that commercial galleries are seeking. Again, that does not mean there are not people who would really connect to your images and want to become collectors of your work. It just means the gallery system may not be the best fit for you right now. Be honest with yourself and try to look at your work with some perspective. If you feel that your work is a bit more challenging or less commercial than most galleries would be interested in exhibiting, your best bet may be to seek out non-commercial venues. Typical non-commercial venues include non-profit galleries or photography centers, museums, and university galleries. Depending on your subject, you may find a great fit at a non-profit organization building or university department building where the art would resonate with the people who regularly walk the halls. Again, think about the person who would most respond to your work. Does your art have an environmental theme? Is it feminine? Issue-oriented? Then think about an organization or non-profit in your community whose membership would respond to your work and consider partnering up to hold an event, exhibition, or fundraiser. For example, if your work deals with the landscape of a certain geographical area, partner up with a conservation group to hold a fundraiser that features your work. You could offer to raffle a photograph and give a percentage of sales to the group. The organization will work with you to plan the event and get their membership to attend, giving you the opportunity to get your work in front of a roomful of your target collectors. The goodwill you will generate will build loyalty and the altruism will generate sales.

Examples of groups to partner with, depending on the type of work you make, include: conservation groups (environmental), Junior League/women’s business organizations (feminine), garden club/botanical garden/nature center (nature photography), children’s non-profit/PTA (family themes), medical charity or cause (figure work). There is a way to connect most bodies of work to a group of target collectors, it is just a matter of working out the most effective, creative, and meaningful angle. In my work, I explore issues of gender, sexuality, identity, and community through intimate, direct portraits of myself and others. Portraits can be a hard-sell in general, and even more so when they deal with issues that are complicated or  controversial. I often work within queer and transgender  communities, and my portraits question assumptions that are often taken for granted as truths. In other words, my images are not decorative. For work that attempts to present complex ideas or challenge the status quo, it can be challenging to find the right exhibition venues and the right audience. Galleries definitely look for  different things than museums, though I have been lucky  enough to work with galleries who place the integrity of the work above its marketability. I have always felt that it is important for my work to exist both within and outside of the fine art world, encouraging conversations about the subject  matter while also being a part of the greater dialogue surrounding portraiture, photography, and representation. Exhibiting in university galleries enables me to engage with students and members of the local community in a way that is exciting, and I have lectured to a wide variety of classes, ranging from photography to women and gender studies, as well as to LGBTQ groups around the country. Similarly, museum exhibitions offer the potential to push the envelope in regards to expectations about both art-making and

identity. This past summer I had the chance to exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art, and my photograph Dallas from my  series Transcendence was hung in a gallery of classical portrait  paintings from the 1500s. On one side of my photograph was a painting entitled “portrait of a man” and on the other was a painting

entitled

“portrait

of

a

woman.”

The

curators

intentionally hung my photograph in between these two, questioning the assumptions we make about the binary gender  system while also linking my photograph, which is very  contemporary in its subject matter, to classical traditions of  portraiture, which it employs heavily. Last year, I had a solo exhibition of Transcendence, a collection of portraits of people within the transgender and gender  variant community along the female-to-male spectrum, at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA. One morning, I was sitting in the gallery (and it is important to note here that the exhibition did not include any of my self-portraits, rendering me unrecognizable), and a father and his young son came in to view the show. The boy must have been about eight  years old, and his father walked him from portrait to portrait, engaging his son in an exciting conversation about gender and identity and explaining that everyone in the images had been born female-bodied, despite their male presentation. The boy  paused in front of one of my portraits and excitedly said to his dad, “this one’s a girl!” His father asked, “how do you know?” and the boy replied, “because he’s wearing fingernail polish!” I was very touched to witness this moment and was moved that  the father chose to bring his son to my exhibit. It is in moments like these when I am reminded of the power of photography to affect real social change, and of the importance of the institutions, galleries, and individuals that support its creation, exhibition, and preservation.

– Jess Dugan, Photographer 

Exhibition: Commercial Venues If your photography has commercial appeal, there may be exhibition opportunities at commercial galleries. The galleries will expect your images to look impeccable and your presentation to be professional. Cheap frames are unacceptable and do nothing to elevate your work or your brand. Cutting corners may save money in the short term, but artists who prepare for longterm success are more likely to achieve it. That said, any exhibition is an expensive proposition. In most cases, the photographer is responsible for the expense of printing, framing, and shipping in one or both directions. The standard commission split for a gallery is 50%. This means the photographer will receive half of the sale price (plus the total cost for the frame, if the work is sold framed), and the gallery will receive the other half. Before sending any work to a gallery or exhibition venue, make sure to have a consignment agreement contract that details each image they will have possession of, for how long, the terms of the commission split, the percentage discount the gallery is authorized to offer a collector or designer (if different), and the payment schedule for sold pieces. It is your responsibility to protect your work, and you must take that responsibility seriously.

Gallery Representation Most galleries exhibit work both from artists they do represent and artists they do not represent. Often a gallery will include an artist in a group show to get a sense of how that work resonates with the gallery’s collectors and determine if the photographer would be a good fit to represent. Gallery representation means the gallery makes a bigger commitment to exhibit and sell a photographer’s work. Most galleries do not require a photographer to be exclusively represented by them, but they may ask the artist to be exclusive within a certain geographic area and definitely within the city or metro area where the gallery is located. Most representation agreements are informal and not written. Before you agree to be represented by a gallery, ask the following questions: Is there a trial period where we each determine if this is a good fit? How often are you committing to exhibit my work? Will you take my work to art fairs, and if so, which ones? Do you require me to be represented by you exclusively within a certain area? Do you require all sales to go through the gallery? (Once you are represented by a gallery, it may not be appropriate for you to make direct sales – meaning sales where the collector buys straight from you, and you do not pay a commission to a gallery.) How soon after a sale is made should I expect payment? Do you offer a discount to designers or collectors, and if so, what percentage? Would we split the discounted commission or does the discount come out of your commission percentage? How much of my inventory (framed pieces and prints) would you like to keep at the gallery? The first thing I tell artists before they set out to look for gallery  representation is to do their homework – do the research. You MUST learn about the gallery you are approaching and be sure

your work is appropriate. Most of the approachable galleries are usually small businesses that take a lot of time, effort, and energy to run. Please make sure you will not be wasting the gallery’s time. The artist-gallery relationship should be honest, professional, and respectful on both sides. An easy and symbiotic personal “click” is also essential. Because representation means working together more closely and developing a partnership, a personality fit is important. – Dina Mitrani, Owner/Director at Dina Mitrani Gallery 

Creating a List of Targets If you are interested in gallery representation, the first step is to create a list of galleries you feel would be a good fit for your work. Take into consideration the other artists they represent (if a gallery only shows blue chip work and you are an unknown, this is most likely not a fit). Get a sense for the aesthetic of the gallery and the types of exhibitions shown there. Think about the location of the gallery and whether or not you think your work will play well in that market. Once you have your list together, start gathering contact information and submission policies for each gallery. An introduction by another artist, gallerist, collector, or industry person is an ideal way to first reach out to a gallery you are interested in aligning yourself with. Galleries receive a lot of blind submissions, and a recommendation from someone they have a relationship with goes a long way in making your work stand out. Add a column to your targets list where you can write down any and all connections you have to the gallery director or owner. Also be on the lookout for portfolio reviews your target may be attending and exhibitions or competitions he or she may be jurying.

How to Submit to a Gallery Maybe it is best to start with how not  to submit to a gallery. If you place an unmarked disc in a cardboard mailer, and it spills out of the envelope onto the gallerist’s desk, you will definitely make an impression, but probably not the one you want. If you walk into a gallery without an appointment and ask someone to look at the large portfolio you have under your arm, you are not respecting the gallery’s time or submission process. So if these fall into the category of how not to submit, what is going to make your submission stand out in a good way? Like everything else, think backwards. What is the end result you are looking for? You want the gallery to be impressed with your work and want to feature it in a show or, better yet, represent you. So answer this – with all of the amazing photography out there, would a gallery want to work with someone who is professional, thoughtful, and organized, or someone who “sharpies” contact information on a CD and throws it into a cardboard mailer? Galleries

are

looking

for

great

working

relationships

with

their

photographers. They are also looking for people who live and breathe their work. They want you to want it, and they want you to sell it to them. That’s the only way they can sell you to someone else. Be thoughtful. Put together a package that will impress them with its presentation as much as its content. Follow the submission guidelines, and include a printed letter, artist statement, and bio (possibly even a small print), so the gallery can get a sense of you and your work before ever putting a disc into the computer. Or just a great logo (that fits the character of the work), intro letter, a branded CD envelope, and a postcard with your signature image on it will give a solid vibe of the work and begin with the great impression that you are a professional, committed artist. If your website is up to date and includes the work you wish to present, a packet without a disc and a link to your website may suffice.

