OK'd for my first gallery display...questions

[jrh312]

I got the go-ahead for putting up 12 photos in a local library during a community festival (1-week display). I assumed I wouldn't be able to sell through the library during that week, so I'm going to put my contact info in the write-up they want me to post with the photos.

I suggested that we keep the display as a "local theme" since that's kind of the point of the festival. The newspaper is writing up some kind of article about my stuff, so I should be getting some decent exposure out of it.

So here's my question. While I'm deciding what photos to use or taking more specifically for this display (it's in early August), is there anything I should keep in mind to maximize the potential for keeping or getting people interested? Since it's a local theme, it seems that people would be more likely to contact me to buy something as opposed to just a general theme where they've probably got no connection with anything in the photos.

Any advice?

[chtgrubbs]

The best advice I can give you is to get 2 or 3 other people to go through your photos and pick some favorites. We get very emotionally attached to our work and sometimes fresh eyes can see hidden treasure. I once won a juried exhibit with a photo I didn't much care for but my wife really liked. Apparently the judge agreed with her.:)

[jrh312]

well, I've already started doing that actually with the Art Show Photos gallery on here http://photobucket.com/albums/y215/jrh312/

I got about 250-ish replies over the course of a week or so, and I have a decent idea of what to use from that gallery for a show I'm entering (the same week as the library thing actually). The thing is though, only two of those photos could be traced back to "local" if need-be. The rest of them are outdoorsy stuff that could be just about anywhere in the world (even though they're local). So there's no personal connection with them (well, to me there is, but I mean to people that might otherwise be interested in buying one). I'm not exactly sure how to bring those two aspects of it together. I feel much more confident about getting shots of nature rather than of an urban setting because I know there are more angles to think about.


Any way around this?

[Kadath]

One thing I have seen at local shows where the artist is not likely to do direct sales was having the artist's business cards stuck in one corner of a few of the shots to be taken by those in attendance. I'm not sure how 'classy' that is, but if it leads to sales it might be worth considering, if this particular venue allows it.

Sam

[jrh312]

yeah actually I mentioned that to them and they're fine with the idea. The display will be in windows of a conference room right inside the front doors of the library. There are 8 indows, and they said I could either do 1 or 2 in 6 of them, use another one to post a write-up about myself (including contact info, so that the business cards wouldn't be necessary), then use the last one for whatever I want. I think I'll use the last one to put a list of where each shot was taken (like I said before, most of the outdoor ones could be just about anywhere in the world. Hopefully that'll preserve some of the local aspect).

They'll be up for 7 days (Wednesday - Tuesday) and the festival itself is during the weekend. A very talented local band is playing there on Saturday night and I was planning on going to that anyway, so I think I'll stick a few business cards with my contact info on them in my pocket....you know, just in case :)

[tim]

There are 8 indows, and they said I could either do 1 or 2 in 6 of them, use another one to post a write-up about myself (including contact info, so that the business cards wouldn't be necessary),

Business cards make it easy for people to take your details with them, rather than going to the bother of writing it down themselves.

[jrh312]

hmm, that's a good point...I'll have to get on that