Meeting 17

One print due at the beginning of class. Critique of work.

Exhibiting and selling your own prints. Preparation, advertising, pricing concerns. I've used PostCardpress.com for nicely printed postcards to mail out to advertise a show.

When I have a show at regional galleries, I often have to provide publicity and prepare all point-of-sale materials myself. These materials include a "caption" sheet that describes the pictures in more detail than just a short title, and a purchasing sheet that points out benefits of purchasing my prints together with information how to make a purchase. Often I have an introduction/artist's statement placard that briefly describes the purpose of the show.

Here is a sample introduction/artist statement... italy_intro2.pdf

Here is a sample of the caption sheet for the "Into Italy" show... italy_captions.pdf

Here is a sample of the price sheet for the show... italy_purchase.pdf

In the past, I've had small posters printed with a select image featured. These can be both mailed to potential customers and posted publicly in strategic places (camera stores, college photo departments, etc.) This can be expensive, and a well-made photo postcard that is also available for free at the show can serve the same purpose while being cheaper to produce.

Staples sells clear plastic display stands for holding 8.5x11 inch sheets (caption sheets, purchasing information) and smaller holders for business cards that contain you contact information. These should be located in a prominent location at the show.

Purchasing prints:
On purchasing prints: Photographer and workshop teacher Fred Picker once wrote that he had trouble taking any photographer seriously who hadn't at least once been so moved by an image that they had to purchase it and live with it on their own walls.
Typical costs of prints ranges from $20 for an inkjet to thousands for a name photographer. Typically a regional gallery will sell prints for prices ranging from $125 to $300.

Where to get worthwhile prints:

• Lens Work - see the Brooks Jensen Arts link on the front page for very inexpensive yet impressive archival printed inkjet prints)
• Photo Techniques  - look for a "collector's prints" link on the page for a monthly selection of prints ranging from silver to color inkjet. Most prints shown there range from $75 to 100 per print.
• Gallery shows
• Online galleries like the Ansel Adams Gallery where you can get a special edition print made by the workshop (not Ansel) for $225.
• Contact the artist DIRECTLY if you see an attractive picture somewhere. I called and bought a Jerry Uelsmann print for $300 in the early '80s after I saw a photo of his on the cover of a photo magazine. Over the phone, he said the gallery price would have been double that.
• Ask your own photographer friends for a print or trade them yours for theirs. If they get famous, the print will escalate in value. In the meantime you've got a picture to admire and that's more important anyway.

Prints to show: LensWork (flower photogravure, steam train photogravure, special edition prints including Huntington Witherall, Steve Mulligan-Race Track), Photo Techniques prints (Farmer's American Hotel, Howard Bond), prints from students (Mel Burford portrait, Annie O'Neil), Larry Hamel-Lambert-Angry Sky, and prints purchased from individual photographers (Anne Nogle).

Also shown 11x14 print of the Ridges for a short discussion about camera negative format.