Just went to a gallery opening - some questions

I recently attended a gallery opening from one of my photography instructors back in college. I took a 35mm B&W film class from him about 12-13 years ago. He showed us some of his work back then, but after I graduated I never really followed his work until just a couple of months ago. What's really weird is that he shoots the same type of things that I like to shoot. And what's even stranger, is that we have shot some of the same things. This is quite easy to do in Los Angeles though. And his work is a heck of a lot better than mine.

I wonder if there was any influence he had on what I ended up shooting? He didn't really show us much of his work and the ones he did show us (yes, I still remember them) weren't the type of stuff I shoot now. Has anyone else noticed or thought about the first class they took or the first person they worked with if their style of photography gave you inspiration or pointed you in the a specific direction?

While I was looking at his photos in the gallery, I noticed they didn't have any info next to them. But up front they had some booklets that contained all the info on the pictures and the prices. I just about lost it when I saw that he was selling his 17x20 prints for $8000 ea. and his 10x15 prints for $1500ea. I was thinking the bigger ones were going for around $500-1k. Wow, was I way off. Is this normal?!? I'm guessing no, since some of his work is in the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, just to name a few.

What would be considered a "normal" price range for these types of photos in a gallery for somebody that doesn't have this kind of background and would just be starting out? If you could in to a gallery in the first place.

Price them what YOU want for them.

These guys: Post #5 in Books for the working pro

gravy graffix wrote in post #12208994
Price them what YOU want for them.

You can sell 4,000 prints for $2 each, or one for $8,000. Somewhere in between will be a price that works for you.

With the car guys, everyone knows my price. I don't cut it, & they know that, too. But, for someone who has already paid for a shoot, I might give them a free 4X6" that I caught at an event like the Dream Cruise to "chum the pool". They show the shot to everyone they know, & it stirs up interest.

CalPiker wrote in post #12208815
Has anyone else noticed or thought about the first class they took or the first person they worked with if their style of photography gave you inspiration or pointed you in the a specific direction?

I've watched my brother's photography since the 70's, and continue to be inspired by it. He hasn't done much with it, which I think is a shame...

Price is based on artistic value. About three times a year I visit Art Wolfe's gallery, a 30-40" print can claim $2,000- $4,000 and I've never had a problem with that, the extent of his vision is amazing. He recently had a show just on the white wild horses of France and I was stunned by their beauty and quite frankly I have no interest in horses but there were several I would have liked to purchase including one that was 8' wide.

In the movie Friendly Persuasion a guy asks the artist how mush he charges for his work, is it by the inch. The Gwenith Paltrow character replies , by it's beauty. Then it's left with beauty being in the eyes of the beholder.

Imhad a friend who was by her own admission no at all creative and yet because of her appreciation for the arts, was on the local art council. Her home had quite a few pieces of original art and she always bought pieces from well known artists. Her choices were excellent and expensive an she always went the distance to have them framed by a really good framer. There are markets out there if you can establish yourself, that has to happen for the cost value of your work goes up, that has alwYs been how the ar world works. I think it is important to think of ourselves as visual artists if that part of photography is what we value, it can be about working to create an image even when it might appear to be just capturing something in the camera, and then developing a reputation for this ability and bein able to charge appropriately for your work.