Up Off The Mat...Again?

[John Layton]

No two ways about it…2020 was a bust for me - print sales wise. This is especially painful coming from a very successful 2019.

In other years…my typical first-quarter activity centers on re-printing work which had sold during the previous year - which also means creating multiples of my “greatest hits,” speculating (usually with some accuracy), that these particular photos will remain especially popular for the upcoming season.

In past years I’ve embraced the reprinting of (sold) work with gusto…in the anticipation that it will sell once again (which I find motivating), to ensure that I’ll have enough time to print new work to add to my inventory, and to create some space so I might continue to venture out with my camera.

While I’m usually well into this “restocking” process by the end of a given January, I’m now finding myself having hardly begun - I've simply not yet been able get myself “up off the mat” (seems like an apt metaphor).

Right now…I have a very exciting new 5x7 negative - of a small, exquisite frozen waterfall…which I photographed in late December. I’ve loaded this into my enlarger to examine the projected image. I’ve lined up my trays in the sink. I’ve mixed new chemistry. I’ve cleaned and re-loaded film holders. Heck…I’ve even re-set a few mouse traps, regardless that there has been no evidence of mouse activity in over two months! In other words, I’ve been doing anything but starting to print.

Yes, I realize that by posting this, even in the business section…I’m possibly inviting a bit of flaming from those who feel that any thought of equating art with commerce reeks of “impurity.” But make no mistake…any aspect of “sales potential” is, with complete honestly, the last thing on my mind as I create photographs. I live to create photographs…I cannot help but do this. But to the extent that this “personal” work has attracted an audience (albeit small) of buyers as well as collectors, and that I find this attention validating/motivating (who wouldn’t?), I’m now feeling a bit lonely…especially with my recent retirement from teaching…which has meant that I’ve also left the community of my photography faculty and students who, especially now that the college where I taught has closed its doors, are now scattered far and wide.

A recurring thought…that I should suck it up, double down, and finally update my website. Lots of ideas here - introduce more content, more categories of work, create instructional videos, etc. And what about social media? Thing is, while part of me feels that its been somewhat miraculous to have gotten as far as I have without addressing my lack of effective self-promotion, I also feel a fair degree of skepticism that any such efforts would make a bit of difference…and would simply become a huge rabbit-hole/time and energy suck. I’d love to hear some comments on this!

At any rate…I just thought I’d throw this out there, mostly to invite comment and perhaps commiseration - with the knowledge that, in addition to the “purists” among us, there are those for whom a bit of commerce is also part of our equation, and that “getting back up off the mat” might feel a bit of a challenge in light of what 2020 has thrown at us. Anybody?

[BrianShaw]

Self-promotion is difficult and others sometimes mistake it for something it isn’t. But it’s important to getting ahead (or keeping even) in many life pursuits. I’ve always been proud of professional accomplishments yet despite proof (including industry awards) I burdened for a while under a mean-spirited boss who branded that as arrogant attention-seeking. That beat the heck out of me...

I have 2 acquaintances in the arts, one a former “corporate photographer”, who always had an active social media presence but not an obvious sales tool, and another artist who has worked commercially using many visual media and now seems focused on watercolor. The former resumed posting examples and seems to attract a few gigs here and there. The latter started posting one art item per week on Facebook... just a picture of the artwork, a very brief description (too brief for me because even dimensions are omitted), and a bunch of hash-tags. She seems to sell about 20% of her work. When they sell she re-posts with a “sold” banner. I really hope both are also using other social media platforms because only us old folks are on Facebook now. Making a living as an artist seems a satisfying but tough life.

Best wishes in whatever you choose to do. Whatever that may be... address the feelings of loneliness too... that can be a killer.

[Corran]

I also had an excellent 2019, and came into 2020 excited as I was accepted into one of the biggest and most renowned art festivals in the southeast. Early in the pandemic I was motivated and printed a large number of my backlog of negatives.

But that festival was cancelled, sort of. They did a "virtual" festival, but despite intense marketing online and a Zoom "tour" of my darkroom and live printing of a negative (that I gave away to one lucky viewer of the stream), I sold nothing.

I am tentatively hopeful for a good 2021 (and a make-up of that festival) but I definitely get it. I've been very unmotivated to print lately, especially when my print storage is full up from 2020. It also doesn't help when the gallery I show in is doing very well - selling a lot of work, except mine. I am the only photographer, and the gallery patrons are just not seeing the value of photographic prints (I think my prices are reasonable).