It is worth doing research to find out who at the gallery reviews artist submissions. The assistant director may be more likely to take the time to look at your work than a gallery director or owner, in which case, you would want to address your submission accordingly. As for follow-up, touching base two weeks to a month later by email to see if the gallery has had a chance to review the work you sent is appropriate. If you met with the gallery in person either at a portfolio review or in the physical space (always preferred, always more impactful and memorable), a hand-written thank you note right after the meeting is appreciated and shows you respect the person’s time and insight. After the initial contact, many photographers add the gallery to their newsletter mailing list, which is a good way to keep people abreast of new things that are happening with your work. One photographer sends a beautiful card with a small print inside (her latest, typically) every 4-6 months to touch base. It is thoughtful, professional, and shows she is committed to her work. Now that’s how to submit to a gallery. I

know

that

many

galleries

appear

to

shut

out

the

photographer population because time – for everybody – is a precious commodity. But speaking personally, I am extremely  busy some weeks and less so some others. The social piece of  my business can be a bit draining, and I do not always have time to meet with photographers. The best practice would be a polite request, via email, for a meeting along with a link to a website. This will allow me to have a look and basically  consider if it is worth each of our time to get together. Swinging through town and dropping me a note to see what  my schedule looks like might work, or it might not, but if I have the free time, I am usually happy to meet for twenty minutes at  my place. I do see looking at work as an opportunity for both of  us. I file away ideas all the time. Even when I say that I like the work but cannot offer anything right now, there is always the

possibility that I will be able to exhibit or promote that work  somewhere down the road. I recently juried a museum exhibition where something like twelve photographers were selected from near a hundred portfolios. As the museum was at a considerable distance, I did the work of selecting images from online submissions. JPGs are fine for conveying ideas, and I fairly easily pooled together all the work that spoke to me on an intellectual or aesthetic level. But when I had to narrow the work down to final selections, the tie-breaker for me was often that I had seen the actual prints from several of these photographers. Because I had met these artists at reviews or in personal meetings, I knew them a little too and liked some of them quite a lot but ultimately working on a museum exhibition is an opportunity for me as well. So, I felt a little pressure to deliver amazing actual work. It became a matter of trust more than politics. I knew what I was getting from some artists and so could feel more confident about  getting behind their work. Then I tried to do my homework on the rest of the artists who were unfamiliar to me and so probably leaned a little harder towards those with a more established exhibition history. The flaw in that system is that I also very much liked some work by less established artists whose quality of craft was probably very high. But it is difficult  to take that leap of faith when your own reputation is involved. The moral of the story is that if you are not rocking the art  world already, then it really pays to get your amazing work  physically in front of gallerists somehow. Works in progress are a bit sketchier for me. I also happen to have taught  photography at Virginia Commonwealth University and so I am nerdy enough to enjoy that conversation too. This is one reason I like the portfolio reviews as those brief meetings allow me to riff on ideas and direction in ways that hopefully will offer 

something to the artists. But in my day-to-day world, I just  don’t have time enough at my disposal to be that generous usually. So, please wait until you are just about sitting perfectly  with your very polished project and then I will be happy to discuss it over a coffee. On the right day. — Gordon Stettinius, Founder of Candela Books + Gallery 

Exhibition proposal Once you have printed and framed a show for one venue (and occasionally if you have not done so already but wish to get exhibition opportunities), you can create an exhibition proposal to send to other potential venues. The exhibition proposal lets the gallery or non-commercial space know about your work and gives them all of the information they would need to know if they decided to show it. The following information should be included in the exhibition proposal: Intro Page Include the project/exhibition title, your name, signature image, and a sentence or two that describes your exhibition goals. For example: “Jeff Rich’s compelling photographic series, Watershed: A Survey of The French Broad River Basin, has received critical acclaim and the 2010 Critical Mass Book Award. The monograph was released in early 2012, and we are currently seeking venues to continue to tour the exhibition of these stunning photographs in 2013 and beyond.” Artist/project statement Exhibition Details This section gives the potential hosting institution or gallery all of the logistical information it will need to determine if the show is a good fit for its space. Be sure to include the following information: the number of images included in the exhibition and their sizes how the photographs are printed (archival pigment prints, silver gelatin prints, etc.) how the photographs are framed (matted with white frames and plexiglass, face-mounted to plexiglass with a

cleat for hanging, etc.) an installation image how the images will be shipped (in two crates, in five small boxes, etc.) prices and edition sizes for each print size offered what expenses the venue will be responsible for covering and what expenses the artist will be responsible for covering (shipping in one direction, promotional materials for the exhibition, etc.) any additional programming opportunities you can offer (artist talk, book signing, workshop, etc.) Thumbnails Create a list of all images in the exhibition with their title and size. Bio and CV (CV optional) Contact Page I think it’s important to research the venue that you’re submitting to and follow their guidelines for proposals. Some galleries or photo organizations have these guidelines listed on their websites. If not, you may send an email to inquire about  their procedure for reviewing work. You should also look at their exhibition history to see if you think your work is a good fit and understand their mission. Many artists have several different versions of their artist  statements and proposal packages depending on the show, grant, award or contest they are applying for. It’s good to organize and save these in separate folders on your computer  so that you may quickly find the appropriate information when you are submitting to something new, and adjust the package accordingly. I believe having a CD/DVD with at least 20 images

of the project and a link on your website with the imagery is important with an exhibition proposal. I highly recommend participating in the numerous portfolio reviews that are offered around the country so that you may  network and share your work with as many people as possible. Also keep in mind that after you introduce yourself and your  work to the photo community you need to stay visible over the years and update people about your latest work and accomplishments. Timing plays a very important role in gallery  and museum programming and you want directors and curators to remember you when they have a new project or  opportunity that may be a good fit for your work. Try to be flexible and patient when seeking opportunities and exhibitions. Good news may come when you least expect it. Also remember that your art should be seen as a business and taking a course in the business of photography will help you strategize, market, and plan accordingly. –

Ann

Pallesen,

Northwest 

Gallery

Director,

Photographic

Center 

Calls for Entry A great way to begin getting your work out in the world and into exhibitions is to submit to curated group shows. A gallery or photography center will announce a call for entries, usually with a theme and a guest curator, where any photographer (typically for a fee) can submit one or more images for consideration. Selected images will be part of an exhibition at that venue, and often a grand prize winner will be chosen and receive an additional reward (money, additional exhibition opportunity, etc.). Because money spent on submission fees, printing, framing, and shipping pieces to be included in group exhibitions can quickly add up (as well as time spent applying and preparing work), it is very important to be strategic about which calls for entry you submit to. Some galleries and photography centers use calls for submissions as their business model, creating significant revenue through submission fees. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as the venue that will be exhibiting the work is professional with good exposure to potential new collectors. Make sure the opportunity is worth the expense and effort. Getting your work in front of a juror you want exposure to is another good reason to submit to a juried group exhibition. Consider whether or not the uror enjoys your aesthetic and if you would benefit from that person being aware of you and your photography. Also know that the photographer’s names are often not visible to the juror in order to ensure a fair jurying process, so if your image does not get selected, that juror may not put your name together with your photography. Calls for entry remove many of the barriers in the art world. Many call for entry exhibitions will be juried by veterans of the art world who are interested in discovering new talent for  exhibitions, publications, or collections. Jurors generally make their selections without knowing other information about the artists, allowing them to select images based on merit rather 

than name recognition or resume. Because only one or two images per artist will be selected, group shows are ideal for  emerging photographers who are still building their exhibition histories or who are looking to test unfinished projects. Even if not chosen for exhibition, the process of researching the  juror and selecting works to submit is a valuable experience. The best calls for entry have the gallery’s director review all submitted images. Though a particular image may not have fit  with the juror’s vision of the exhibition, the gallery director may  find opportunities for the artist in the future. While calls for entry are an effective way to build an exhibition history, artists should be prepared to meet the gallery’s expectations of professionalism regardless of whether it is their  first or fiftieth exhibition. Print quality, framing, and the ability  to meet deadlines for shipping and supporting materials are of  utmost importance. – Kat Kiernan, Owner/Director of The Kiernan Gallery and Editor-in-Chief of Don’t Take Pictures Magazine

