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Imagine you’re browsing a gallery hall, champagne in one hand, price list in another, and the many works of photographic art on the wall are being studied and admired on this, the first opening night of a gallery show in downtown New York City. But you’ve seen all these pictures before, because this time these photographs are no longer held in your hard drive, they are in fact on a gallery wall being celebrated, finally giving you the accreditation that you have worked so hard to get.
Having your work displayed in a gallery is a dream that many photographers share. Even for a vast array of professional photographers, many have never exhibited.
With the birth of digital photography, many of the cherished signature techniques of photographers are now quite simply a click of the mouse button away. Even on smart phones we see programs such as instagram which have of course done wonders for the photographic community, as the art form becomes increasingly accessible, making way for a whole new breed of photographic talents.
However, its ease of post work has left many talented photographic artists in this forte redundant, with their skill sets turned mainstream. With the most part of showcasing work online, making that leap from the computer screen and on to the gallery wall is a long and hard process.
Nothing worth doing is ever easy and there are no short cuts, but you’ll soon discover below that providing you remain tenacious, it will be your photography with the$400,000 price tag.
Make an Exceptional Portfolio
When going door to door with galleries or attending meetings with the owners, the examples that you show them have got to be the best quality available.
Galleries love to exhibit work that is part of a series, as collectors will want to buy all of them! Display your work in a large format and have them professionally printed on the best quality paper you can afford and remember to handle them with gloves to avoid finger prints.
Where to Start, Keep it Local
Many of the galleries that are closest to you support art in their community. Finding one that is right for you is tricky, especially for a photographer. With this in mind, it’s always a good starting point to see if any of the smaller galleries would allow you to put on a show for a few days renting their space. However, hopefully once they see your work, they’ll take it at a commission.
This is also a great way to invite other gallery owners to see your work, and trust me; providing you create enough buzz they won’t have a choice, and will have to come and see your work!
The Importance of Networking
Every town and city has an artist network of people. They dine together, attend gallery openings with one another, watch live music etc. These are the people that you want to get in front of first and foremost, and there are some basic steps to do this:
1. Attend your cites largest galleries’ opening nights
2. Get some business cards made up
3. Chat to people, everyone’s favorite subject is themselves
4. Find out who runs the bigger galleries
5. Become a member of the galleries or get on the mailing list
Networking can be a daunting experience if you don’t enjoy socializing, but it can also be a lot of fun!
The important thing here is to become a face on the scene, as its all well and good getting your work into a gallery, but imagine if nobody came! What you want is an address book, that’s stacked full of contacts, so that when your opening night comes around you can’t even walk in the space!
One of the best documentaries I’ve seen about generating buzz is the Banksy documentary called Exit Through the Gift Shop. It gives an excellent account of how you can generate buzz for your work.
Photography always looks better when printed and displayed well. So don’t have your best work hidden away in your computer, print it out and display it on the walls of your home. As you never know who might be coming round for dinner.
