Thinking of a Show.....

[Hosermage]

Here's a crazy idea... theme: "The world is better with people"

The idea is to display the images in the order of increasing human presence. This will allow you to begin with shots without people, create a feeling of loneliness. Then you have a few shots of people simply peeking out, and then progress into images that's just about the people, like the cement20 and "far side".

Not sure if you can force people to view the images in a forced sequence in the gallery.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Yeah I tried that a couple of times (trying to have people go in an order) and overall it didn't work. People would go backwards, walk into the middle of it etc. The only one that I found that was reasonably successful was my MFA thesis show back in '96 -- it was a series of wall mounted light boxes, and I blackened the entire gallery space, and hung tall black dividers from the ceiling in a kind of path/labyrinth, so you had to follow the path (the light boxes themselves were the only sources of light in the gallery space), and you couldn't see any of the other images on the other side of the room. But, some people even managed to go in the reverse order in that one too, so unless you paint big arrows on the floor, I've personally found it a bit difficult to accomplish.

I have to also think of the gallery, and their interest in hopefully selling some of the pieces (me too!). Hopefully the pieces will have a level of appeal that will compel folks to pull out their wallets!

 

[Vince Lupo]

Think I finally have it all figured out, in terms of what I'm (currently) doing as a show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/direction-one-inc/sets/72157635064297991/

I think they'll likely go in this order too. They're all printed and matted (about 11"x16" and matted 20"x24"). I've been making inquiries at various gallery spaces in the area, so hopefully something will happen soon!

Started laying them out today, and they're looking pretty good (at least I think so!)......


Possible Show by Vince.Lupo, on Flickr

 

[Vince Lupo]

I'm going to be putting up 7 pieces in an area hotel next week, and hope that some sell! Actually I'm still dithering about pricing on these -- prints are about 11"x16", matted and framed 20"x24".

Just waiting on the glass -- boy this art business sure is expensive!


Frame1 by Vince.Lupo, on Flickr

 

[DominikDUK]

Vince can you elaborate why you choose these 7 photographs over the others. Thank you.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Vince can you elaborate why you choose these 7 photographs over the others. Thank you.

Actually I'm not there yet! Right now I have about 25 photos in this ongoing series, and I think I might have to give some consideration to the venue (an airport hotel lobby -- near the bar!), and photos that might resonate with a wider audience. So maybe that photo in the previous post might work, the photo of Tom Clancy not so much. Maybe the photo of the woman in the cathedral - primarily because I think that's my best shot (but it has a bit of a religious overtone, so maybe not?), maybe the photo with the Model A Ford in it, and I don't know what else.

Have any suggestions?

 

[rwintle]

Sorry I'm so late to this... just looked at your "Possible Show Edit" set (http://www.flickr.com/photos/direction-one-inc/sets/72157635064297991/). I really like Gettys7, Walker and Gallery2 (commented/faved the latter one).

I didn't see above any hints as to which seven you chose... I'd be interested to see.

Good luck with the show!

 

[DominikDUK]

Don't take it the wrong way Hotels want decorative art so I would choose "decorative" images to sell in a hotel.

Looking at your image I saw some narratives for example mountainous landscape > road> car they work together. The pictures from the room (I like them but not all that suitable for a hotel venue) first the ventilator window room > followed by the dead animal/picture frame room and so on, the room pictures are more suitable for a gallery and I like them. The ventilator image would suit a book cover very well.

The car pictures mountain, car, road means travel so is a better choice for a hotel imo

Take my comments with a grain of salt though as this is only my personal opinion.

 

[FrankS]

Have you come up with a price yet? (Is that too personal to ask? If so, sorry.)

 

[Vince Lupo]

Price - well yes. I'm thinking in the $250 - $275 range. They're about 11"x16" prints, matted and framed 20"x24". I just sold a smaller matted print of the woman in the cathedral for $130, and someone else wants that shot in the earlier post (matted only in that 11"x16" /20"x24"configuration) for $150. So I figure $100-$125 extra for framing.

Too much? Too cheap? Just right?

 

[FrankS]

Sounds right to me. I was thinking $325 for a framed print that size.

 

[cz23]

Very nice, Vince. And a great way to spend the cold months.

They look really good laid out together. I see even the landscapes have some evidence of humanity in them. I like that thread. Sequencing is a difficult but enjoyable process, isn't it? Good luck and good sales.