Well anyway...looking forward to seeing your frozen waterfall image/print :). I enjoy at least looking and posting work here and elsewhere, like Instagram.

[Tin Can]

Take The Money And Run · Steve Miller Band (https://youtu.be/ido6NrjGi2o)

[John Layton]

To Brian and Bryan...many thanks for the insight and support.

And to Mr. Can, for the sage advice...as always! :cool:

[Vaughn]

Purity? Do people really think that way?

Print sales in 2020 were as good as years past, better than most actually, but still not many...which is why I do not depend on print sales for income. Workshops were cancelled, of course. If I was techie and interested, I could have sold on-line courses, I suppose. I did have inquiries. There are often print sales connected to workshops, also, which did not happen. I am in two galleries, no other self-promotion other than showing up here and another photo forum.

Workshops in Yosemite scheduled for Nov 2021 and April 2022, so we'll see how the vaccinations roll out and what the state of the union is this fall.

Fewer new images, fewer negatives processed in 2020...but still have too many 2020 negatives to process (mostly 11x14), so belately 2020 might still be a productive year. I've been trying to develop some for the past week...got stuff set-up, chemistry ready, but 'things' keep getting in the way. Last night it was my heart, the night before power-outage, a couple days too tired from 6 hours of biking, and other delays during the evening of one kind of another. Quite silly and interesting to watch. TONIGHT!!!

On-line stuff. Only good for 50% of my work...the image. The other 50% is the print...totally missing from on-line. And worse...image and print come together and become more than the sum of the parts. On-line sucks for some.

[Thad Gerheim]

Although my work flow and audience is different than yours-I'm in a tourist town, I'll try to contribute as to what my experience has been. I spend a lot of my time in the winter drum scanning, working in photoshop, printing and framing. I do not enjoy all the computer time and miss the wet darkroom days. But to keep my nose to the grind, I try to keep to some kind of routine. After anywhere from two to four cups of coffee in the morning for motivation, I'll spend around four hours sitting behind the monitor. Let me say that the winters here are not mild and when it's below 0'F it's a little easier for me to be inside. My afternoons are usually spent either reading or recharging my batteries by going skiing. Getting outside for me from time to time is very important for my sanity.

Normally I have my gallery, 850sq. ft. of retail space, open in the summers for five months. I was open last year for about 1 and a half months. It was a very strange year. Usually about half of my income is from selling a lot of small matted photos out of bins and half from selling a few large framed photos of the wall. While I was open last year, business was good and it was the large photos that were selling the most. Cost wasn't that big of an issue, people were tired of looking a huge empty walls while stuck inside and wanted to fill them up.

It definitely wasn't a smart decision, financially, to close but, I believe it was for mental and physical health reasons. Although, I had been looking for a reason to take time off and get out in the back-country with the camera!

Well, that's my story for what it's worth.

[tgtaylor]

Print wise 2020 was a bust for me also. The first 3 months were taken-up with cataract surgery for both eyes. Then came along the pandemic and wildfires – all of which conspired to keep me indoors most of the time. As a result I didn't shoot one 8x10 or 5x7 negative the whole year! The smoke from the wildfires finally dissipated and in January I came up with an idea for an alternative printing project (salt and/or kallitype) and scouted-out 5 subject locations.

So I got 5 holders out to reload with an unopened 10-sheet pack of the last remaining Acros negatives and guess what? There were only 8 sheets in that pack! I couldn't believe it: Fuji shorted me 2 sheets. I double checked the holders and each one had one sheet on each side so instead of 5 loaded holders I only had 4. In my log book I marked that holder as “unloaded” but when the time came to begin the start the project I didn't pay attention to the log book and just grabbed the holders whose dark slides indicated that they were loaded. This didn't become apparent until unloading in the dark. The result was that 2 of the 3 locations that I photographed that day will have to be re-photographed – preferably on a weekend because of the logistics.

