Digital Signatures on Prints

[photographs42]

i don't know. i haven't stumbled onto one on an inkjet print. in fact the only times i ever see signatures on the fronts of any photographs, it's either vintage work or decorative work.

and i do happen to think it looks tacky, but that's beside the point.

This whole discussion started with a question about digital signatures on digital prints. Few papers are double side coated so one has to assume the digital signature would be on the front.

My opinion was, and still is, that a digital signature is worthless. I sign my prints in pencil on the mount just below the print. In my opinion, this looks more professional than simply matting with no hint of who the artist is. If you think this looks tacky, well, just like me, you are entitled to your opinion.

As the cartoon character Maxine said; “Things would be a lot better if I ran the world. Well, for me anyway.”

Jerome

[paulr]

Forget my opinion ... the point i'm trying to make is that two opinions count--yours, and (if you're trying to sell work or get it shown or collected) the opinion of the people you show it to.

You know your own opinion. It makes sense to at least find out the other.

[photographs42]

Forget my opinion ... the point i'm trying to make is that two opinions count--yours, and (if you're trying to sell work or get it shown or collected) the opinion of the people you show it to.

You know your own opinion. It makes sense to at least find out the other.

Paul, I guess I don’t really agree with that. Only my opinion counts when it comes to my prints. I am not going to change it for every customer I have.

Jerome

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

LOL.... I can see the argument now.. " I a doing serious work in ink jet, so I dont sign my prints on the front, those who do are tacky and know nothing!"..... isnt digital wonderful?

[paulr]

Paul, I guess I don’t really agree with that. Only my opinion counts when it comes to my prints. I am not going to change it for every customer I have.

Jerome

i would hope not! i'm not talking about individual customers, but general markets. there are different art worlds out there, and they have different standards. you're under no obligation to do anything you don't want to ... and if your signature is somehow integral to your work, then i don't think anyone would want you to change it

but if it's just part of presentation, which is usually the case, it should be up for consideration like everything else. if you'd like to get the attention of people who collect work that's usually presented a certain way, and they're not already flocking to you, it might make sense to consider your packaging. it's a bit like dressing for a job interview. most employers won't be hiring you based on your fashion sense, but still, you're not doing yourself any favors by showing up in a clown suit. unless you're interviewing with the circus.

and jorge, on the off chance that you really think any of this signature business has ANYTHING to do with analog vs. digital, i'm sad to report that it doesn't. i'm not having that sleepy conversation with you again at the moment. maybe next time i'm really bored and really, really drunk.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

and jorge, on the off chance that you really think any of this signature business has ANYTHING to do with analog vs. digital, i'm sad to report that it doesn't

Says you, this idea that not only a signature in the front is tacky, but that people will take you more seriously if you dont sign it in the front is just flat out stupid. I dont know what galleries you have been talking to, but they must either be real a$$holes, or they have the "artiste" syndrome. Trust me when I tell you people take me very seriously even when I sign my prints in the front.

As you say, the only people who do not sign their prints on the front are those making ink jet prints..... I dont know what that says, but just think about why painters sign their work, and why would anybody want to sign their prints.

PS..... Did not know you have become the mouth piece for every gallery and collector in the world to be able to "report" to us we are tacky, sounds more like wishful thinking on your part.

[paulr]

I dont know what galleries you have been talking to, but they must either be real a$$holes, or they have the "artiste" syndrome.

i'm just telling you what i see in galleries and museums that show contemporary work--in new york, chicago, san francisco, london ...

Trust me when I tell you people take me very seriously even when I sign my prints in the front.

that's great. and if you're doing fine with the market you're trying to sell to, you have no reason to do anything differently

As you say, the only people who do not sign their prints on the front are those making ink jet prints

that's not what i said. i don't see any difference between the habits of people making one kind of print or another. just between the habits of people who sell work to different markets.

anyway, i'm not going to belabor this anymore. no one can tell you where to sign your prints. i'm just suggesting that an informed decision is better than an uninformed one, given the choice.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

anyway, i'm not going to belabor this anymore. no one can tell you where to sign your prints. i'm just suggesting that an informed decision is better than an uninformed one, given the choice.

And what makes you think yours is the informed desicion? Galleries I visited in Houston, Dallas, New York, Lousiana, Montreal and Quebec all shoed work which had overwhelmingly signatures in the front, from both contemporary as well as stablished photographers. I have purchased prints that come both ways.

If your opinion is that signatures in front are "tacky"...good for you, but to pretend you know better by telling someone he "will be taking more seriously" is not only arrogant but foolish. I doubt very much any curator told you signatures in front are tacky, mostr likely some a$$hole said it was amateurish and you fell for it......

[paulr]

Andbut to pretend you know better by telling someone he "will be taking more seriously" is not only arrogant but foolish.

let me you'd like me clarify even more: it can help you to be taken more seriously in certain markets. not others.

there are galleries even in new york where you'll find contemporary photographs with signatures on the front. you'll probably find some that were done in gold pen, and that are in brightly colored mats, and gold leaf frames, and printed on fake canvas, and that are pictures of the sun setting behind the brooklyn bridge.

but you you'll find few of those in the galleries that are the real destinations in the city--the ones that people looking to advance their careers hope to be represented by.

anyway, sounds like you've done your research, your decision is informed, you know what you want to do. 'nuff said. if everyone did that, they'd have the question resolved for themselves.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

let me you'd like me clarify even more: it can help you to be taken more seriously in certain markets. not others.

Why? You say that those who sign their prints on the front are only those who show work in the gallery/frame shops, you are very mistaken. You seem to think that the better galleries only show prints without signature, you again are very mistaken. You are not more informed than anybody here and I doubt gallery collectors come to you for an opinion on where the signature should be, so for you to say that "certain markets" which I assume you are implying the better galleries is once again arrogant and not really true. Get off your high horse and stop pretending you know more about gallery representation than many here.

If Kirk Gittings, Brian Kosoff, or some of the other participants in this forum who do have great gallery representation wrote this I might be inclined to listen to what they say. Then again I am sure they would never put it as you do.......