How to start to show prints in real, not on-line?

[Ko.Fe.]

I don't know where to post it. It isn't about philosophy or about money...

I like to print in the darkroom or even bring it to the knowledgeable person in local camera store and print from scan.
I don't like how my prints scans looks on-line most of the times. And some of my prints are now taken to homes in Ontario, Alberta, Belgium and Ukraine. Mostly after people I know have those prints in their hands in our house.

Where to show it outside of our house? In our hometown we have one annual show, but they accept only 5x7 prints and audience is small. Here is also artists and professional photographers once a year show, but audience is small even if prints are big. And I'm not professional.

Our town located at the edge of the area which is considered as fourth larger city in NA now. But I'm not very often in Toronto and I'm trying to google something which I'm not sure how to put in English...

What should I google, whom to contact, where go to?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Thank you. I was thinking of showing with others. But where? How it works?

UPD: I searched more for events, shows nearby. And maybe this is what I should try. To visit for sure :
Riverdale Art Walk.
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition.
Queen West Art Crawl.

 

[froyd]

I live in a small town in NA and even here there are a few cafe and restaurants that exhibit the work of local artists on their wall on a rotating schedule. Most of the work is offered for sale at modest prices, but sometimes the artist just shows it for the pleasure of having his/her work seen. Maybe you can find a few places like this near Toronto?

Another option is to check if there are local camera clubs. These often organize group shows for their members. In the US, a good resource is the website MEETUP. I'm not sure whether Meetup hosts Canadian groups as well.

 

[kuzano]

In the two Oregon communities near me, Bend and Redmond Oregon, businesses host First Friday Art Walks. The First Friday evening of each month (every month) businesses in both communities host open houses with hanging or displayed photographic prints, among other art.

Very successful for over ten years in Bend and almost as many years in Redmond. Bend is approx 80k in population and Redmond a bit over half that. Art is normally for sale, but the theme is really an appreciation for Art in a sales/social venue.

Many communities seem to be hopping on the FF Art Walk themes in downtown businesses in other communities.

Community size apparently not be a very limiting factor for once a month static displays each month. Also a number of restaurants and similar venues host and hang different artists on their walls each month as a month long static display. I don't know of many restaurants in both communities I mentoned that do NOT have a specific artist hung each month.

Also, even if you are not professional or in it for the money, consider that some of these venues may be interested in sharing commissions for art work hung on their walls. With galleries often getting from 40 to 50%, similar and lesser commissions may be attractive to business owners in a cut throat food industry.

Otherwise, I lean toward Art Cooperatives, photography plus and know of many 10-20 shareholders, sharing costs to run a full time gallery, where the costs are shared, and actual involvement only requires 2-3 days a month in participation in running the enterprise.

Restricting such Cooperative Ownership to photography only, is counter productive to operation, but opening the enterprise to multiple art media is very productive.

 

[Roger Hicks]

You might find http://rogerandfrances.eu/photography/vernissage-april-30th-2016 mildly interesting.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Thank you all! I was "lost in space" but now I have some directions to try.

I read Roger's article and it is good reminder with important details, I have it bookmarked to re-read by time I'll have prints to frame.
Vernissage is very well known word and experience for me while I was living in USSR and Russia.

From the rest of comments I have information which is "bringing me close to home". We are 100K town and it is going to be double soon and to continue. These "artists crawls" aren't here, but we have all-over-town and rurals drive-in studio tours once a year and I have seen some photographers in the list of participants. I'll try to check if some local cafes have rotating shows.
Here is one studio which shows all kind of photo from different authors as series, they always have door closed and it is empty inside, but I'll try to contact them anyway.

The "theme" or "projects" part is aligned by me. I have three dedicated to special subjects series of negatives and working prints to try.

And here is another question. Is 8x10 too small for display on the walls on events, places which were mentioned in the comments? My largest darkroom paper I could work with is 11x14. If bigger, I'll have to order prints from scans. Maybe where are some article or forum thread about this?

Thank you, Ko.

 

[RichC]

Other suggestions…

• enter competitions - many include an exhibition
• local venues such as cafes and bars - they're often pleased to display art
• a community project - if you do a project about a community (your town, a group of people, an organisation, etc.), the community will often offer to help with an exhibition.

As an example of the last, a friend did a project about the block of flats (= apartments for you Americans!) she lives in, and the buliding manager helped her to set up an exhibition in the community centre (open to the public). Had loads of visitors, with write-ups in magazines!