The fourth location I first shot last Thursday during a high wind event. The wind had died down to manageable levels when I left home but were again roaring when I arrived on-site. Undaunted, I set-up and with my golf umbrella at the ready waited for the wind's nadir. After the shot I packed-up and while walking back to the car the wind dropped. The lighting was good so I went back and set-up the camera again, pulled the dark slide and while still under the dark-cloth heard the sound of the grass cutter approaching. Thinking that he was going to drive directly past the background I tripped the shutter. Developing the negatives the first shot was a total lost. I don't know what happened. Maybe the darkcloth was blown across the lens or I didn't close the back or something. But the 2d negative was perfect except that the grass cutter was in the top right. I went back Saturday and re-shot it and it came out perfect.

Right now there is an “atmosphere river” impacting central California so I haven't had a chance to print those two negatives yet. However partly sunny skies are forecast for this weekend before another round of rain arrives and in anticipation I just mixed a fresh batch of ferric oxalate this afternoon. Now the question is if it is sunny this weekend should I print or try shooting the other 3 locations?

[John Layton]

TG...third paragraph, third sentence, first word: "Undaunted." Perfect!

[John Layton]

Here my first rendition of the "Frozen Waterfall" print I'd referred to above. When I first viewed this print...my response was "this is garbage!" But then I started to like it a bit more. But basically...there's so much going on in this image - and I find the top just a tad contrasty and dark to my liking. So now I will see if I can fix it more to my liking...knowing that it still may end up as "garbage!" At any rate:

212174

[stawastawa]

John Layton, Very much appreciate you sharing your experience. Laying out what we are or aren't doing I think can be very helpful. And its helpful to me to be reminded what others are going through. I'm not sure where I'm trying to walk to, but I'm definitly feeling down on the mat meself, and have a lot in waves these past 6 months.

[robphoto]

I really sympathize with the difficulty of starting to print, when there's no deadline. For me, printing is the most mentally challenging part, because it's where you try to execute something and say, "That's it, that's the best expression of what I intended." It's truly daunting.

Do you care about the waterfall negative, or is it just filling a slot for something reasonably appealing that someone might buy?

Do you have email info for some of your "patrons"? Print buyers, workshop participants, etc.? Could you offer them a group of new work, or a themed set of prints?

Have you considered applying for a forgivable PPP loan? They exist to address this loss of income, and are available to sole proprietors.

Is there a sort of print or photo you've wanted to make, that could be done in this time?

I do a lot of HABS/HAER (Historical American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record) work, and I'm using some time now to get set up for doing it in 5x7, rather than 4x5 (the work is delivered as contact prints). Not a commercial advantage, but more satisfying scale for myself for the prints.

[Duolab123]

I don't support myself with MY work. My wife however is an artist, she's had shows canceled, she still has sales. It's kind of a catch 22. She's trying to be ready for her exhibition, so she's reluctant to sell certain pieces as she's planning these to be part of her exhibition.

This virus stinks! I count myself as very fortunate that I don't have to be amongst the "crowd" I've been careful.

Hopefully by autumn, we will all be back in the saddle.

[Paul Ron]

ive been wanting to do my back log of printing this year but found so many other projects that kept me very busy.

you dont realize how anti social you are till there's a pandemic n nothing in your life has changed.

[GRAYnomad]

My last good sales were $2000 in one week...that was 12 years ago :D

I used to sell directly off my web site but was building a motorhome at the time and didn't have the time for anything else so I disabled the sales feature and only got around to reinstating it last year when I did a full site makeover.

The cynic in me thinks print sales are a thing of the past, but I hope I'm wrong.

As for self promotion, I do almost nothing. I have a business page on Farcebook but that's useless. I refuse to get involved in other social media, in fact I closed down ALL accounts accept FB and YT just a week or so back. I don't even know if I want to promote, but I am getting pretty active on YT so maybe that's the place to do it. In a previous life I had my own small gallery and ran workshops, that combo worked well but I had to shut it all down when we sold up and hit the road 20 years ago. I've dropped anchor now so could do the same again, but I don't want to get tied down to a shop and I doubt there's enough interest in workshops around here. I did start a photography club 2 years ago but have shut that down as well, very few people were that interested in photography, it was just coffee club really.

So I don't know what to do, truth is although a few extra $ would be nice I don't need the money so that disincentiveses (?) me a lot. I think I'll spend more time writing tutorials etc for the web site and generally putting time into the site, making YT videos, and taking more photos, plus revisiting old ones that had bad scans.

I might also start a "Photo of the week" post on FB that links to the photo's web page.