John

 

[Vince Lupo]

Sounds right to me. I was thinking $325 for a framed print that size.

Yeah that was originally my price range. But the hotel is not taking a commission, so I thought that I could then lower the price a bit.

 

[jesse1dog]

Just picked up on this thread.
Had a suggestion or so that I put up some sort of show so this is a useful discussion.
Issue with me is possible gallery space - the amount of it!

Until you know the possibilities I think it will be difficult to know how many photos, and what size, to show. You don't have to have a coherent theme running through 25/30 photos. I can't see why you couldn't have 3 or 4 diverse themes that might appeal to different viewers/punters. This would provide greater flexibility for you and the possibility of smaller displays in several venues. To take 20/30 photos and display could be quite a gamble for a gallery, but to take a group of 8/9 might be an entirely different proposition, and much more attractive.

Just a random thought.

jesse

 

[Vince Lupo]

Jesse, thanks for the insights. As far as the gallery spaces that I've been looking at, none has yet been a 'commercial' gallery (though I do have my eye on one in Baltimore). They've been galleries within regional 'Arts Centers' -- they have art classes, events and exhibition spaces. One of them that I've applied to - The Delaplaine Center for the Arts in nearby Frederick, Maryland - has about 5 exhibition spaces of various sizes, and actually for a couple of those spaces I'd probably need more like 40 pieces to fill them. I'm also looking at small spaces like coffee shops, which seem to be more and more receptive to exhibiting artwork of all kinds. So really I'm quite flexible.

One of the things that I am finding out is that a lot of these exhibition spaces are already filled up for 2014, so they're looking at 2015 and beyond!

 

[Vince Lupo]

One of the things I just tried was a Flickr 'book'. I chose 23 of the 25 photos and created a book out of them using their new service. The book cost $37.45 including shipping -- the way they currently have it, it's strictly a photo book, so the only text you have is on the cover and spine (and it's even limited at that!). So I got one made and I should receive it tomorrow. One thing I was thinking of was to sell the book as an (relatively!) inexpensive way for someone to have some of my work. I'll have to see how this book looks first before I travel much further down that road. I'll find out tomorrow!

 

[rwintle]

One of the things I just tried was a Flickr 'book'. I chose 23 of the 25 photos and created a book out of them using their new service. The book cost $37.45 including shipping -- the way they currently have it, it's strictly a photo book, so the only text you have is on the cover and spine (and it's even limited at that!). So I got one made and I should receive it tomorrow. One thing I was thinking of was to sell the book as an (relatively!) inexpensive way for someone to have some of my work. I'll have to see how this book looks first before I travel much further down that road. I'll find out tomorrow!

This seems like a really good idea - like an accompanying exhibit guide/program.

Have you considered other photo book services? Blurb has lots of good options and has customizable layouts to boot. I'm sure you can get something that looks good for less than what you mentioned for the Flickr book. Just a thought.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Yes I did try Blurb, and maybe I wasn't doing something right at the time, but I found their interface to be very frustrating. I downloaded their desktop application, and it kept quitting on me unexpectedly. And I couldn't figure out how to simply have one photo on the left page and one photo on the right page of the same dimensions. No fancy layout, just large horizontal photo on the left with a white border, large horizontal photo on the right with a white border. It might allow me to do it on one page, but then it would either want to make the next a single shot as a double-page spread, or it wanted to do multiple photos on one page, but nothing as simple as what I wanted (and I did go over all the available layout options). Here again, I probably didn't give it enough of a chance, and there was likely something that I wasn't doing correctly, but at the time I just gave up in frustration. I would be willing to revisit it though. I would be curious to know what a similar Blurb book would cost with the addition of some text.

 

[jesse1dog]

I've been using the Blurb 'Booksmart' for quite some time and certainly without any of the problems that you seem to have had. It downloaded easily enough and can be used 'off line'. Blurb formats and papers give all sorts of possibilities - Andrea Taurismo's '-9289-' is worth looking at as a possible model for an exhibition guide. And text insertion is easy enough - I find the problem in the text itself not the insertion on a page.
I would urge you to look a Blurb again and investigate the possibilities.
I'm only one of quite a few Blurb users on RFF and between us we must have a wealth of experience there for your asking.

jesse

 

[Vince Lupo]

I am definitely willing to give it another shot. BTW how do the prices compare?