Tips >
Exhibition Opportunities
Getting Started
Connect with Other Photographers
You'll probably learn the most about exhibition opportunities
by talking with other photographers.
Go to
Meet Other
Photographers:
In Person and
Online.
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,
libraries, community centers, colleges and universities, government (Arsenal
Gallery in Central Park), non-profit organizations, and
schools.
Online Magazines
Many online magazines publish the work of unknown photographers.
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
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 Between, by Shirley
Read
Links
Art Deadlines List
Art Support Many articles, such as
How to
Find Exhibition Space and Art Galleries
How to Get Your Images into Galleries
Marketing Photos
with Mary Virginia Swanson Blog
The Value of Photography Debra Weiss
