OT: Portland Photo Scene

[xcapekey]

sort of off topic....my gf and I are contemplating moving out of CA to portland....just tired of city politics and lack of support for the arts here....as well as the crazy car culture.

i was wondering what the photo/art scene in portland is like? is the place saturated with photographers? any chance to make a living out there? how's the art scene? is it any good? is it a big super clique or laid back and welcoming?

i've visited twice and loved it so far....are there any good camera stores? real ones, not Ritz/Wolf camera stores..

thanks...

 

[bobofish]

xcapekey,
Portland is indeed a nice place, but it's not without its problems, as I'm sure you can imagine.

The art scene is fairly rich and diverse, but can be a little oppressively small from time to time...being a small city, it suffers from big fish small pond syndrome somewhat. Simply stated, if you are a world-class artist, etc. then you're probablly not going to be selling your work here, rather you will simply live here because of the other things that Portland offers. (nature, good coffee, etc.)

The art scene can be both very very clique-ey as well as welcoming. It depends largely on what you do, and to some extent who you know.....there are a lot of open-minded people, but as I've said, it's a small city, so you can get some big egos that don't quite deserve themselves.

And as far as making a living in photography, I'm not sure exactly what you mean...if you mean as a fashion photographer, you'd be better off in LA, New York or even Seattle. For selling prints, well, um....Saturday Market is always available, but you're not going to get rich that way.

It is a somewhat saturated market, I'm sorry to say. There's a lot of photographers, a lot of artists, and not a lot of space or capital to support them. Take for example pottery and glass....Portland is one of the world's most saturated regions for those two mediums, and as a result, prices are depressed, but quality is very high.

I'm speaking in generalities of course, and I'm sorry about that. I don't want to discourage you from moving here, becuase it's a really nice place, but as far as how to make a good living purely from photography.....the world's getting tough for such things as you may know. Even graphic design ain't the career it once was.

I know a guy who did graphic design a few years ago, and made $37,000 a month, simply doing the things that normal people can do these days. Since normal people can do such things now, graphic designers really have to hot-shoe it around to make money. It's still out there to be made, and you can still make a good living, but you have to compete with people who are willing to work for beans.

 

[derevaun]

There's probably much higher than average support for public art and for art education, if those interest you. The sun is mostly not out from October to May. Blue Moon Camera & Machine is a cool place; I think they send enlargements out though.

 

[enochRoot]

my wife and i have thought of moving to portland as well. we moved back to ohio from long beach last year, and have considered either heading back to the LBC or up to portland, seattle, etc. thanks for the insights bobofish. before we head out for a visit, you'll have to let me know some definite places to check out. we have some friends there, but it's always best to have a second opinion!

 

[xcapekey]

hey there enochroot...i happen to be in the LBC 🙂 thinking about moving to portland....

i'm just really disillusioned with the direction of the LBC city council....it seems like they are selling out the city...all you see are box stores, ugly luxury condo/lofts and starbucks...i've been active in the arts district for the last few years and i think its fighting for dear life before it looks like Anyplace USA....

i was rather enamored by the feel of a more progressive city...i'm sure it has its own fair shair of political problems, but it certainly was a step ahead of LBC in many ways...

anyways, back to photography...I like portland, but my concern is that I wouldn't be able to eat by selling my fine art photos....LA maybe crass and superficial but there is money and there are art buyers and many avenues to sell photos....

while we're on the topic of Long Beach, if there are any other locals, i'll be having a show at Portfolio this month (4th and Junipero)...reception is on Jan 21 6-9:30 and you're all invited 🙂

 

[zuikologist]

xcapekey - good luck with the show.

 

[bobofish]

Don't forget Xcape, LA is only a hope skip and a jump from Portland by air, train and car.

Portland has a high cost of living for its size, but you'll be pleasantly surprised compared to what the scene is down in Cali.

I'm originally from California as well...and have been back many times. It's a crazy joint down there, and I've gotta say, LA is my least favorite city in the WORLD. Money's money on the other hand, and it wouldn't be that hard for you to set up shop in Portland, and use the money you'd be saving in rent or mortgage to fly down to LA and drive up to Seattle to drop your stuff off at galleries or buyers.

And let's not forget that Oregon has some of the most diverse and scenic nature in the world...plenty of fuel for art prints.

I'd be happy to show people around....anybody that's coming out, just give me a holler.

