 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| PhotoKB HomeDiscussion Groups Digital Photography Digital PhotoDSLR CamerasZLR CamerasPoint & Shoot CamerasFilm Photography 35 mmLarge FormatMedium formatDarkroomFilm and LabsOther EquipmentPhoto Technique Nature PhotographyPeople PhotographyTechnique GeneralGeneral Photo Topics General TopicsAustralian PhotographyUK PhotographyDirectoryPhoto Clubs |
Photo Forum / Film Photography / Darkroom / February 2005Exhibiting Photos
Does anyone in this group have experience in selling photographs at art festivals? I have a b/w darkroom and hope to print several images to display and hopefully sell at upcoming outdoor art festivals. Any advice will be appreciated. Kimmy > Does anyone in this group have experience in selling photographs at art > festivals? I have a b/w darkroom and hope to print several images to [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Kimmy Kimmy, I did this for a couple of years. Did about a dozen shows during that time. I sold, displayed, about 30 different images in 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, and a couple of 16x20 to attract attention. I also had some greeting cards and book marks so I would have something inexpensive for the kids to buy. I had both color and B/W. I always sold something but never enough to make a profit. But, go for it! It was fun most of the time. Remember, you are not selling art. You're selling wall decor. My typical customer was a woman between 25 and 50 years old. If you have my luck you'll get more compliments than money... By the way, I worked shows in Swansboro, Raleigh, Cary, Benson, Marion and Waynesville North Carolina. The worst was the Benson Mule days! Paid $50 entry fee, made $13 dollars and stepped in a pile of horse dung loading up the truck after the show! At another show I got some good advice from a successful potter. He said, "never work a show that features kids or animals!" Of course that was after I did Mule Days. Good Luck, Glenn Thank you for posting your response. I have some questions: Were your photos framed in wood or metal? Since I do all my own darkroom work I often print in non standard sizes. Custom framing will be cost prohibitive so I am thinking of using metal. I was hoping to market my work as fine art b/w photographs printed on arhival fiber base paper. I am wanting to distance myself from the new wave of digital images on the market. However, I am not so sure if the general public will appreciate or even care about the archival qualities of these type of photographs. Perhaps at a gallery or museum they would, but probably not at outdoor festivals. All this will be a learning experience for me. Kimmy > I was hoping to market my work as fine art b/w photographs printed on > arhival fiber base paper. I am wanting to distance myself from the new [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > at a gallery or museum they would, but probably not at outdoor > festivals. I'd be very surprised, if they buy your B&W no matter how good. I was at a very large outdoor show last september "one of the biggest" and two photographers across from me were selling inkjet prints. The guy directly across from me had some nice images all on water color paper and they were priced around the same as my work. He had done the show multiple times and stated no one buys B&W. I did not sell a single print at that show. I also showed mostly B&W at an earlier show last year and had a huge line waiting to view my work, lots of great work,...few sales.....I may have broken even. In any event at the first show I mentioned there was a jackass across from me selling 2 for 1 inkjet 16x20's at $20.00 I watched him make twenty dollar sales all day long,....rather depressing since I have come to be able sell my prints in the right places for a lot more than two for $20.00 There's an old saying though,...just about everybody has twenty dollars on them at a show. "Little Green Eyed Dragon" <ShadezofPerceptionvanished@someplace.com> > I'd be very surprised, if they buy your B&W no matter how good. Funny, and I can sell nothing but B&W.  SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/ > "Little Green Eyed Dragon" <ShadezofPerceptionvanished@someplace.com> > > > I'd be very surprised, if they buy your B&W no matter how good. > > Funny, and I can sell nothing but B&W. Wouldn't be because your selling them for 5$ each would it ;-) > "Nicholas O. Lindan" <see@sig.com> wrote: > > "Little Green Eyed Dragon" <ShadezofPerceptionvanished@someplace.com> > > > I'd be very surprised, if they buy your B&W no matter how good. > > Funny, and I can sell nothing but B&W. > Wouldn't be because your selling them for 5$ each would it ;-) What kind words. Thank you so very much. SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/ > > "Nicholas O. Lindan" <see@sig.com> wrote: > > > "Little Green Eyed Dragon" <ShadezofPerceptionvanished@someplace.com> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > What kind words. Thank you so very much. Your welcome :-) >What kind words. Thank you so very much. One of my friends sells $5 prints. Machine made 5X7's that cost him $0.75. Yeah, he's sold quite a few. I wouldn't mind selling 300 @ $5 / day ! Regards, John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.puresilver.org Please remove the "_" when replying via email > However, I am not so sure if the general public will appreciate or even > care about the archival qualities of these type of photographs. Perhaps > at a gallery or museum they would, but probably not at outdoor > festivals. Clyde Butcher's biography has some interesting observations on selling photography. I don't think I remember them clearly enough to try to paraphrase them, but I'd strongly suggest anyone thinking of getting into festivals read the book. For that matter it's a good book for anyone to read, including non-photographers. I think if I was going to try to sell B&W "art" at a festival, I'd probably want to have something right out fron that would grab attention that explained why. Why people should buy art, that is, and why B&W was worth paying for (in short, propaganda). But the guy selling inkjet prints 2 for $20 is going to make a lot more. Bob > I think if I was going to try to sell B&W "art" at a festival, I'd > probably want to have something right out fron that would grab attention > that explained why. As they said in the old days -- 'create the desire'. There doesn't