Contests Some print publications put on contests, and the winners get their image(s) published in the magazine. Depending on the cost to submit and the readership, entering these contests can be valuable and good CV builders. Many popular photography blogs (see Appendix A) list photography contests and deadlines. Other websites such as www.photocontestinsider.com and www.thephotocontestdirectory.com are good resources. One specific annual contest is worth noting, because of the exposure opportunity for photographers: Critical Mass, put on by Photolucida in Portland. It is a fantastic way for photographers to get important eyes on their work. Photographers submit a portfolio of ten images along with an artist statement, and these submissions get culled down to 200 finalists. If you make the finalist list, your work will be viewed, rated and critiqued by over 200 industry heavy-weights, from curators to gallerists to publishers. Whether or not you make the next cut (the Top 50) or win one of the prizes (book award, exhibition award), the exposure a photographer receives from being a finalist is invaluable. Many photographers have been approached for book deals, exhibitions, and representation from being viewed on Critical Mass. Participation in contests and reviews have been paramount to my exposure and growth over the past year. Contests like that  of Photolucida and CENTER reach such a broad audience that  opportunity can arise from anywhere. Your work can travel around the world and back for less than the price of a plane ticket. It’s like flying first class without the hot towel and mini bar. – Brandon Thibodeaux, Photographer and 2013 Critical Mass Solo Show Award recipient and 2 nd  Place 2013 CENTER Gallerist Choice Award

Online Venues Countless photography blogs and online publications exist and continue to pop up daily. Having your work featured online is a fantastic way to get exposure and connect with audiences outside of one specific geographic area at little to no cost. But be warned that not all online outlets are equal. Some are highly selective about whom they show and others feature a very wide range of styles and talent. Many of the most well-respected sites are very selective, and they are also not interested in showing work that has already “made the rounds” online. Like with the galleries, create a list of sites that would be ideal fits for your work. Take into consideration the audience size, opportunities other photographers have gotten as a result of showing there, reputation, length of time in existence, aesthetic, and prestige. As

Jennifer

writes

above,

there

is

a

tight-knit

online

photography community that is a wonderful resource for  photographers, particularly emerging ones. I am very grateful to this community for their support especially during the early  stages of my career. But, it’s important to keep in mind that photography blogs are not the only media that publishes fine art photography. Furthermore, many collectors do not even follow photography  blogs and instead find out about artists through other media, exhibitions, and word of mouth. There are also a large number  of people who love art but don’t consider themselves collectors. They may occasionally buy art, but they don’t  frequent galleries. Receiving press in diverse electronic and print publications enabled me to connect with these people as well as first-time art buyers. I strongly encourage artists to pursue other avenues for publicity beyond the photography  blogosphere.

It won’t be easy at first to generate attention for your work, but  don’t give up. Clich é but true. I have submitted my work widely  to editors, juried shows, and grants and I have received countless rejections along the way. It’s hard to weather these rejections when they relate to work that comes from a deeply  personal place. But, the truth is that rejection is a way of life for  artists. If you want to have a long art career, you have to make peace with this reality. Persistence does pay off though. For example: in October 2011, I contacted The NY Times Lens blog about featuring my work. James Estrin was extremely kind and encouraging, but passed because Lens had recently featured a few animal-related projects. I was admittedly bummed, but then I decided to try  other departments at The Times. I contacted the editors of The New Old Age blog, which focuses on aging and caregiving. They forwarded my query to the Well blog, which fortunately  featured my work. The article made the top 10 most e-mailed stories on The Times web site for 2 days. That level of visibility  opened several doors for me and led to many print sales. – Isa Leshko, Photographer 

Selling Your Work Online With the ease of setting up a shop on a website or using a service like Big Cartel, many photographers are choosing to sell their photography through their websites. If you have a significant audience online (people who follow you and are fans of your work), selling your work online may be very profitable. However, many galleries do not like their artists to sell work online. This may be because they feel it will compete with the gallery’s sales of your work, and/or because they feel it looks unprofessional and may “cheapen” the work. Either way, if you are represented by a gallery, checking the gallery’s temperature on the topic before you begin selling online is imperative. If you are actively seeking gallery representation, it may hurt your chances of success in that area if you sell your work privately through your website. If you are in talks with a gallery that does not support its artists selling their own work online, you may want to be cautious when considering this. In general, you should weigh the likely financial success of selling your work on your website (having an actual shopping cart feature) versus just having contact information listed for sales inquiries (either your own if you are unrepresented or your gallery’s if you are). Posting contact information for sales inquiries is not considered a conflict for galleries looking to add artists. With regards to self representation and online sales of your  work, I have to preface this by saying that the business of Fine Art Photography has undergone a huge change over the last  few years on so many levels that it is difficult to give any  lasting advice in this area. I’d also like to say that anyone setting up a website and expecting the world to beat a path to your URL with money in hand, is just pathetically mistaken. It  takes years to establish yourself online just as in real life and either way, you have your work cut out for you.

That said, I think it is also safe to say that like the music business, the playing field has been substantially leveled with regard to dealing and disseminating your work due to the online world. The fine art photography world is tough, and most will never get the chance at a brick and mortar gallery, let  alone make a living from their work. The difference now is they  can still easily have their work seen and in some cases even sold around the world online. Now, this is not to say that there aren’t profitable and reputable galleries out there or collectors willing to support  them. The good ones with experience and a history of success are still very beneficial in affording credibility and the occasional sale of your work. You will be very lucky if you are able to obtain representation from them. However, success in that world is no less difficult than becoming a rock star. It is not  often, especially these days when photographic hopefuls are so plenty, where a dealer takes you under his or her wing and develops your career. For those who are interested in selling work outside of a gallery  setting, I won’t say that there are not drawbacks to selfpromotion, and yes, there are galleries that will not deal with you if you are competing with them. That is something you’ll have to weigh on your own. I’ll tell you that personally, after  many years dealing with galleries, it is my opinion that life is too short to put your career in someone else’s hands. Although I’ve had some great representation and am very thankful to several over my career, I’ve also had some very bad experiences and would caution other photographers to be very  careful about who you choose to work with. Over the past 10 or more years of primarily self-representation, I have enjoyed holding the reins of my career. And I have not  had to share fifty percent of my sales with galleries taking their 

time in paying me my half. My work has been collected from every corner of the world and I can safely say that none of my  representatives gave me that reach. Has this cheapened my  work? Maybe to some, but I don’t think so. I sell more now  than I ever did, and it honestly doesn’t concern me what people might think. Only time with tell. All I want to be is a working artist that can do his best to support a family and pay the bills. Now, through the Internet, I’ve been able to realize that to a degree I would never have thought possible at the beginning of  my career. Rather than waiting for a following to find me, I’ve gone out and found those that are interested in what I do. Still, it is very hard and getting harder all the time. If you are going to have any success, it is up to you to get your work out  there and for many, this will be very difficult. You have to be your own best advocate and shed any reservation you have about shameless self-promotion. By building a following and keeping those interested in your work informed, you can succeed in growing interest and sales of your work. You want  to develop a relationship with those that buy your work and continue to feed and nurture it. Some of my collectors have become wonderful friends, and I value the interaction with them – something I rarely had through my galleries. Nothing feels better than interacting with people who love and hang your work in their living and work spaces. They don’t own them because they are investments, they own them because they  love them and for me, as someone who creates the things they  cherish, it is extremely rewarding. – Bill Schwab, Photographer and Publisher at North Light Press

Publication An extremely popular goal for contemporary photographers is to have a book of their work published. A lot of photographers will say they “just see the work as a book”. A book is a tangible, long-lasting legacy and definitely a goal worth working towards. However, offers of publication where all expenses are paid are rare. One strategy many publishers take is to offer a publication opportunity to promising book projects with a condition known as a subvention. This is money the photographer must secure in order to see the project through to completion. The subvention can range from $10,000 to $35,000 or more. This is not to say that publishers are trying to make a profit at the expense of photographers. Publishers have to compare the production costs to the projected sales of the book. Photography books have relatively small print runs (and many times even lesser sales) and high-quality production, which makes publication costly and supplementary funding necessary. Provisions given by the publisher to wholesalers, Amazon, and reps, to name a few, can also reduce profits from sales and impact the economic viability of the project. This type of deal requires serious consideration of pros and cons. What will this book give you that you would not be able to achieve otherwise? Is there any reasonable way to recoup your investment? Do you have any alternative funding opportunities (grants, portfolio sales, patrons, crowd-sourced funding)? If you spent the same amount of money to dedicate yourself fully to your photographic process, what would the result be, and how would it compare to publication? A similar investment could also allow you to self-publish a book (through a reputable printer in a sizable print run). In this scenario, you have complete control over the design and publishing choices and receive all of the profits from sales. However, an individual artist cannot sign on with a distribution partner to put the books in major bookstores, which is a huge disadvantage

in terms of sales opportunities. Self-publishing also does not have the same clout as having your book published by a publisher with a reputation for creating high-quality publications and working with talented artists.

