Web presentation of platinum print

[Jim collum]

i've seen it happen. Photo Lucida portfolio review I watched a couple photographers with portfolios get gallery representation (established Galleries.. not the show-a-print-in-a -frame-shop gallery.). They've since become very successful. The single gallery I have representation in was obtained through an email with jpgs... followed by a request for prints. ... And though I have representation in one of the top Photography galleries in the US (ok.. that was as lucky as a lottery win)... and know a lot of those represented in the other's, I haven't been able to get a second look from any other gallery. As far as sorting out.. the curator asks the questions about the work when the images catch their eye.

As far as 'cell phone quality goes' , I've seen some excellent prints done with cell phone images (nothing larger than 6" though)... and in established galleries as well.

I'd recommend the Portfolio Reviews as one of the best ways of getting work noticed. (there are probably 3 or 4 reviews to take seriously.)

[Drew Wiley]

Too old for that starving artist game now, Jim. Want my own gig. But there are much more important priorities in life than an art career. I got offered some very
solid gigs in commercial photog over the years too... had too much family responsibility here, and I'd never be happy in the East anyway. Can't worry about it. I
have about a 50/50 chance of things working out right around the time I formally retire, but life is full of unexpected things, so at least the one thing nobody can
take away is the experience of seeing things and printing them, the full experience. Very very little of our work will likely seem relevant to future generations. Maybe
the old shots of what an actual rainforest looked like, or ice in the arctic, or big cats outside a zoo.

[paulr]

The game has never changed, Paul.... It's still about who you know.

Huh. That's interesting. The shows and publications and collections I've gotten into over the last several years had nothing to do with who I know. Occasionally I didn't even know of these people. I have work in a show right now, curated by a great non-profit called Artbridge. I'd never heard of them. They found my work on facebook, of all places.

Anne Tucker, possibly the most respected curator in the country right now, routinely finds new artists at Fotofest. She's also been known to buy work for the MFA Houston collection from unknown people on ebay.

That said we would all probably do better if we knew more of the right people. That seems to be true in every walk of life, doesn't it?

[paulr]

I'd recommend the Portfolio Reviews as one of the best ways of getting work noticed. (there are probably 3 or 4 reviews to take seriously.)

Agree 100%. I didn't mean to be dismissive of these. They may be the most effective way to get people's attention now. But they are expensive, and it's not practical for everyone to go every year. I would like to attend one again soon ... it's always a balancing act between cost and then number of people on the reviewers list I'd be excited to see.

[Drew Wiley]

So much hypothetical posturing. Whatever works, works. And unless you're extremely lucky in both timing and content, it can take years in the pipeline to actually
get a significant public show hung, even when they're genuinely interested in what you do. Been there, done that, had my 15 sec of fame. Big deal. Customs change over time too... seems like a common strategy nowadays to get noticed it to put out an expensive book, and someone times it with your own fifteen seconds of fame (after spending three years of work and 75 grand of your own money betting on that book). ... All I want to do at this point is sell about one real good print a month and I'll double my retirement income, and someone will have something they prize on a wall. And the web is worthless for that in my experience (doesn't mean I won't use it in an educational or informational sense, however). If somebody does come along and offers me another public venue, fine, or wants to fund a book. But I have my own strategy, and it's obviously not intended as a generic prescription for how someone else prefers to do it. ... But I would like to
see Paul do a book, regardless of whether he dislikes me or not. I'd buy it.

[paulr]

So much hypothetical posturing.

All I did was tell you my recent experience. And the habits of some curators who go out of their way to find talented unknowns.

And unless you're extremely lucky in both timing and content, it can take years in the pipeline to actually get a significant public show hung, even when they're genuinely interested in what you do.

I don't doubt that at all. I think there's a huge luck element in having creative success. Sometimes it's a matter of being lucky enough to be born in the right decade (or century). The people I see with the biggest success do work for their own reasons—it just happens to resonate with the culture at that moment. That's a great confluence of talent and luck.

(after spending three years of work and 75 grand of your own money betting on that book). ...

There are a lot of ways to do books on the cheap now. The print-on-demand industry can do fantastic quality now. For color, better than what I've seen in offset. So far I've only seen OK black and white results, but that could change. The price per book is very high. But it costs nothing to create the project. I've made a couple of these books as presents for friends and family, and to use as small portfolios. They can be great for this. Some people actually use it as a self publishing platform (not so interesting to me, but that could change).

All I want to do at this point is sell about one real good print a month and I'll double my retirement income, and someone will have something they prize on a wall. And the web is worthless for that in my experience (doesn't mean I won't use it in an educational or informational sense, however).

How about using it the way we used to use portfolio slides? Email a link to the people you want to show work. At the very worst, it's a harmless waste of two minutes.

I'm flattered that you'd buy my book. I actually have one on Blurb, made as a present for friends last xmas. Sadly it's overpriced, as dictated by the print-on-demand model (I haven't marked up the cost ... profits go to blurb).

[Drew Wiley]

There is another option besides on-demand books, the high-priced limited edition of inkjets you print yourself, then have pro bound. The quality falls somewhere between very good offset repro and true photo prints. Ctein has done a beautiful series of his own work this way (not dye transfer prints, but "fascimile" inkjets),
sells them around $800 per volume, and does market them thru the web. He's established a connection with an excellent SF bookbinder. And a customer of mine
recently did a lovely coffee-table book of a major Frank Lloyd Wright restoration they did, superbly photographed and inkjet printed by himself, but professionally assembled, titled, bound, etc. ... the kind of Portfolio you want when you're soliciting multimillion-dollar high-profile remodels (I used to do them for these guys in
real Ciba prints from my own arch shots). Without getting overtly nosey, Paul, what would might suit your personal predilection and skill working with industrial shots might be something like this. The web informs me that you have an instinctive reaction to complex compositions, so are already on first base ... you have
the digital skills to quickly get to second... tweaking the push/pull of color balance in the shots and the misc other technical tweaks... wouldn't need to be a lot
of images, but it would make a helluva better business card than just a web presence, and perhaps command a decent buck too.

[paulr]

Yeah, I actually planned an artist book years ago. It's what got me into piezography printing in the first place. I found the ink prints surpassed the original silver prints in many cases, so I wouldn't go along with the idea that there was any quality compromise.

I eventually abandoned the project for a couple of reasons. This was before the invention of glossy inkjet printing. The hahnemuhle paper I liked had a fragile surface. Ink rubbed off on facing pages. I came up with a scheme for hand-varnishing the matte finish prints, which made them durable and gave a deep gloss. These were just about the most beautiful b+w prints I've ever made, but the varnishing was so hard to do consistently that each book would have taken about a month of solid labor to print.

The other problem was the cost of binding. It was several hundred dollars per book. In the end, I would have had to sell the books for over $500 each just to break even. There was a small chance I could guilt my parents into buying one, but that would be the end of the edition.