Advice gratefully received: Exhibiting my personal work

OurManInTangier

OurManInTangier

An Undesirable
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Hi.

I've been offered the opportunity to show 15-20 printed and framed images from my personal photography ( i.e. the kind of thing I post in the gallery here) in a very large public building and a conference centre. They want the images up for two months and will require a quick replacement of any images sold ( they don't want any gaps on their walls basically.)

It's been a long time since I was involved in any kind of exhibition and even then it was part of a pretty large group, so any advice on things I may overlook, the obvious stuff and any modern trends people are aware of would be hugely helpful and very much appreciated.

The spaces are fairly large so it looks like I'll be going A3ish size for each of the prints. I'm going down there tomorrow to measure up and get a good idea of lighting etc but had in mind a fairly simple black frame set-up for mono prints.

Thanks
 
question is what will be the distance between photos and people. from couple of metres A1 printed and sticked on foam look impressive. for 1-2m A3 seems to be quite ok. I have A2 print in frame with passe-partout over the desk and it looks better from middle of room.
 
Thanks Pau & Nico!

Jan, the space differs from one location to another. One is a very long room the other is a large open conference space. I don't want to go too big though as these will be for sale...however should anyone really want a massive print I can always get that done for them.
 
Congrats - as for print sales, consider taking deposits from buyers and making a print to order. That way you have a complete set of exhibition prints that you can install in another location in the future and the walls are never bare at your current exhibition.

It is typically to make two sets of artist's proofs - one set for your private archives and another for exhibition purposes. You can also offer the prints in different sizes to prospective buyers when they are print to order and the buyer is also given the option to choose matte and frame to suit their home or office decor.
 
OurManInTangier said:
Thanks Pau & Nico!

Jan, the space differs from one location to another. One is a very long room the other is a large open conference space. I don't want to go too big though as these will be for sale...however should anyone really want a massive print I can always get that done for them.
Click to expand...

I happen to like 11x14 with a large mat. Chances are people wont ask for a massive photo unless you can demonstrate a few. Alex Webb exhibits 30x40" - very impressive.
 
Congrats!! been years since I exhibited anything but, it's always worth checking the lighting and orientation, reflections can be problematic if one gets it wrong, hanging a little low can help, so they reflect the floor
 
I kind of like whatever metric size is close to 12x15, with a generous mat, -- I go along with the "red" dot method, they can dot the ones which are sold, so you can print what people want toward the end of the show.

Congrats big time, I think you will find this a rewarding experience, nice to get the work done, matted and framed-- brings a bit of closure.

You are going to post photos of the exhibit- ;-) What kind of wine at the opening?

Regards, John
 
Since I am a rank amateur I can't offer any ideas about hanging, lighting, sizes and such but I just feel it in my bones that this will be a Huge Success for you and pleasing to the viewers. Your photos are astonishingly excellent!
 
Congratulations Simon, well deserved exposure this. Your body of work ranks as my favourite here at RFF. Good luck, not that I think you'll need it - I'm confident the quality of your images will shine through no matter what.
 
Congratulations, Simon, that's great news! I always enjoy your work. Is there an association of visual artists or publicly-funded arts organisation that can provide further advice? Most galleries I've visited use the red spot method, so the exhibit photos remain on display and print orders are processed separately.
 
Congrats on the exhibit. I can't claim to be a pro at this, but before the shows that I've had, people advised me to buy little red stickers to write "sold" on, and put those on the photos that I was able to sell. I told the buyers that they could have their picture on the day the exhibit came down, and all seemed to be ok with that. Good luck.
 
Wow, thank you all for such generous comments and helpful ideas, I'm really quite astonished.

Firstly I should ensure I haven't led you all astray with my initial post. Unfortunately this isn't a gallery exhibition, its an opportunity to exhibit my work on the walls of a conference centre and a public offices building for two months. The opportunity came from a client who likes my personal snaps and who shares an interest in photography and art with two colleagues who are the Chief Execs for the bodies that run and work in these buildings. However I am hoping that this will a) spur me into pushing for a gallery exhibition(s) and b) possibly shifting my focus from solely working as a freelance press photographer and pushing into something a little more 'personally exciting,' if that makes sense?

I've been trying to source frames, mounts and so on and can see why it makes sense to have a permanent set for yourself and to use the 'red dot' system for selling - framing etc is not cheap, especially in numbers and avoiding dead cheap looking frames.

I'm going to have a tough time selecting the images as they've given me carte blanche to choose what I show and how I show it. My initial thoughts have been to possibly choose images with a similar theme. For instance I have an album here that I've called "Glimpses" or "Just Glimpses" and wonder if I should select images from there, and elsewhere, that fit that 'theme' of glimpsed moments unnoticed by most eyes due to the flowing nature of time. Or should I simply put up 15-20 of my favourite/better images that may be less connected but have a greater impact?

This is where I get annoyed with myself. Thirty six years old, a paid professional since I left college aged twenty two and I've never put myself through this before. I've had some of my work in exhibitions but its always been through work and a picture editor has made the final decision on what and whose pictures have gone in, though I haven't been a staffer since 2003 so its been a long time even since then.

Keeds - I'm having 10-15 largish prints and possibly a wider selection of smaller 8x10 prints showing at the IP City Centre building in Ipswich at some point in the next month. It differs from this opportunity in that its based in Suffolk, smaller in scale and is just being shown along with various artworks along corridors and meeting rooms - though all the work will be for sale, has my contact/website details and will hopefully perk some interest in these tougher times.
 
Well deserved Simon ! Don't forget to put the hat and broom over the roof shots ! 😉
I have no experience but since the audience will be mostly non photography circles people, put the shots that have the most visual impact and appeal the most aesthically to people. Don't be too intellectual about it IMO trying to explain the why and how's of your exhibit.

And also, please share your experience as you progess, I would definitely be interested !
 
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