Book Proposal If you are looking for a publisher to publish your monograph, a practical first step is to create a book proposal and a mock-up or maquette. Much like an exhibition proposal, a book proposal gives publishers specific information they need to determine whether or not they are interested in your work. The proposal is the sales collateral you use to convince a publisher that taking on your book project is a good idea. Appearance always counts, so be creative in your presentation and create a high-quality finished product. Book proposals should include the following information: Title Page Include your name, contact info, and working book title (you may want to lay this out the way you envision your book title page to look). Project Overview Write a paragraph or two that describes your project and goals for publication and summarizes: what the book is about, the target audience for the book, and why there is a compelling need for the book to be published. Book Description Go into more detail about the vision for the book (type of printing, number of images, size, orientation, text with potential writers, etc.)

Audience This is bottom-line talk for a publisher and must be carefully considered. Who will buy this book and why? Include specific, thoughtful information like statistics, if possible. Very general target groups such as “people interested in photography” is obvious and superfluous. If you are going to address this point in your proposal, make sure you have a solid target audience. Completion and Delivery Give the current status of the project (completed with files print-ready, final phase of shooting still to be completed, etc.). Competition This section can be tricky, because you need to list relevant competitive titles while also explaining that your book has something more to offer than the other similar books in the marketplace. Stating that nothing similar has ever been printed raises a red flag, because a publisher may assume there is no audience for your topic. Instead, use some subtlety to distinguish your titles from others. Qualifications State why you are uniquely qualified to create this photobook. This is the place to highlight your social media prowess (i.e., number of people who are interested in what you do and say), your access to publicity opportunities, and your ability to market and sell the book. Also include a short bio and CV (if the CV will add credibility to you). Book Organization Create a sample Table of Contents to demonstrate the components of the book and how they will flow together. Sample Content

Include image thumbnails with titles and any other ephemera you want to be part of the finished product. Since I don’t have a lot of time at my hands, I appreciate short  proposals that contain a PDF with a valid image selection (between 20 and 50 images) and ideally a sequencing that  makes sense at this point in time. Finished works and works in progress are equally welcome. A short statement about the sender and his/her career to date helps a lot too. That is all I need to get me interested in a project – or not. It is then up to me to do some quick research on the web and to get back to the photographer with further  questions. It is also a sign of politeness if the sender takes time and researches the name of the person who will most likely  take a look at the work and looks into the publisher’s guidelines for submissions. Many times people write me and ask how I prefer to get their proposal, which is certainly well-meant but  takes up my time because it involves writing an additional message before I have seen anything at all. People in the publishing business are usually so busy that they will truly  appreciate not having to guide people through the process of  submitting a project. (Given they have a guideline on their  website, of course.) In short, submissions that don’t contain a personalized address of some kind, that just provide a link to a website or a bunch of  random jpegs which one shall browse like a rummage table, are not so welcome. If you believe in your work and your  project, make sure to present it in a way that is thoughtful and professional. — Alexa Becker, Acquisitions Editor at Kehrer Verlag

Maquette Creating a mock-up or maquette of your proposed book allows publishers to get a feel for the images and their flow. Edit and sequence need to be spoton, so seeking outside help is strongly advised. You can present the maquette as a book you have printed and bound, a print-on-demand book (using a service like Blurb or Magcloud), or a higher-end print-on-demand product (Edition One Books allows you to select papers and cover materials, creating a significantly upgraded product). There is a contingent of collectors who collect book maquettes, so do not take it lightly. If your book gets published and takes off, the maquette(s) you created can become valuable. From early on in the creation of my project titled “May the Road Rise to Meet You”, I knew I wanted it to be a photobook. The project tells the story of a salesman’s journey, so the narrative format of a book was the perfect way to present the work to new audiences. It’s important that every image makes sense in the sequence and builds the story. I found it helpful to make small 3x5 inch prints of all my favorite images so that it  was easy for me and the amazing people that were kind enough to offer their editing advice to lay them out on a table and swap images. Once the pieces of the puzzle made sense, I taped them to create an accordion-style maquette. Then, I printed a version of the book to scale on double-sided paper to get an even better idea of what that final book would feel like. My ultimate goal was to publish “May the Road Rise to Meet  You” with a photobook publisher as a trade edition. With so many great print-on-demand companies available, it made sense to create a maquette so that I could approach publishers with a finished product that would convey my vision for the book. I used grant money from the SVA Alumni Society to create an edition of 25 numbered and signed, linen-bound hardcover books. I used them for meetings, sent them out for 

book awards, and presented them at portfolio reviews. At  Fotofest, a copy was acquired by the Harry Randsom Center. Using my 25 copies as promotional tools as opposed to selling them led to exhibition opportunities through the Indie Photobook Library, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the New  York Photo Awards. About 18 months after I made the selfproduced edition, Taj Forer from Daylight Books saw my book  while on the jury panel for the CDS/Honickman Book Prize. A few weeks later, I got an email from him asking me to publish my book with Daylight. Working with Taj, Michael Itkoff, and their designer Ursula Damm was a dream. Because the maquette version I made was such a finished and fully-realized presentation of the project, we kept it mostly intact in the trade edition with a slightly tighter edit and with the addition of far superior design elements, like blow-in pages on different paper stock to appear  as inserts and using a faux-leather cover to give the whole book the same sense of nostalgia as the project itself. The process of creating the maquette helped me realize exactly  what kind of book I wanted to make and how best to present a visual narrative that made sense for a book format. Presenting my work to a publisher with an example of what the finished product could look and feel like gave them an opportunity to see beyond a set of images and visualize an entire project. – Sara Macel, Photographer and Educator 

Artist Book If you have a completed project that you want to get some attention, consider creating a very limited edition (20 or less) artist book. You can handmake the book (if you’re crafty you can learn how to print and bind it

through YouTube videos) or commission someone to make it for you. Offer the first opportunity to purchase to your mailing list and then heavily promote it on social media outlets. This can also serve as a maquette for publishers. The book may capture the attention of a publisher if you enter it into photobook competitions and it generates some buzz. You may also consider donating a copy to Larissa LeClair’s Indie Photobook Library (www.indiephotobooklibrary.org) to chronicle and preserve your artist book and generate some publicity in the process. What I would emphasize in the production of the book is the consideration of the nature of the object. There are endless options for printing the book—offset printing, photocopying, print-on-demand, digital printing at home or with a commercial printer. The binding could be saddle-stitched, handsewn in a simple pamphlet stitch or an elaborate Japanese stab binding. The book could be wrapped in paper, cloth or leather. Limited editions, whether it be an artist book or a deluxe version of a trade edition book, usually range from a very small edition of  10 to a large edition of 100 signed and numbered copies. Consider how many artist’s proofs (APs) you will produce for  comp or review copies, book awards or publisher submissions before you release the edition. Make a list of those who you want to receive free copies or returnable review copies (with a self-addressed pre-paid posted envelope and a gracious letter  with clear instructions about returning). One of the most important things to consider in the conception is the purpose of the book. Is this a book where the work  cannot be reproduced as a marketable item beyond the book  project? Is it a tool for individual collectors or a gateway to a museum collection? Will it be used to further your photographic career or simply as an object in itself? Is it suited as a submission for book awards or a tool to connect with an

established book publisher? The answers to these questions will guide your book project. Make the best quality item you can with the available resources you have. What usually attracts my attention are well-suited selection of materials and careful editing and sequencing. Although produced in an edition of 500 copies, Liz Cohen’s “Bodywork” is an excellent example of material choice. The same decisions and production could occur with a smaller limited edition. The book is about the simultaneous transformation of East German Trabant to an El Camino and Cohen’s body into that of a calendar model. The car’s transformation is documented in matte paper in black-andwhite, and Cohen’s pinup shots are inserted on glossy color  heavy stock paper. The project deals with masculinity vs. femininity, Eastern vs. Western culture, and other contrasting themes, and the opposing material choices within the book add to the dichotomy. Whether you can find books like this in your  area or not, you can get an idea for what others are doing with book arts, editioning and pricing on sites like photo-eye, Indie Photobook Library, and The Independent Photobook Blog. Make copies or cheap prints and play with your images to see what tone you set by sequencing in a certain order. Make a few test books and research your materials before investing in expensive materials. It is rare that a publisher reproduces a facsimile version of an artist book or maquette, but it has happened with an intelligently executed package as with David Rochkind’s mock-up of his book “Heavy Hand, Sunken Spirit” published by Dewi Lewis soon after the publisher viewed Rochkind’s work at a portfolio review. Finally, I know of some artists who have had success with promoting their books on social media, like David J. Carol and his marketing of “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”. But 

 just as Carol does on Facebook, maintain contacts and use social media as a lead-up to the publication and after. Try to conceive of creative, but genuine ways to promote the project. Carol’s book was loose plates in a plastic case that he called his “non-book”. This was a way to pique collectors’ curiosity  and sell the book. I know of other artists who have made dance videos while producing their books. Creativity in marketing of  photobooks is rare, but if done well it can be very successful. – Melanie McWhorter, Book-Division Manager at photo-eye

