How to get into a gallery

[radchad]

I would really like to get my photography into an art gallery, and I stil have some work to do, I think I have some worthy of being in a gallery. I was wondering how I would go about getting them in the gallery.
Any advice is great.
Thanks
Chad

[Rob Champagne]

build yourself a marketing PDF with a bio and 20 or so high res images in it and email it to galleries stating your purpose. i.e. you are looking for galleries to show your work.
Costs nothing and it puts your images in front of them in a highly useable/viewable format which can easily be printed for hard copies if required. Offer to show a printed portfolio if they are interested.

[Darren Kruger]

I would really like to get my photography into an art gallery, and I still have some work to do, I think I have some worthy of being in a gallery. I was wondering how I would go about getting them in the gallery.


Lots of good information in the book "Taking the Leap" by Cay Lang (ISBN: 0811850935)

quick points:

-get a portfolio together. 15-20 cohesive images (no deadwood) is a good starting point.

-research galleries to see if your work fits them. Find some that are interested in photography and might want the type of work you make. a gallery that markets color edgy work might not be interested in B&W landscapes. see what type of reputation the galleries have. ask around on how they treat their artists, how well they push the product, and how timely they pay.

-Find out the submission guidelines for the galleries. Some will want to see the prints. Other slides. others might look at webpages or CDs. Find out when they look at work.

-Follow the guidelines and submit your work.

Hope this helps,

-Darren

[tim atherton]

get Mary Virginia Swanson's book

http://www.mvswanson.com/

http://www.mvswanson.com/businessbook/index.php

keep track of her blog too

http://marketingphotos.wordpress.com/

the rest is persistence

[JW Dewdney]

Darren raises an important point, Rob. Most galleries will toss out anything that doesn't meet their submission requirements.

Chad - there's no 'easy' way unless you're really tight with a gallery owner, etc... just do your homework, knock on doors and hope someone likes it enough to overcome the bias that most galleries have about 'new' artists... remember - it's a total lottery. Prepare to get rejected over and over and over again - don't take it personally. I think that's important to keep in mind - but if it's something you really want - it's only a matter of time before doors start opening for you.

[jnantz]

what they said ...

and don't forget
to wear (very) thick skin.
gallery owners can be brutal ...

[CG]

Do your research first.

1. Know the galleries or at least know what they are interested in. Be sure you fit. It's worth the time to travel if you can to visit the galleries and see what they really look like.

2. Know how they want submissions. Call them to find out.

3. Make sure you put return postage on a self addressed envelope so your materials get back to you. They won't finance you.

4. Don't pester them in a week or three with phone calls etc. Interesting artists often disqualify themselves by being a pain. Most galleries are buried under mountains of submissions and can't / won't get to your package first. Find out their normal response time, and add maybe 30% before bothering them if you have not heard back.

5. If you really are critical enough of your own work, in a real world sense, nothing a gallery can say will shake your drive. If you think you are unique and that every gallery needs you, you'll do a lot of suffering from the responses. They generally don't have the spare time to make nice, and if they do, it's a real gift.

6. A tiny portfoli of great work is better than a sorta good big wide ranging portfolio. Quality is everything.

7. Be professional enough that the gallery can see they can depend upon you to help pay their rent, which is exactly what you are asking them to do. Their rent and payroll are a killer, and they have no time or budget for bringing people up to speed.
It doesn't hurt if they think you will make their life easier by staying ahead of their needs.

Best,

C

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

build yourself a marketing PDF with a bio and 20 or so high res images in it and email it to galleries stating your purpose. i.e. you are looking for galleries to show your work.
Costs nothing and it puts your images in front of them in a highly useable/viewable format which can easily be printed for hard copies if required. Offer to show a printed portfolio if they are interested.

There's something going on in LA from a museum in Santa Fe in January where over 60 curators will be in attendance reviewing portfolios and giving advice on how to get into galleries...I wish I remembered the name of this festival...

[tim atherton]

build yourself a marketing PDF with a bio and 20 or so high res images in it and email it to galleries stating your purpose. i.e. you are looking for galleries to show your work.
Costs nothing and it puts your images in front of them in a highly useable/viewable format which can easily be printed for hard copies if required. Offer to show a printed portfolio if they are interested.

a large percentage of those emails will probably be deleted before even being read (even more so for any emails with attachments). Most galleries are snowed under with such requests by mail, never mind email.

[tim atherton]

There's something going on in LA from a museum in Santa Fe in January where over 60 curators will be in attendance reviewing portfolios and giving advice on how to get into galleries...I wish I remembered the name of this festival...


as I advised, read the MVS blog... :)


http://marketingphotos.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/review-la-registration-to-open-tomorrow-september-18th/

filled up in 2 days


http://marketingphotos.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/review-la-registration-full-call-to-be-added-to-the-waiting-list/

and note, there are so many hopeful photogrpahers trying hard to break into this, they are quite willing to spend $285.00 to $465.00+ just to get curators and gallery owners to look at their stuff (+ the costs of actually getting there and a hotel etc).

Other reviews are now havign to run their stuff in tiers - you pay just to get your stuff looked at and sifted, and then you pay even more if you make it to the shortlist.

That's the "competition" if you like

[Don Miller]

The closer you are to the mass of new photographers, the harder it becomes. Landscapes from a dlsr printed at 13x19? Your work needs to be at the very top of a huge "pyramid" of competitors.

Being capable of producing professional standard fine art photography is just the first step. (Much of what is shown at juried fine art fairs does not meet this standard). You also need to be differentiated and desirable to the galleries' customers.

It's very important to define goals: To have a profitable photography business? To say "I'm in a gallery"? To make some money by letting others sell your work? To have the satisfaction of having your work hang in homes and offices? To be "discovered"?

There's the art world, and there's the end customer. It's important to be able to define how your work realistically exists in relation to both.

[Jeffrey Sipress]

You are wasting your time. One tenth of one percent of us get gallery space, at best. And even then, rarely does the photographer sell enough to recoup the costs of the printing, matting, framing, promotion, and all the expenses of searching and promoting, the reception food and drink, not to mention the commissions. If you don't personally know the gallery owners or his friends, the chances are near zero. You will lose money in addition to hundreds of hours of your life.

Sorry to be so blunt, but that is REALITY.

[tim atherton]

framing, promotion, and all the expenses of searching and promoting, the reception food and drink.

although it varies - even at the high end - those are (or at least should be) gallery expenses

Interesting little piece on this in the recent PDN mentioned above . Two out of the three galleries in a detailed budget breakdown basically cover all of this. One covered very little of it, one covered quite a bit more than this

Which pretty much reflects my experience

[Merg Ross]

Dedication! A unique way of seeing. Dedication! Not the place for dabblers.

And all that has been said above. I wish you success.