rest stop
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I’ve never before now been active in my pursuit of a professional photography career. For the most part, I’ve been a passive marketer of self. An extremely passive marketer! That changed in April of this year when I submitted for the first time a set of photos to be considered for show at the Houston Center for Photography Juried Membership Exhibition.
Spoiler Alert: My photo, Rest Stop, not only showed at the exhibition, it also sold that very first night. A very nice man from San Antonio bought it. I was over the moon.
This post, however, isn’t about my participation in the exhibition. It is about the things learned in the process of getting there. Everything from which photos to submit to which matting to use to which outfit to wear to the exhibition opening, these were all things that were new to me.
The task of choosing which photos to submit was by far the most daunting experience with regards to the HCP exhibition. I had never shot with a show in mind, so my photos, like my nom de plume, were slightly cluttered. They were cropped in different sizes (and not all standard sizes at that!), they ranged from black and white to sepia toned to color, and they ran the gamut in terms of subject matter. I knew that I couldn’t go at it alone, so I reached out to my wonderful photographer friends at Utata and asked them their opinions about which photos to submit. I was very moved by the response — so many people giving of their knowledge freely. They had a lot to say about the submission process (photo selection, resume, etc.), and it was all helpful. If you would like to see the discussion, to learn a little about the submission process, you can do so here.
A few weeks after submitting my photos, I received an email as well as a snail mail notifying me of my acceptance into the exhibition. Holy cow! I think I reread that first notification at least three times to make sure I was reading it correctly, to make sure it didn’t really say “how on earth did you ever think you could be part of this show…shame on you!” It didn’t say that. What it said was that my photo, Rest Stop, had been accepted into the show from an original field of 134 photographers. It said that I had a May 25th deadline for submitting the framed work and supporting contract to HCP. It said that “…work must be shipped to HCP in museum-quality presentation and must be ready-to-hang.” Wait!? What?! Museum-quality presentation?! Quoi?? Down anxiety, down!
I had never framed any of my work prior to the HCP event, so I’m not really sure I knew Chuck-E-Cheese quality presentation, let alone museum-quality presentation. I was also a little apprehensive about calling the folks at HCP to ask; I didn’t want to appear completely ignorant about the business of my craft. But the truth was that I was completely ignorant about the business of my craft, so I made the call. This is what I learned:
There are different quality mats available for photographers. In my case, I would need to purchase a 8-ply white mat. Apparently, folks in the know can tell the difference. Good information to keep in my noggin.
Mats and frames are fairly easy to get your hands on…given you work in standard-sized prints. I didn’t. I don’t. So my creatively-sized photograph was going to cost me a pretty penny in order to get it to its museum-quality state. The photo, a small print in the range of an 8×10, cost me $125 to print and frame, and that was a competitive price. Yeesh!
Given the initial outlay of money, I feared taking a loss at this show. I was under the impression that I could ask about $75 for my framed photo. I had no idea — clueless — about the reality of exhibition pricing. When I asked Madeline at HCP about pricing, she said, almost apologetically, that because of my unknown status (okay, she didn’t say it quite like that), because of the small size of photograph, because of the fact that this is a membership exhibition that she would recommend a modest pricing of $250.
$250!!!!
Sweeeet.
Now if I sell one print, I’ll break even! (Don’t forget that the gallery or art center takes a cut of each sale. It’s one way that they make their money. Only fair, I say.) Anyway, this wasn’t so much about me making money as it was about me getting my work out there…for public viewing. It was also about me starting something proactively, about marketing myself in the same way I would any other business venture. It was important for me to do. After all, momentum is a powerful and positive force, but it usually needs a kick to get started.
I didn’t only learn about the ins-and-outs of mat selection, the hefty cost of framing, and the generous world of exhibition pricing that day, I also learned that the folks directing the show are your friends. They are in your corner. Once they decide they want you, they are behind you completely. A great thing to know if you are just getting started.
I know I promised to pass on my knowledge about acceptable photography exhibition attire, but, in all honesty, I’ve always been a “dress who you are” kind-of-girl, so I’ll just leave it at that. Dress who you are. You are, afterall, the artist. They’ll accept almost anything from you…
…because you are a free spirit, because you are creative, and because you entertain them.