Museum Collections Another way for your work to have a legacy is if it becomes part of a museum’s permanent collection. Museums typically acquire work in one of three ways: The museum purchases it outright from the photographer or representing gallery. A collector purchases the work and donates it to the museum (the photographer gets paid and becomes part of the museum collection and the donor receives a tax deduction). The photographer donates the work directly to the museum. The most prestigious way to have your work placed in a museum collection is for the museum to purchase it directly from you, followed by the collector making the purchase. If and when your work gets exhibited, the information placard will either say “gift of the artist”, “gift of ___(name of collector)”, or not include that line, which means it was a museum acquisition. Not all museums accept donations and almost none accept unsolicited donations. Every museum has goals for the growth of its collection, and it is important to be aware of those goals and as well as the museum’s approved methods of acquisition. When thinking about which museums you would want your work in, it is easy to rattle off the names of some “all-stars”. But there are many, many small regional and/or special interest museums that may be a better fit for the work or would show more interest in it. These smaller museums may give your work more “wall time” and engagement. Targeting only the largest, most prestigious museums may only result in rejection or, if the work is acquired, it may sit in the basement where most of the museum’s other permanent collections works live. At the MoCP we’ve been lucky to have benefitted from some very good, long-standing relationships with collectors who

initially support an artist’s work by buying it in volume and then later (legally, the collector must own the work for 2 years before donating it to get the tax benefits) offering it to the museum. We don’t take it all, but we are always happy to receive the offers, and certain relationships have really helped to shape the collection over the years. We also purchase heavily out of our exhibitions, as the works chronicle our  programming. In terms of advice for photographers about how to get into museum collections, that part should be treated not as a singular goal, but rather as one possible outcome of the overall project of promoting your work. Photographers should focus on getting their work exhibited and in front of the right people, as curators often like to see an exhibition and publication track  record before they will invest in a work for a museum collection. And finally, gallery representation is very helpful. A gallery typically has established relationships with museums and can promote and sell your work to them on your behalf. –

Karen

Irvine,

Photography 

Curator

at

Museum

of

Contemporary 

PART IV

From Goals to Action Your portfolio is tightened and ready to show. You know what you want. Now is the time to make it happen. A majority of this section is devoted to portfolio reviews, which offer a remarkable opportunity for photographers to get their work in front of notable people in the field – people who may be able to offer exhibitions, publications, and acquisitions.

Portfolio Reviews Portfolio Review events provide photographers a wealth of opportunities that are unique in the visual arts. Although review opportunities are beginning to pop up for artists in other mediums, the portfolio review programs for photographers have been in existence for decades, beginning with the first US review program, FotoFest, which was established in 1983. At a typical portfolio review, photographers show a portfolio of printed images to an industry leader (a museum curator, gallerist, publisher, consultant, or online editor) in a 20-minute session. Depending on the portfolio review event, photographers may have up to fifteen different sessions. Before the review, participating photographers receive a list of potential reviewers to rank in order of preference. Photographers usually get to sit with the majority of their top ranked reviewers. Nearly all portfolio review events have a fee to participate that breaks down to about $50 per review, on average, plus the cost of travel, food and accommodation. A large portfolio review event like FotoFest in Houston or Photolucida in Portland can last four days and be filled with additional activities (lectures, panel discussions, gallery exhibitions, museum tours) for photographers to attend. These reviews tend to bring in reviewers from all over the world to give feedback and opportunities to photographers. Smaller portfolio reviews typically attract mostly local photographers and draw from industry professionals within the community to participate as reviewers.

Why Participate in a Portfolio Review? Major portfolio review events tend to be most helpful for people who are in one of two stages with their work. In one case, the project has a defined concept and many images have been made, but the work is not coming together the way the photographer would like. A portfolio review at this stage allows fresh and experienced eyes to identify the strengths and

weaknesses of the portfolio and help give the photographer guidance in continuing with the work. A portfolio review is also particularly helpful to a photographer who has a completed body of work and feels it is ready to launch. A larger review with big-name industry professionals who can provide opportunities is a great place to let decision-makers look at your project. If you are a photographer who is just starting out and needs direction on content or technical aspects of your work, a local (and usually less expensive, especially considering additional travel and lodging costs) review will probably be your best route. In my opinion, it is best to attend a major portfolio review and present yourself and your work to industry decisionmakers when you are ready to make a strong impression. A major consideration in choosing which portfolio review to participate in should be the reviewers who will be attending that event. Determine the goals for your work and choose an event with reviewers who may be able to help you reach those goals. Know what you want to have happen with your work. Be realistic about where you are with your photography. From there choose the most appropriate review r eview events and reviewers. A chance to meet leading professionals in diverse parts of the photo world, to receive solid feedback on your work, and to enjoy a sense of belonging and community with new  photography friends from around the country, even around the world… who wouldn’t want to have that? It’s not an exaggeration to say that attending Portfolio Review  events has dramatically changed the course of my career and my involvement in the photo community. I had never heard of  these events, or at least understood their benefit, until being exposed to them at the inaugural Flash Powder Retreat. In the course of a whirlwind year, I made the rounds from the

Medium Festival in San Diego, Photo NOLA in New Orleans, Photolucida in Portland, and then back again to Medium. The photo world is a rather small world, although it may not  seem like it, and these events allowed me to feel like I could grasp the scope of it, understand who’s who, and find my place in it. More than anything else, I have left these events feeling an overwhelmingly inclusive sense of community. When I look  back, what stands out to me are the people – real people who have become new friends, no matter which side of the table they were on. Outside of the review room, I found most  reviewers to be refreshingly human (imagine that!), and if you weren’t awkward or inappropriate enough to bother them about your work at the wrong time (hint hint), you could find common ground to simply grab a drink and learn more about  who they are as people (instead of angling for what their  professional statuses can get you). As I experienced this kind of  friendship with fellow photographers and reviewers alike, I felt  a kind of community I hadn’t felt since my undergrad art school days. These events created the fertile ground to be inspired by  my peers, rather than feel a competition with them. They also allowed us to find ways to support each other toward our  common goals. Of course, you must have a positive attitude going into these things… it’s not to say there aren’t going to be some unpleasant experiences with people who aren’t exactly  “community builders,” but thankfully that has been rare in my  experience. It’s true that some people criticize these events as “pay to play,” because they do cost a significant amount of money. However, I prefer not to take such a cynical view. Every one of  the event organizers who I have met so far has proven to be someone who is looking out for the best interests of the photo community as a whole. I’ve found dedicated directors who are

working hard to put on quality events, with top quality  reviewers, who are well worth the investment. I should also add that many of my friends in other corners of the art world have been envious that photography offers this type of opportunity. Painters, sculptors, and various mixed media artists can’t  exactly pack up their portfolio and bring it across the country to a community gathering like this in the same way that we can as photographers. For now, at least, this seems to be a phenomenon unique to the photography world, and one that  I’m deeply grateful to participate in. – Kurt Simonson, Photographer and Educator 