I forgot to mention, there are a couple good photo shops...some are good for some things, and not others obviously. Citizen's Photo is great for used gear like enlargers, chemicals, etc. Plus they have the best lab in town, as far as I've experienced. Optical prints, hand dunking, etc. etc. etc. But their service can be...somewhat less than great from time to time. They've especially got this one bearded curmudgeon behind the camera counter that although knowledgeable, is one of the biggest asses this side of Bhutan.

Then of course Prophoto is a good shop. They've got a mountain of film, and just about any camera you'd like. The staff is very knowledgeable, but their prices are not the best around.

Cameraworld USED to be a great shop, but now it's Ritz camera's little bitch. It looks like a huge shopping mall store now, with all the photo albums, $20 tripods and digital dropboxes you could possibly want. I don't think they even do their own labwork anywmore, which used to be exceptional, reasonably priced, and FAST.

A surprsie to a lot of people is Shutterbug downtown. Shutterbug is an Oregon chain of photo stores, most of which aren't anything special...shopping mall kind of stuff. When they moved their downtown store one block into a nicer building, they made it their flagship store, and they became a Leica dealer; they also carry a bunch of other stuff, like Canon XL series video. It's not a big store, but it's got good staff, good prices, and it's centrally located. A nice little gem, as far as I'm concerned. I've heard they do good printing as well, but I don't know personally.

I should also mention, one of the biggest reasons to choose to live in Portland or Seattle is the nature....my wife and I should've moved away a couple of years ago, and before long we will, probablly to Europe. Why we've stayed however is that it's just too nice of a place to easily let go.....five minutes to the Willamette, and I can kayak to my heart's content. 15 minutes and I'm at either of two magnificent salmon and steelhead streams, 20 minutes and I can catch a monster sturgeon, and an hour and ahalf, and I'm at some of the nicest beaches in the world. (but the ocean is COLD here) And of course 45 minutes to one hour, and you can ski nearly year round.....

Even on DIRTY days, the air here is much cleaner than California. I long ago discovered that only native Angelinos can smell that particlular air in LA, a mix between the sweet jade plants and car exhaust...nobody else seems to notice it down there. Up here every day smells different...fresh rain, new rain, old rain, roses, rivers, grass.....not to mention once in a while the ocean air comes up the columbia, and you feel like you're seaside. Seattle is a wonderful city too, and MUCH bigger, but very very crowded, and with a lot more homeless people.

All the benefits of Portland have their drawbacks though, as with all things in life. Especially as an art photographer, you might have some trouble...there's a lot of galleries, and some of them even draw high prices, but they're not New York or LA prices, I'm afraid. A lot of people end up selling their wares at Saturday Market, which can be handy for somebody who needs "just enough" money, but I can think of a couple of guys at Saturday Market that make some really fine work, and just struggle to get by.

But once again, I have to say....a wise move would be to base yourself in Portland, and sell your stuff all around the country, and even the world. The Portland scene will give you some love, but the other places will give you money.

 

[enochRoot]

xcapekey: i hear you! are you talking about the new fake-deco condos going up along ocean? i watched all the construction, and when they started to finish the outside of the buildings...i gasped in horror. our office is at pine and ocean, so i would walk past them going home every day (i lived on obispo 2 blocks up from broadway). i also think the pike was a big mistake. that could have been great w/ open space/grass/whatever. and it's just some crappy chain stores/restaurants/etc. and when i left...it was still pretty empty. nice blunder on the city's part there. all the money put into that, and then it was nothing people felt like supporting. as for your show...wish i could hit it. i'll tell my business partners to check it out! and how long will it be up for? i'll probably be out for a visit/business sometime in the next month or so. so maybe if it were still up, i could at least check it out.

bobfish: thanks for all the info. ironically enough it is entirely the nature that draws me to portland. i need that type of thing to make me happy. and also oddly enough...europe is on our radar too. who knows where life will take me, but i'd love to live in the pacific northwest for a bit, and then try europe for a bit...then decide where to "settle down". also though, i would hardly call long beach LA. it's an entirely different world. i say this because LA is the worst city in the world in my mind too (well, not counting some cities in arkansas). i have hated it for as long as i can remember. but living in long beach...you really never need to hit LA. i think i only went into LA like 4-5 times total while i was out there. some of those were for business. long beach has all you need, and is WAY more laid back (and less about the pomp and circumstance like LA). anyhoo...any areas or neighborhoods you would suggest to live in? for example, currently (in columbus)...two of the nicest urban neighborhoods are german village and victorian village. nice old homes, an urban feel (right by downtown), like-minded people that are more into the arts than the suburbs, etc. does portland even have areas like that?