Despite living in the Digital Age, I think putting on an exhibition with physical prints is important for all the reasons that Roger Hicks gives on his website.

 

[RichC]

Prints can be any size: go with what seems right for the photograph and its subject. Some photographs are best large, some tiny. In the Victoria & Albert Museum in London I saw an exhibition with oval prints that were only 4 inches high - and they were astounding, like tiny jewels!

Don't forget to think about presentation - matting (or not!), framing, etc, as well as size. A frame is more than just a container for a picture - and a sympathetic choice will enhance the mood and meaning of a photograph, while a poor choice will detract from it.

 

[KenR]

My experience is that local venues are happy to display artists work (as it is usually free for them). Try your local:
Library
Hospital
Coffee shop
Just go in and ask - all they can do is say "no".

 

[airfrogusmc]

Take your work and show it to galleries in your town. Send your work to galleries in major cities. I would show finished mounted and matted work.

As already stated enter prestigious and credible competitions and juried exhibits. Usually one thing will lead to others.

 

[Baipin]

I tend to show in coffee shops and similar venues in between "real" art gallery openings. Showing in such a venue provides great exposure for your work, it's relatively inexpensive, and you can sometimes even have opening receptions, depending on the venue - just like a "real" gallery. I started doing this a few years ago when I was 18, and it has been working out wonderfully. I've made a lot of meaningful connections this way.

If you're ever in Toronto, take a look at some of the venues participating in CONTACT. Last year at least, a lot of these places were essentially stores, with space temporarily set aside for artwork. Such an arrangement is advantageous to both you and the store - it brings in customers - which makes it attractive for both parties.

If you want something more serious, start with a group show or join a local collective. There are a few where I live - many throughout Southwestern Ontario - that allow you to hold your own, private shows and guarantee exhibition in an annual all-members show. If you're interested, I can send you a list of them; mostly in Toronto, London and Guelph. Just PM me!

 

[Steve M.]

The amount of people that buy photographic prints is very small, much smaller than the market that local painters, potters, or art printers have. Galleries prefer to show "art" because people may buy it. So you not only have the issue of lack of places to show, there's that smaller market aspect as well. It's just how it is, and always has been. Be grateful there are ANY places to show your work. Coffeehouses, city halls, libraries, wherever you can show is fine.

I was printing 11x14, but went to 16x20 fiber prints (or the cropped equivalent of 16x20 from 6x6, 35mm and 6x9 negs). That necessitated a bigger enlarger and new lenses, and truthfully, how many negatives are worthy of a print that large? It's a fair amount of money and time just to print and dry the photographs, not to mention having to mount them to display nicely on a wall. Fortunately I have 10+ years of work to go through (and maybe 100 printable negatives out of thousands), so I sold the camera gear and plan on just printing from here on out.

Don't expect to make much, if any, money. The cost of materials is very high, the possibility of selling anything is pretty low, and there is absolutely no accounting for what will sell anyway. I have seen some great stuff (rare, but it comes up very occasionally) just sit there w/ little interest, while pure de crap sells for big money. It will drive you crazy if you think about it, so don't.

 

[RichC]

The amount of people that buy photographic prints is very small, much smaller than the market that local painters, potters, or art printers have... Don't expect to make much, if any, money.

True! I exhibit because I want to tell people stuff through my photography, not sell people stuff! The point of photography for me is to pass my visual stories on to others.

I don't expect to profit from shows - in fact, most I've been in have cost more than I've made! That said, my photographs are for sale, and if someone buys one, great, but I'm just pleased for them to be seen. (I might sell more if my photographs didn't cost between £500 and £1500 ($750 and $2250) but my audience is contemporary art, and that's what they expect - I wouldn't be taken as a serious artist if my prices were too low!)

That said, I think Steve's unduly pessimistic. If print sales are of interest, how well yours sell depends on which town you exhibit (some populations are more interested in art and photography than others) and what you exhibit (a few friends make money from exhibiting their prints - but most of them deliberately take photos that they know will appeal such as sunsets, landscapes and kittens, which doesn't appeal to me in the slightest!).

Few are as lucky as my friend Matt, who makes his entire income from selling prints and is represented by galleries across the world! If anyone's interested, Matt restages the America of the 1960s and 1970s, often with a David Lynch type twist! www.matthenryphoto.com

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I was not asking about money making. It is in very first line in OP.