[GRAYnomad]

...you dont realize how anti social you are till there's a pandemic n nothing in your life has changed.

It's made absolutely no difference to us :D We normally seclude ourselves in the bush and just continued doing that.

[jp]

Photography is very important to me and I have sometimes done it for side money in the past.... I had a gallery for a while too.

I'm mostly in the IT industry and 2020 was a very big year for that, with people needing new infrastructure for working at home, adapting their businesses, etc... So I have ceased all photography promotion and simply gone shooting as a way to find some balance in life and fresh air. If covid manners preclude photography networking and I go for a camera hike with myself or family, that's fine.

I'd suggest photography businesspeople who sell prints try to buddy up with some realtors and trades people; the people making initial contacts with the new home owners and people to your area. In the non-urban areas, houses have sold like crazy with people moving from expensive urban areas to less expensive and more free rural/suburban areas because of covid they can {telework, retire, change jobs}. They need decoration and if you do landscapes, they are moving to the area in part due to to it's beauty.

In terms of social media, I follow a few professionals... Some get results based on the large amount of effort (content, networking, cross promotion, etc..) and it's genuinely interesting. Some seem like narcistists polishing the some lame crap and documenting the process on instagram.

[Ben Calwell]

Several questions: For those who do sell a lot of prints, what sells the best? Landscapes? Still life? Black-and-white? Are you selling traditional silver darkroom prints? Do buyers of photography place a premium on “hand-made” darkroom prints over digitally made prints? Or perhaps buyers don’t really care if a print was made in a darkroom or spit out of a printer.

[Corran]

I sell mostly silver prints. Marketing the handmade nature of these prints is key, and the pricing reflects that. I have seen digital photographers selling 13x19 prints, matted to 18x24, for $25, which is simply insanity IMO, even if you are selling hundreds of prints - at my best calculation, with cheap matting materials, inkjet print mass-produced and a poly bag to bring to a festival, one can't be making more than $5 a pop at that.

My 13x19 or thereabout prints start at $200 and I think that's too cheap. I mostly do landscapes but I do sell the occasional architecture image. I wouldn't say I sell "a lot" of prints but when I have a good festival, I can sell a decent amount. In my view it's better to sell 3-4 $200 prints than dozens of $25 prints that I'm making almost nothing on.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

2020 was a strange year for me too. Sales wise I think I may have sold one or two prints, always 8x10's. I did stay active with several projects. Built a book binding studio/ art/ photography space, worked on a still life project ( it continues in 2021) had a segment shot about me by the Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). The director said they are editing it now so it may air in a month or two, I'm building another Ebony style 8x10 camera and this one may be for sale? I'm not in it for the money and never have been I just need to see my work in print for it to be done. I'm printing some images for a photographer in Boston who may want to take up carbon printing, I've taught a couple of online carbon classes that went very well I thought. Looking forward to teaching carbon with Vaughn in Yosemite in October. Had my first book accepted into the Yosemite Renaissance 36 ( now they have a virtual opening) and the good thing is is that the show will be at the Yosemite museum in October when the workshop is being taught so I can actually see all of the work along with the workshop students and finally I have a solo show at LightBox Photographic in Astoria Oregon which opens on March 13th and runs for three months. My second 15x52 inch panoramic book "A Banquet of Light" will be on display along with framed 8x20 prints on the walls and an additional 14 8x10 prints of new work hung in the gallery as well. Even with all of this, I find it hard to get motivated. I really need to finish the 8x10 camera as it will be the best build yet, then I can start the other three I plan to build. I stay busy but still find it hard because of this pandemic. I went out and shot with a friend a month or so ago and I brought out the 14x17 and I have some negatives I really need to see in print. To prepare 14x17 carbon tissue takes time and I'm trying to get motivated to do that as well. Sorry if it seems like I do a lot but it has been that way for as long as I can remember and it is getting worse!

[Duolab123]

Well, I'm not trying to be political at all. The state I live in removed all mask mandates, indoor dining, everything a month ago. We have the UK variant going exponentially. We are close to last place in vaccinations.

Bottom line, normal is a long ways off. I take all precautions, I give blood every 56 days. I wish I could do more. So many people suffering. Hopefully we can get this under control. My belief, which is sad, is like 1918, this virus will be with us, globally, until it's had it's way. And that is something, I hope is soon.