How to Prepare for a Portfolio Review Once you have decided to participate in a portfolio review, the preparation begins. Paper  Choose a paper that will best show your work and hold up through days of shuffling prints around. Make sure all of your images are printed on the same paper and that the final product is a true representation of your work. Portfolio reviewers who can give exhibition opportunities want to see a print and imagine it hanging on the wall. Reviewers often ask about paper choice and answers like “oh, this was just what I could print on for free” or “yes, there are a few different papers in here – I just used what I had laying around”, do not represent you or your work well. Always remember that you are making an impression with every decision and interaction. It is not just about your photographs. Show your professionalism at every opportunity. Image Size Your photographs need to be large enough to show the content, but not so large that they become a burden to transport and view. When you sit down with a reviewer, you will be at a standard six-foot table with the reviewer

sitting across from you. You want to be able to move through the photographs and allow the reviewer to shuffle the images, resort, edit or make stacks of work based on his or her own vision. Unless you exhibit the work in a smaller size, images for portfolio reviews are best viewed at a size between 11x17 and 16x24, with the optimal size being near 13x19. If you exhibit your work at a very large size and want to show an example, the easiest and best way to handle that is to bring one or two large prints that the reviewer can choose to view. Most portfolio review programs will provide a table on the outer edge of the review room for you to keep your extra-large prints, but asking each reviewer to move from his or her table to view your work at an alternate location will take valuable time away from your meeting. Presentation Again, ease of transport and viewing are essential. Photographs do not need to be in heavy mats, and many reviewers prefer they not be. Keep your images loose and bring them in a single clamshell portfolio box. Do not put your photographs in plastic sleeves or require reviewers to wear white gloves to handle them. It is best to make peace with the idea that these images, though beautifully printed and potentially costly to produce, are work prints that will get a bit beaten up through the review process. Leave Behinds You will want to create marketing materials to leave with each reviewer at the end of your session. These are called leave behinds. A great leave behind has an image that will jog the reviewer’s memory and your contact information and website. It should look professional and preferably be memorable or distinctive in some way, but should not be large, bulky, or otherwise difficult to bring home. Reviewers may see dozens of photographers and will most likely not want to bring back CDs, printed packets of information, or other cumbersome items. Your website should have the images you have shown, and if the reviewer wants more information, he or she can contact you after the event. You can always

make discs of your images and print detailed information about your work in case someone asks for it, but a simple postcard or small work sample with your contact information should more than suffice for a solid leave behind. Pitch Being able to confidently and succinctly speak about your work is no easy feat, but it is as important as having strong images. You must be able to sell yourself and your work. Your reviewer wants to feel your passion and hear your thoughtfulness. Practice as much as you possibly can, and then practice more. Speak out loud about your work – to yourself, to your peers, to anyone who will listen. This cannot be stressed enough. You must be comfortable talking about your work, and you must be able to explain it in a compelling way. For most people, their photography is such a close part of their hearts and minds, it is very difficult to step back and explain it to fresh eyes. It is also deeply personal, and just showing the images can make a photographer feel vulnerable and exposed. But you have to be able to sell it. Practice. It is the only way. Choosing Your Reviewers Knowing how to explain your work and sell it to your audience is just one part of the equation. The other part is determining what goals you have for your work and what you are looking to get out of the portfolio review experience. Give a lot of thought to what information you want to get, what type of feedback you are looking for, and how to get the most meaningful experience from each reviewer you sit with. You will have an opportunity to read bios of all of the potential reviewers and rank them in the order you would prefer to see them. You will most likely not get to sit with all of your top choices, but every reviewer has valuable information to share. If you are looking to get gallery representation and shows, you should rank gallerists highest. If you think your work is ripe for a monograph, you should

focus your energy on seeing publishers. Go a step beyond reading the bios and look at their websites to get an idea of the type of photography they work with. If you do historic processes and a reviewer publishes documentary projects, you should not sit down and expect to be offered a book deal. You should know as much as possible about each reviewer you meet with in order to be able to ask the most appropriate questions and get the most informative answers. Regardless of your focus, you should do your homework on all of the reviewers. You may end up seeing someone you had not ranked at all, but that person may lead you to someone else who can help you. Many industry leaders attend a lot of portfolio reviews, and the network between reviewers can be very tight. Just because your work is not a fit for one reviewer, does not mean that reviewer cannot give you valuable feedback and potentially connect you to someone else (who may not even be attending that event) who would be able to give you a great opportunity. Do not write off anyone, and treat each reviewer with respect and professionalism. I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to research your reviewers. It’s pretty embarrassing for a reviewee when they sit down and ask me where my gallery is located. Or they  show me work that is not appropriate for our publications. Granted, sometimes photographers are auctioned into your  review, or I may have been low on their list. Whatever the case may be, the reviewers’ backgrounds and purpose are so very  diverse, and it’s very important you don’t come to the table blind. I stress this, because as a reviewer I want to know you’re serious about your work, your career, and more importantly  you are taking full advantage of the reviews. I mean, you did pay to be there, make it worth your time. If there is a case that  you are just not paired up with the appropriate reviewer for  some reason, be sure to inquire about other folks the reviewer  may know that would be a good connection for you. I refer 

people all the time when I feel other curators may have an interest in the work. The reviews are really about networking, marketing, and soliciting advice. I think it’s also very important  you network with your peers. They may be the ones that give you opportunities you would have never expected. – Blue Mitchell, Publisher of Diffusion Magazine and Curator of  Plates-to-Pixels Listening As hard as it may be to hear, you will get some criticism and some hard questions. Be gracious. Listen. You do not have to agree with every comment, and you can respectfully state your perspective, but being antagonistic or defensive will not benefit you in any way. You are there to get feedback, make connections, and above all impress everyone you meet with your positive attitude and professionalism. You want people to want to work with you. Following-up Within two weeks of the portfolio review, make sure to follow-up with a thank you note or email. A handwritten note makes a great impression, and some photographers create notecards with an image on the front or include a very small photograph with their note. This is a really nice way to remind the reviewer of your work in a thoughtful and memorable way. An email is a sufficient thank-you, but it is best to make each note personalized. Mention some advice you found helpful or a conversation you had. Again, every thing you do, every interaction you have, is a representation of you and your work. Be your best. Appendix B provides a list of popular portfolio review events around the United States.

A More Targeted Approach If the plan you have created for your work calls for relationship-building with very specific people and institutions, a portfolio review may not offer enough opportunities that meet your goals. Because you may sit with as few as four reviewers at a portfolio review (depending on the size and scope of the portfolio review event), there may not be enough of the type of reviewer you are interested in meeting with to make attending financially worthwhile. For example, if you are focused on publication and the portfolio review has three publishers, only one of which fits your aesthetic, attending may not be the best use of your time and money. This is not to say attending that review would not be beneficial. If you have the time and the resources, it could very well be worth the gamble. Quite often, the reviewer that you thought would be the worst prospect for your work turns out to have the most fruitful connection, advice, or opportunity. Likewise, if you have determined that your work would best fit in university galleries and regional museums in a certain geographic area that is relevant to your imagery, there is very little chance that many of the people you want to connect with will be at a single portfolio review. Instead, consider taking the money you have set aside for the review and associated expenses and take a road trip, setting up meetings with your targeted curators in each location you visit. You may also consider the benefits of traveling to a particular destination that has a critical mass of gallerists, publishers, etc. on your targets list. If you can set up meetings in advance, you will have a much better chance at pushing your goals forward than meeting with a scatter shot of reviewers who may offer valuable advice, but cannot directly help you.

Funding Your Work Creating work, framing work, exhibiting work, publishing work – your wallet aches just thinking about it all. Making work and then promoting it both have significant costs involved, which is why being strategic about the opportunities you pursue is so important. But if you are looking to supplement your personal investment with outside funding, there are options.

Crowdfunding Crowdfunding, or the practice of raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people (typically via the Internet) to fund a project or venture, has been an exciting opportunity for a lot of artists in recent years. Tired of waiting for grants or a wealthy angel, many artists have turned to sites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo to finance their projects, books, or exhibitions. Crowdfunding can be an incredible resource and give you a way to build support and awareness for your project. But it has its drawbacks as well, and it is not the best solution for all funding deficits. How Does It Work? Crowdfunding is simple and brilliant. A person (in this case, you) uses a third party platform to host his or her campaign. You create a short video (the more clever, the better) and write a few paragraphs to explain your project and how the money will be used. You decide how long you want the fundraising campaign to last (from 1 to 60 days) and how much money you want to raise (the website takes a percentage of dollars raised as a fee, so that needs to be factored into the budget). You also create rewards that backers will receive for pledging. Once the clock starts ticking, you tell everyone you know and blast it all over social media until you are so sick of yourself, and then you keep going. Then

the campaign ends, and you either have a lot of money, or you don’t. Which Crowdfunding Platform Is Best? The two predominant options are Kickstarter and Indiegogo, and there are some significant differences between the two. Kickstarter is for creative projects only. If you want to raise money for a charity, Kickstarter is not your site. It is also an all-or-nothing platform, meaning this: if you do not meet your stated goal by the end of the campaign, you do not receive any of the money. No one gets their rewards; all bets are off. On Indiegogo, whatever you raise you keep, and they accept a much wider range of types of projects. You still set a time frame, a fundraising goal, and offer rewards for supporters, but the campaign feels less pressured than with Kickstarter. The percentage fee they take is higher for projects that do not get completely funded (9%), versus ones that do meet their goal (4%). While it may seem like the obvious choice to select Indiegogo, there are some advantages to going with Kickstarter. The all-or-nothing approach is exciting and tends to get people energized and engaged, especially at the end of the campaign when the clock is ticking and the goal has not been reached. Without the pressure, people may not feel as motivated to contribute to an Indiegogo campaign. Creating a Successful Campaign While still a very dynamic platform, many people are experiencing crowdfunding fatigue. Because of the success so many artists are having raising money with Kickstarter and other sites, a lot of people’s inboxes are getting flooded with requests to support campaigns. So if you are going to do it, make sure your campaign stands out. Also, carefully consider what you are asking for and why. Throwing all of your energy into a campaign and making a lot of “asks” only to turn around in six months to start another one will most definitely turn people off. Think of this as a one-time deal, and save it for when you really need it.

