Rules of Professional Art Photography

[paulr]

Another take on rules for artists:

http://www.nyfa.org/level4.asp?id=161&fid=1&sid=51&tid=169

[Mark_3899]

You should go to graduate school and obtain an MFA from one of a handful of Universities deemed important at that time by the "art world"
Proveably false.

Of course I'm being facetious here, but there is more truth in that statement than you realize.

After you get this graduate degree you should get a faculty position at one of these chosen schools

See my first comment.

Well I know three artists that have done just that.

Finally you must go to every opening at all the important galleries in your city and shmooz relentlessly.

Getting to know and occassionally socializing with the people who you are trying to do business with is always a grand idea but i know lots of up and coming artists and established artists who rarely go to openings and others who are terrible at shmoozing. More deals and general business gets done over quiet little lunches and during visits to an artist's studio or the gallery you are intersted in then at openings for other artists. Drinking all the bad wine in the world and eating lots of cheap brie and even sleeping with people who you think might help your career move forward doesn't help if the work you produce isn't up to par. Bu you will definitely develop a reputation and cement an impression i nthose other people's heads. . In the end the work either speaks for itself to an individual who is considering it or it doesn't. But I'm not sure you'll care for that reputation or the impression you've created.Mark's list of ideas is pretty sound. I would add: try to do art business with people you like and whom you trust.

Before the quiet little lunches or studio visits occur there needs to be an introduction. I imagine I'm making people angry here, but this is what I see. I'm in New York City. Where are you Ellis?

[Mark Sawyer]

"Before the quiet little lunches or studio visits occur there needs to be an introduction. I imagine I'm making people angry here, but this is what I see."

Don't see anything that could make anyone angry, Mark. Really, it's a very good point. The hardest step can be getting a foot in the door, but it can be fairly easy with the right connection and the right attitude. Both need to be cultivated...

Paul- great website! It's in my bookmarks now, and I passed it on to a couple of art teachers who very much appreciated it too.

[paulr]

The real gem in that site is the grant search page ... lets you search by lots of different criteria, and has an impressive database of grants and fellowships and residencies.

[Brian C. Miller]

Kodak ProPass article:
Seven Ways to Attract Higher-End Clients

Featuring:
<ul>
<li>Have the Goods
<li>Narrow Your Focus
<li>Get Your name Out
<li>Create Demand With Your Brand
<li>Focus on Perception, Not Reality
<li>Raise Your Prices
<li>Pamper Your Customers
</ul>