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Exhibition Opportunities

Getting Started

Connect with Other Photographers

You'll probably learn the most about exhibition opportunities by talking with other photographers.

Create Your Own Opportunities

You can also create opportunities to show your work.

An old student recently told me he had an exhibit at a Prada store.

Look for opportunities at stores, restaurants, hotels (Manhattan-Marmara Gallery, NYC), libraries, community centers, colleges (Queens College Art Center, NYC), government (Arsenal Gallery in Central Park, NYC), non-profit organizations, and schools.

Galleries

Look for galleries where your work will be appropriate.

Study their past exhibits, and review the work of their photographers, on the gallery websites.

After you've found a gallery that's appropriate for your work, ask if they're looking at work.

If so, ask about their portfolio submission guidelines.

Observe the guidelines precisely.

Present your work in the best way possible, visually and with easy access.

Here's an article: How to Create a Portfolio of Your Work.

Group Shows

Many galleries have group shows in which less established photographers are more apt to be shown.

Group shows often have a theme, and are more common during the summer.

Query galleries well before summer about their summer exhibit plans.

Street Fairs

Selling in Art Shows Youssef Ismail

Show And Sell; John Conn And The Fine Art Of The Street Sale Barry Tanenbaum

Possible Galleries

Galleries

Center for Fine Art Photography Fort Collins, CO

Center for Photography Photography Now Juried Exhibition Woodstock, NY

CEPA Gallery Cooperative, Buffalo

Foundry Gallery Cooperative, Washington, DC

Hey, Hot Shot! - Emerging Artists at jen bekman NYC

Light Factory Photographic Arts Center Charlotte, NC

Nelson Hancock Gallery Brooklyn

Positive Focus Cooperative, Brooklyn

San Francisco Camerawork Cooperative

SoHo Photo (Cooperative) 15 White St.

State of the Art Gallery Cooperative, Ithaca, NY

NYS County Art Councils

Columbia County Council on the Arts Hudson

Greene County Arts Council Catskill

Saratoga Arts Council Saratoga Springs

Schoharie County Arts Council Cobleskill

Pricing Your Work

If you're exhibiting in a gallery, the proprietor will guide the pricing of your work.

If you're exhibiting elsewhere, you may have to price your work without guidance.

Realize that most photographs are sold at a loss.

If you add up the cost of your education, experience, time, equipment, and materials, what you can charge is often less.

Use the factors below when pricing your work.

Pricing Factors

1) Your reputation
2) Type of gallery	Work in an exhibit at a restaurant or library will be priced far less than work at a commercial gallery.
3) Size of the print	Even though the cost of making a larger print is often minimal, you can charge much more for the larger print.
4) Uniqueness and limiting the edition	If you use a process in which each print is unique, you may be able to charge more. In a commercial gallery, you may be able to charge more if you limit the number of prints that will be made of a photograph. This called a limited edition. Often, as the edition sells, the prices are raised to encourage prompt sales.
5) Unusual or expensive materials and processes, and time-consuming processes or subjects	If you're making platinum prints, you may be able to charge more than you would for an inkjet print.
6) Hand-of-the-artist	If you use a process in which your hand is present, such as brushstrokes when coating paper for a collotype print, you may be able to charge more.
7) Matting and framing	Buyers often accept the cost of matting and framing more than the cost of your work. For example, a buyer may be willing to pay only $60 for your photograph, but may readily pay an additional $100 for the matting and framing. You may be selling your work at a loss, and making a profit on the framing.
8) Competition	What are photographers charging in your area?
9) Region	Photographs, in an exhibit at a restaurant, can be priced higher in NYC than in Bismarck, SD.
10) Market	A photograph of a rare tiger species can sell for more than a photograph of a pet cat.
11) Sophistication of prospective customers	If the people visiting the gallery have knowledge of art history, for example, you can charge more for a gold-toned B&W print. If, on the other hand, their experience with art is solely with 4x6 prints from Wal-Mart, you can't charge a premium for a gold-toned print.
12) Commission	A commercial gallery may take a 50% commission. A restaurant or library may take a smaller commission, either for their own use or as a donation to a charity.

Resources

Books

Taking the Leap: Building a Career as a Visual Artist by Cay Lang

Exhibiting Photography: A Practical Guide to Choosing a Space, Displaying Your Work, and Everything in Betweenby Shirley Read

Links

Art Deadlines List

Art Support Many articles, such as How to Find Exhibition Space and Art Galleries

Marketing Photos with Mary Virginia Swanson Blog

Online Magazines Many online magazines publish the work of unknown photographers.

The Value of Photography Debra Weiss