Also, do you have a big enough audience to realistically meet your fundraising goal? Or better put, do you have a big enough audience who cares about what you are doing to realistically meet your fundraising goal? You may have a lot of friends who adore you, but if they are not particularly interested in art and have no idea what a photobook really is, they will most likely not pony up the $150 for a signed book and 8x10 print. If you think you have an idea people will get excited about and enough interest from your friends and supporters, then go for it. Select a dollar amount that you think is achievable, taking into account the percentage the website host will take for administration and credit card fees. Set a timeframe for the campaign that will give you enough time to get the word out, but does not drag on. Even with Kickstarter’s all-or-nothing structure, a long campaign is usually less effective. People get motivated by a sense of urgency and like to sweep in at the end with project-saving pledges. And people’s attention spans are short, so push it hard and fast and then be done. Rewards can make or break a campaign. The best rewards are ones that people really want but cost you little or nothing and therefore do not take away from your bottom line. A reward where you can include the backer in the project in some manor (an acknowledgement in the book, a chance to participate in the project) will make backers feel special, important, and invested. Also be sure to offer small pledge opportunities. Someone may not be interested in the project or project-related swag, but may still want to give you a high-five. Give them an opportunity to pledge $5 or $10. No matter how short your campaign, it will feel like an eternity. It is important to promote it consistently. A great way to talk about it without saying the same thing every time (this is my project, please give me money) is to plan regular updates and introduce new rewards. Tell your audience about a new facet of the project that just came up, a new detail that was ust confirmed, a bit of press that just came out about you or your project – something beyond, “Hey, remember me? I still need money.”

Another method to keep momentum going is to release limited edition backer rewards every 4-5 days. Offer art or other pieces at a great value, which provides an opportunity to post an update to announce the new reward and create some urgency to contribute, since only a few of each are available. Give people a reason to go back to the site and reengage with the project. In early February 2012, our proposal for an as-of-yet unnamed photography event in Brooklyn Bridge Park received the green light. We were young, excited, and had been offered 80,000 sq. feet along the New York Waterfront to fill up with dynamic and engaging photography. To top it all off, we would make it FREE for the public to attend! We had a short window to pull this project off, but it was a once in a lifetime kind of moment. In early April, after multiple rounds of outreach, planning, and fundraising, we estimated that we would be facing a $50,000 gap in our budget. We began researching Kickstarter after  several colleagues recommended this platform to raise the additional funding we needed to make Photoville happen. We needed to know how people had tackled similar crowdsourcing campaigns in the past and find out what worked, what didn’t  work, and what could we learn and tweak to use in our own campaign. We spent a week researching, another week putting together  our “rewards”, a week scripting, shooting, and editing our  video, and a week of outreach to our community of colleagues and industry partners. Appealing to the photo community for  support was a major step in building a support network for our  fundraising campaign, as well as well-timed media attention to help spread the word. In building our Kickstarter campaign, we were lucky to have a large group of talented artists who generously offered some of 

their work as rewards. We also had a true partner in crime: Andre Feliciano, a Brazilian photographer and visual artist who at the time was creating a camera-flower greenhouse for  Photoville. His contribution to our Kickstarter campaign was a series of “camera-tulips” - a priceless and truly unique reward that tied in with Photoville, helping us create a community  around the event itself, rather than a disparate group of  donors. A crucial aspect of any successful Kickstarter campaign is creating a realistic budget. There are many costs associated with producing, packaging, and mailing the rewards, as well as Kickstarter’s commission, and these costs need to be added to your project’s total fundraising goal. Networking is also very important. With three weeks to raise $30,000, we worked out a strategic schedule that involved all of our partners helping us spread the word, but never all of  them at the same time. Throughout the three week period, we sent personal emails to friends and colleagues, ran a coordinated social media campaign, and sent updates to our  email list - making sure to push for press coverage of the event  itself throughout that time. Because we were acting as a presenting entity – preparing to showcase over 250 artists and working closely with more than 50 partners – we had a large network to help us publicize our  campaign. They were each personally invested in the success of this project, and able to activate their own network and multiply the ripple effect of our communications and outreach efforts. Had we been single artists working on a single body of  work, it would have been hard to raise even half that sum. Being realistic with your goals and accurately estimating the breadth and interconnectedness of your community is integral to the success, or failure, of any fundraising campaign.

Running this campaign was an extraordinary experience, with unexpected benefits that stretched far beyond financial considerations. Being able to build a powerful, committed community that felt personally invested in Photoville was perhaps our largest fringe benefit. And though we will probably  never conduct another campaign (ok, never say never) we remain

committed

to

supporting

artists,

curators,

and

producers when they undertake this herculean task. Because it  truly takes a village (and a community of like-minded people) to make this happen! – Sam Barzilay, Laura Roumanos, and Dave Shelley, CoFounders at United Photo Industries and Photoville

Other Alternative Funding Ideas Many artists who have relationships with collectors go to them with new project ideas and funding needs. Often collectors are interested in helping artists they believe in, and if you can offer an opportunity for them to acquire a selection of prints at a significant discount in exchange for the funding you need, everyone wins. The collector gets an amazing deal on more of your work, and you get the money you need to move forward. In a similar vein, create a special edition of a particular image and offer it exclusively to collectors to generate some buzz about a project you are working on or just completed. You can establish a special size out of your regular editions, or better yet, offer one new image only in one size in a special edition offering. Set a “can’t-resist” price and include a distinctive case or hand-written statement. Keep the edition small so collectors (and new fans) know they are getting a valuable, precious piece.

Artist Grants

There is money to be had for artists willing to do the legwork to find it. Searching for foundation grants that are relevant to you and your work can be daunting, and it is no secret that the demand for the funding is much greater than the supply. This makes the process very competitive. Start Local Looking to your state and local arts agencies for available grants is a logical first place to start. Every state in the US has an arts council, and many cities and counties have their own arts councils as well. Arts councils look to support artists and arts organizations in their own communities, and a quick search on your state’s arts council site should give you insight into what funding you may be eligible for. A list of state arts agencies can be found at www.nasaa-arts.org/About/State-Arts-Agency-Directory.php. Foundation Center  The Foundation Center is the leading source of information about worldwide philanthropy and an incredible resource for information on artist grants. The Foundation Center maintains the most comprehensive database on US grantmakers and their grants. The Center operates libraries/learning centers in five locations: New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Cleveland, and San Francisco. These locations offer free access to information resources (computers to access the online database, books, and other reference materials) and educational programs. Without visiting one of the Foundation Center’s physical locations, anyone can search the online database by registering for a Foundation Directory  Online subscription for a monthly fee (price varies by subscription level). The online database has a very robust search feature, which allows you to create searches based on terms and locations specific to you and your work. Photography-Specific Grants There are several grants for the medium of photography, as well as competitions with cash awards. These grants and competitions are often for

a particular genre of photography, and keeping current on the offerings and their deadlines is always a good practice. The PhotoPhilanthropy website (www.photophilanthropy.org) maintains a list, as well as several popular photography

blogs

and

online

magazines.

