Exhibition - where to place prices and other info

[anotherguy]

I visit a lot of galleries. I have never seen technical data beyond the type of print, or if any special techniques like hand-coloring or toning have been done.

I had the same experience but maybe it depends on the type of galleries we went to?

[bob carnie]

What a number of "galleries" do looks downright hokey to me. If they have any respect for an artist or photographer at all, they should allow them to have a significant say in how their own work is presented. I've never seen people "rifling through price lists". If they want a piece, they want it,
and will ask the price. Just beware of billionaires - they haggle and try to pay the least they can.

Not how it works Drew

You have been hanging around Bigfoot in the hills for too long, Galleries want the artwork to look the way they want on their walls and all have different views on that , they will allow suggestions from the artists, (and yes I know Drew in your case they would make an exception, who could refuse the originator of photography) but the way it works over here its the artists role to provide the work, and the Gallery presents.

To date I have probably hung close to 1 thousand shows and I. can say the simpler the presentation the better with nothing other that the framed artwork for the viewers to see, and of course if there are buyers in the room then they can refer to the printed list provided to discuss type of work, artist statement, pricing ect.

Also would you do a friend a solid and send your billionaire friends my way I am quite experienced with haggling and this recession is tough and I could use your influence.

[Pieter]

Not how it works Drew

You have been hanging around Bigfoot in the hills for too long, Galleries want the artwork to look the way they want on their walls and all have different views on that , they will allow suggestions from the artists, (and yes I know Drew in your case they would make an exception, who could refuse the originator of photography) but the way it works over here its the artists role to provide the work, and the Gallery presents.

To date I have probably hung close to 1 thousand shows and I. can say the simpler the presentation the better with nothing other that the framed artwork for the viewers to see, and of course if there are buyers in the room then they can refer to the printed list provided to discuss type of work, artist statement, pricing ect.

Also would you do a friend a solid and send your billionaire friends my way I am quite experienced with haggling and this recession is tough and I could use your influence.

Thank you Bob for your real-world observations, rather than speculation or fantasy offered by others. I have a little first-experience with galleries (a few shows, conversations with gallery directors and participating artists) and what I gather is that few sales are actually made at openings, most are made beforehand to VIP collectors or friends and family. An opening seems to be more of a social event, good for networking, not necessarily conducive to sales. After all, it is difficult to really commune with the art in a crowded, noisy room. I much rather prefer go to a gallery after the opening be able to see the work unobstructed, undistracted and be able to talk to gallery personnel in depth about a work or body of work, learn more about the artist and their work. As far as price display goes, having a little numbered dot on the wall is fine as it eliminates the distraction of a wall label. Research has shown in museums most people spend more time reading wall labels than actually looking at the work! But on the other hand, having the price discretely printed on a wall labeled can be informative. Sometimes I am amazed by how much is being asked for a photo, but on a number of occasions I have been surprised that a nice print that I like is relatively affordably.

[Drew Wiley]

Bob - don't transpose your own conventions over the bigger picture. Galleries who outsource their own framing do it for exactly one reason - affordability due to a mass-produced method. I've been on the delivery end of that, supplying thousands of pre-cut components at a time (no relation to my personal work).
By contrast, there have been high-end galleries who made most of their profits on their own framing services. And I'm not talking about goo-gaw gilded Baroque stuff. I did my own framing as a value-added thing - it made both me and the gallery look a lot better. And done right, it doesn't detract from the image at all, but enhances it. The one shoe fits all approach might be justifiable in terms of cost efficiency, but not in relation to the esthetic angle. I like total control of my own images, right up to the framing.

And incidentally, my feet aren't big - they're small and deformed. I have to wear expensive custom-made boots. The positive side of that is that I got a medical exemption from the Vietnam War draft. "Bigfoot" was a huge school companion, for whom we carved 18 inch long wooden slip-on feet. Then we had access to a Hollywood quality King Kong suit. Those big footprints were left behind on sandbars at a remote 4WD camping area.
When word got around, and Bigfoot believers started showing up, then Bigfoot appeared from the woods to terrify those people. It's amazing how fast a full grown man can climb a tree. After about a week of that, someone came out of his tent with a shotgun, so Bigfoot turned tail and ran off into the woods, and the prank ended. In a later decade, he became the High School Principal.

[PatrickMarq]

So some feedback how I done the final setup.
Created new cards with: (almost forgot, the cards are on the wall with putty)
- my name
- name /number of image and year created
- Little description sometimes and where the image was taken (city /country)
- Type of print and year the print was made
- Paper kind
- Size of image
- QR code towards website
And a price

Also a separate paper about who I am some info about the exhibition and what is a platinum print.
A visitor’s book
As there is a television a small movie 2/3 min that shows the whole platinum print process.

[jnantz]

So some feedback how I done the final setup.
Created new cards with: (almost forgot, the cards are on the wall with putty)
- my name
- name /number of image and year created
- Little description sometimes and where the image was taken (city /country)
- Type of print and year the print was made
- Paper kind
- Size of image
- QR code towards website
And a price

Also a separate paper about who I am some info about the exhibition and what is a platinum print.
A visitor’s book
As there is a television a small movie 2/3 min that shows the whole platinum print process.

Good luck with your show Patrick!

[PatrickMarq]

The vernissage was yesterday, and there was a lot of people more than I have expected.
It’s the start of the holidays and a lot off people I know are already gone, sold a few prints and have an article about my photobook and exhibition in a local newspaper.
After a the stress quite happy.

[PatrickMarq]

Good luck with your show Patrick!

Thank you

[Alan Klein]

Not how it works Drew

You have been hanging around Bigfoot in the hills for too long, Galleries want the artwork to look the way they want on their walls and all have different views on that , they will allow suggestions from the artists, (and yes I know Drew in your case they would make an exception, who could refuse the originator of photography) but the way it works over here its the artists role to provide the work, and the Gallery presents.

To date I have probably hung close to 1 thousand shows and I. can say the simpler the presentation the better with nothing other that the framed artwork for the viewers to see, and of course if there are buyers in the room then they can refer to the printed list provided to discuss type of work, artist statement, pricing ect.

Also would you do a friend a solid and send your billionaire friends my way I am quite experienced with haggling and this recession is tough and I could use your influence.

Photos aren't unitary oil paintings. How do photographers and galleries handle presenting different pricing for the same photo as they can be produced afterwards in different sizes from the gallery displayed one? Also, don't you get into the cost based on type of framing if that's included? There are a lot of variables.

[jnantz]

things are "editioned". and sometimes prices change depending on what number is assigned to the print. for a long time I destroyed/dissassembled negatives so the work is singular, most recently I have been selling negatives ( lumen images ) stitched togther in book form. they're kinetic .. and change with every viewing. .. photography's greatest strength ( being able to make 1,000,000 images from a negative / file ) is it's greatest weakness... some folks keep printing after their edition is "ended" by just changing inks toner paper size or whatever so they skirt the convention ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