seem to be much natural general desire. My sales have been to people who 'clicked' when they saw the picture, you can't keep them from buying it. Otherwise yadah-yadah-yadah. As the 'artiste' I can not determine if what I make is art or not. It's the folks who hang it on the wall that make that decision. Most (all) of the time art has to first succeed as wall decoration. If the movie is to believed, Van Gogh painted the sunflower sequence as a substitute for wall-paper. I would have thought there would be more market for reams of arty-farty photos for wall decoration. Why doesn't Holiday Inn hang B&W photos in each room, fer instance? I'd supply them unframed for $5 a pop ... Funnily, Hollywood set designers seem to be a big consumer - the standard wall hanging in TV shows is a B&W photograph. I hope this will subliminally sink in to the minds of the masses: Not only should the unwashed desire to look like TV stars but they should also desire to have walls like TV stars! SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/ > As the 'artiste' I can not determine if what I make is art or not. > It's the folks who hang it on the wall that make that decision. Most > (all) of the time art has to first succeed as wall decoration. What you say makes sense, although I have bought things because I admired their physical characteristsics. For instance I have a clock that's made to Soviet military specifications for submarines. It's pretty ugly, but it will withstand great shocks (depth charges), and it ticks on an 8 day mechanism. There are probably likewise people who will appreciate the knowldege that someone crafted a print using thier hands, and that the print will never degrade. But if that information isn't rather obvious in the booth (maybe a photo of the photographer in the darkroom), then no one will know. > I would have thought there would be more market for reams of arty-farty > photos for wall decoration. Why doesn't Holiday Inn hang B&W photos in > each room, fer instance? I'd supply them unframed for $5 a pop ... That sounds like a good market. I wonder who sources the art? The Westin in Savannah has photography decorating the conference space, and it includes a lot of B&W, including a good bit of platinum. I love going there, but I notice very few people look at the art. > Funnily, Hollywood set designers seem to be a big consumer - the > standard wall hanging in TV shows is a B&W photograph. I hope this > will subliminally sink in to the minds of the masses: Not only should > the unwashed desire to look like TV stars but they should also desire > to have walls like TV stars! I bet there aren't many set designers. I bet they all have friends who make B&W prints. I wonder where those prints go when the shows end? That would be a cool piece of Americana to display. ("Hey man, that's one ugly print!" "Yeah, but dude, it was in Sculley's bedroom on the X-Files" "Cooool." Bob Bob "bob" <not@not.not> wrote in message > > As the 'artiste' I can not determine if what I make is art or not. > > It's the folks who hang it on the wall that make that decision. > What you say makes sense, although I have bought things because I > admired their physical characteristics. For instance I have a clock > that's made to Soviet military specifications for submarines ... Sure. Just because it is on the wall doesn't make it 'art' (unless you say it is). Andy Warhol not withstanding. Otherwise America's greatest artist would be the Honeywell Thermostat Company. Hey, I just got a great Idea for a piece of pop art ... > But if [silver gelatin's hand crafting and archivability(??)] information isn't > rather obvious in the booth then no one will know. We need a version of the 'Diamonds are Forever' campaign. Though diamonds are hardly forever: hold one in the flame, they burn like coal. > > Funnily, Hollywood set designers seem to be a big consumer - > > I bet there aren't many set designers. I bet they all have friends who > make B&W prints. Richard's Our Man in Hollywood, I wonder if he knows? -- Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/ >>What you say makes sense, although I have bought things because I >>admired their physical characteristics. For instance I have a clock [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > greatest artist would be the Honeywell Thermostat Company. Hey, I > just got a great Idea for a piece of pop art ... That's not what I was trying to articulate: Sometimes aspects of the object other than the physical characteristics are what make it desirable. I'd rather have an original work of art by a minor (but competent) artist than a poster print of a Picasso. There's another tact (perhaps a gimic) that might work for the festival booth. When my wife and I first started dating, I gave here a photo that was from an edition of 1. There is only one print, which I hand colored. I cut the negative in half just to make sure... Unique art for a unique person. Bob Oh, I forgot to mention that I posted my last message using my brother's name and computer. My computer is down today. Sorry for any confusion. Kimmy Kimmy, About the frames, I bet I didn't sell more than one framed picture. Display framed prints, price them but have mounted and matted prints available. I think most people want to pick their own frames. Plus, the frame makes the price to high. Another tip I learned from my wife. Look at the ladies purse when they come into your display. Spend your time talking to customers with expensive purses... It works! There's a supplier in Greensboro that has good prices on frames and mat board. Try this site, http://www.pictureframe-usa.com/matboard.html. > About the frames, I bet I didn't sell more than one framed picture. > Display framed prints, price them but have mounted and matted prints > available. I saw one man have success by pricing and selling matted work, then turning around and selling a frame as a separate deal. He had Neilsen frames, moldings and a chopping jig in the back of his van and he or his wife would make the frame on the spot. > Another tip I learned from my wife. > Look at the ladies purse when they come into your display. Spend your > time talking to customers with expensive purses... It works! The other dead giveaway is the shoes. The rich may buy clothes at Walmart, but they sure as heck don't get their shoes there. SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/ |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.