Spenational.org

and

collegeart.org are also great portals for finding opportunities and funding. Do your research and keep applying! There are so many grants out there for photographers who have passion and want to start or continue projects that they are not able to fund on their  own. Grants provide resources, support, and an audience for  the finished work. Judges will most likely change every year, so know who they are and even if you do not win, you are putting your work in front of very talented/experienced/influential people, and your proposal could lead to other opportunities. Be confident in your work and you will find success. If you do not  try you will never know what opportunities are available to you, and there are so many out there. – Lauren Steel, Managing Editor for Reportage at Getty Images

Conclusion Information can only do so much. Make the work. Make it with clear intent and a lot of heart. Make art like you mean it. You also need to give a lot of thought to what your goals are – otherwise you will stagnate and exhaust your creative spirit. If you were exactly where you wanted to be in your art career, what would that look like? Would you be exhibiting? Does your measure of success depend on sales? Are you most interested in getting your work out to a wide audience? Determining your target collector is equally important. Who would your work most appeal to? Do you have access to this type of person? What are your connection points, and what are your obstacles? If you can figure out what you want your endgame to be, you can work backwards to determine the steps you must take to get there. Artists need to think strategically about who their target audience is and how to attract them. They need to create a strong, consistent, professional brand through social media and their website. They need to develop a plan and timeline to thoughtfully launch new work that involves strategically reaching out to appropriate galleries, publishers, and online outlets. It sounds like a lot of work. And it is. If you are creating something you want to sell, you have a business, and you need a plan. Art is no exception. Be thoughtful and deliberate about it. Your art deserves nothing less. Go ahead. Set the art world on fire.

APPENDIX A

Online Photography Blogs and Magazines This reference section provides a list of photography blogs and online magazines, current as of the date of this publication. This list is not intended to be an exhaustive compilation of photography-related websites, as there are countless out there and more popping up every day. These sites should serve as a jumping off point to discover what is happening in contemporary photography and to connect with a larger online photography community. aCurator (www.acurator.com) Ahorn Magazine (www.ahornmagazine.com) American Suburb X (www.americansuburbx.com) A Photo Editor (www.aphotoeditor.com) Aperture (www.aperture.org) Behold (Slate) (www.slate.com/blogs/behold) Burn Magazine (www.burnmagazine.org) Conscientious (www.jmcolberg.com/weblog) Don’t Take Pictures (www.donttakepictures.com) Fstoppers (www.fstoppers.com) F-stop Magazine (www.fstopmagazine.com) Feature Shoot (www.featureshoot.com) Flak Photo (www.flakphoto.com) Fototazo (www.fototazo.com) Fraction Magazine (www.fractionmagazine.com) I Love That Photo Magazine (www.ilovethatphoto.net)

LensCulture (www.lensculture.com) Lenscratch (www.lenscratch.com) New York Times Lens Blog (www.lens.blogs.nytimes.com) NPR Picture Show (www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow) PDN Online (www.pdnonline.com) photo-eye (www.blog.photoeye.com) Raw File (www.wired.com/rawfile) re:photographica (www.rephotographica-slade.blogspot.com)

APPENDIX B

Portfolio Review Programs The table below lists mid-size and large portfolio review programs in the United States (and two abroad popular with US photographers) geared toward fine art photography. This does not include photography centers and non-profits that offer individuals a portfolio review upon request. While thorough at the time of publication, this list is not exhaustive and may contain unintentional omissions.

Portfolio Review

Location

Month

ASMP NY Fine Art Review

New York

February

Atlanta Celebrates Photography Atlanta

October

CONTACT Portfolio Review

Toronto

May

Filter Photo Festival

Chicago

October

Fotofest – The Meeting Place

Houston

March (bi-annually)

FotoFusion

West Palm Beach, FL

January

Fotoweek DC

DC

November

Lens Culture Fotofest Paris

Paris

November

Medium Festival of Photography San Diego

November

Month of Photography Los Angeles (MOPLA)

Los Angeles

March

New England Portfolio Review

Boston

May

New York Photo Festival

New York

May

Palm Springs Photo Festival at Photo Plus Expo

New York

October

Palm Springs Photo Festival

Palm Springs

April/May

PhotoAlliance

San Francisco

March

Photolucida

Portland

April/bi-annually

PhotoNOLA

New Orleans

December

powerHouse Portfolio Review

Brooklyn

March

Review Santa Fe

Santa Fe

June

SLOW Exposures Portfolio Review

Pike County, GA

September

APPENDIX C

Contributors Sam Barzilay, Laura Roumanos, and Dave Shelley, Co-Founders at United Photo

Industries

and

Photoville,

Brooklyn,

NY,

www.unitedphotoindustries.com, www.photovillenyc.org Alexa Becker, Acquisitions Editor at Kehrer Verlag, Berlin, Germany, www.kehrerverlag.com David Bram, Editor of Fraction Magazine, based in Albuquerque, NM www.fractionmagazine.com Matthew Conboy, Photographer and Educator based in Pittsburgh, PA, www.matthewconboy.com Jess Dugan, Photographer based in Chicago, IL, www.jessdugan.com Julie Grahame, Editor and Publisher of acurator.com and Industry Consultant, based in New York and London, www.acurator.com and www.juliegrahame.com Jason Houston, Documentary Photographer and Photo Editor based in Boulder, CO, www.jasonhouston.com Karen Irvine, Curator at Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, www.mocp.org Kat Kiernan, Owner/Director of The Kiernan Gallery and Editor-in-Chief of Don’t Take Pictures Magazine, Lexington, VA, www.kiernangallery.com and www.donttakepictures.com Isa Leshko, Photographer based in Philadelphia, PA, www.isaleshko.com Sara

Macel,

Photographer

and

Educator

based

in

Brooklyn,

NY,

www.saramacel.com Melanie McWhorter, Book-Division Manager at photo-eye, Santa Fe, NM, www.photoeye.com

Amy Miller, Executive Director of Atlanta Celebrates Photography, Atlanta, GA, www.acpinfo.org Blue Mitchell, Publisher of Diffusion Magazine and Curator of Plates-toPixels,

based

in

Portland,

OR,

www.diffusionmag.com

and

www.platestopixels.com Dina

Mitrani,

Owner/Director

at

Dina

Mitrani

Gallery,

Miami,

FL,

www.dinamitranigallery.com Ann Pallesen, Gallery Director, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA, www.pcnw.org Conor Risch, Senior Editor at Photo District News, New York, NY, www.pdnonline.com Bill Schwab, Photographer and Publisher at North Light Press, Detroit, MI, www.northlightpress.com and www.billschwab.com Rebecca Senf, Norton Family Curator at Center for Creative Photography and Norton Family Curator of Photography at Phoenix Art Museum, Tucson and Phoenix, AZ, www.creativephotography.org and www.phxart.org Ariel Shanberg, Executive Director at The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY, www.cpw.org Anna Walker Skillman, Gallery Owner at Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, www.jacksonfineart.com Kurt Simonson, Photographer and Educator based in Long Beach, CA, www.kurtsimonson.com Lauren Steel, Managing Editor for Reportage at Getty Images, New York, NY, www.gettyimages.com Gordon Stettinius, Photographer and Founder of Candela Books + Gallery, Richmond, VA, www.candelabooks.com and www.eyecaramba.com Brandon Thibodeaux, Photographer and 2013 Critical Mass Solo Show Award recipient and 2nd Place 2013 CENTER Gallerist Choice Award based in Dallas, TX, www.brandonthibodeaux.com

Paula Tognerelli, Executive Director at Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA, www.griffinmuseum.org Katherine Ware, Curator of Photography at New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM, www.nmartmuseum.org

Thank you. So many wonderful people have supported, encouraged, congratulated, comforted, and loved me through this crazy adventure that has become Crusade for Art. The first thank you goes to my saint of a husband, who has stood by me through every idea with seemingly endless reserves of patience. And thank you to my three amazing children who make home the place I want to be. My parents and grandmothers who can always be counted on to gush and tell me everything I do is fabulous. The kind souls who read drafts of this guide, especially Tristan Spinski, who is more than ust a little amazing. And to all of my friends and favorites, most especially my photo family - thank you to David Bram for strength, Jason Houston for courage, Bill Boling for heart, and Amy Miller for guidance.

About the Author

Jennifer Schwartz is the creator/director of Crusade for Art, a non-profit organization focused on cultivating demand for art, specifically fine art photography. Jennifer owned a fine art photography gallery in Atlanta (Jennifer Schwartz Gallery) for five years, where she focused her efforts on showcasing the work of emerging photographers. She also created the online project, The Ten, and is the co-creator of Flash Powder Projects. In the spring of 2013, she traveled around the country in a 1977 VW bus, engaging audiences

with

photography.

Jennifer

believes

in

empowering

photographers to be innovative and to create collectors and advocates for their work.