Marketing For Fine Art Photographers
Date: Saturday, October 16, 2010
Location: My studio in the Mississippi neighborhood of Portland, OR
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (includes 1 hour for lunch)
Cost: $90

Photographer Lauren Henkin will demonstrate how to best market yourself and your work. We’ll start with an evaluation of your work and your marketing successes and challenges to date. We’ll cover tools and specific marketing materials you can use to boost your career and sales of individual artworks. Some of the topics covered will include: defining a target audience, creating the optimal marketing piece, writing query letters, entering juried shows, participating in portfolio review events, attending trade shows, designing and creating self-promotion materials such as web sites and general best practices for presenting your work. This workshop is targeted toward photographers who already have bodies of work they wish to present and who are actively marketing their work.

This will be an opportunity to get feedback on materials you may already be using or preparing to create. You’re encouraged to bring your current marketing samples.

Student Comments
“I thought the information was presented well…the order of the areas talked about was a good logical progression and I particularly enjoyed all the specific real-world examples you presented all along. Very instructive to see an actuality illustrating a principle as opposed to discussing theory.”

“You packed a huge amount of information into 6 hours and it was a great introduction to the many ways that are available to market one’s work.”

“You really had a huge effect on me in terms of charting my path as an photographic artist, and for that I am deeply grateful.”

If you have any questions, please e-mail lauren@laurenhenkin.com.

He was in the process of moving away from the traditional, commercial imagery he had taken for years, images of Kyoto gardens that you’ve probably seen, just didn’t know they were his, and towards more of a personal, intimate perspective on flowers. The prints are large and have a meditative quality, with a beautifully printed palette. Here are a few samples of his work:

© Allan Mandell

© Allan Mandell

We talked only briefly about the name of this work, which as of yet, is undetermined. Some of the initial thoughts on what the name should be focused on using the word “flower” or a reference to the natural world. What I encouraged him to think about, was, Is this work really about flowers?. Or, is it more about abstraction, the process of looking very closely at things, or even just edges?

The conversation got me thinking about the mistakes people make in naming their work. Specifically, when they rely on titles based on either equipment (Holga Pictures), subject (Portraits), context (Nudes in the Landscape), location (Wherever, USA), etc. The photographers doing this fail to realize how many other messages are being sent to viewers beyond what they intend. Messages like: Does this person really understand their work? Do they see one specific part of the production process as more valuable than the rest? Have they not taken the time to enhance the work with a more appropriate title?

I have gone through my own naming evolutions. Displaced did not start off with that title. At first, it was titled Nova Scotia. Then, New Scotland. That stuck for a while until East of Ordinary felt right. Finally, I settled on Displaced. This transformation happened over two years. And it was a result of my not initially taking the time to reflect on my own work.

It was so easy to just call it Nova Scotia. It seemed fitting. I mean, the pictures were taken there, right? That should work, right? Then, I thought, naaah, needs to be more original, more unusual sounding. So, I decided to change it to the English translation from the Latin Nova Scotia—New Scotland. Perfecto! That should do it! Then, the more I sat with that name, the more I thought, Am I referencing something here? Is this in some way talking about what is new, rebirth? What about Old Scotland? Is that a part of this? The answers were not pleasant realizations. Back to the naming board. I started looking for phrases or words used particularly in or about Nova Scotia. That’s when I found the phrase, East of Ordinary, which was a local phrase used to describe Cape Breton Island. Done! It was poetic, it was descriptive of the location, it was personal to the place. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Again. It wasn’t about me, or the work. It was still all about the place. I couldn’t get past naming this work based on the subject’s location.

I was stuck.

It wasn’t until a year later, when I started working on the book, and I combined Displaced: Part II with Part I that I realized, this isn’t about Nova Scotia, really. It’s about me, what I was going through at the time, and about the breakup of my marriage. It was about being lost and directionless. And the title needed to reflect that.

Displaced. Bingo. That was it. And it has felt right since then.

So what can you do if you’re stuck? I suggest the following:

I feel strongly that this is a missed opportunity for us to not only communicate more clearly, but to seduce potential followers/buyers into wondering exactly comprises that work titled Sound of Summer Running…

I thought, when I completed the interview, how wonderful it would be to start a Photo Radio series of interviews with other artists, curators, gallerists, educators, and collectors. I hope these will be as beneficial to you as I’m anticipating they will be to me. If you have any suggestions for interviewees, please feel free to let me know. My plan is to do at least one a month. Of course you will be able to find all of the interviews on this blog, but I have also created a separate one, just for this series. You can find that at www.photoradioblog.com.

Thanks for listening!

Love starts otherwise:
with a precise glance across a room
you relieve after all these years,
an éclat less lightning than hammer blow,
as in the abattoir of your childhood
you have turned your back on.
A slap, you say, that set you breathing.

But it is the in-between that we end up living,
the days of low cloud and no wind,
a grey light that endures till its fade into night,
the effort of walking round and round a room,
of preparing coffee, of saying I need you
with no idea at the beginning
what that might mean, no idea now
what else it possibly could.

The cattle live as they can.
They stand still, lift their heads, stiffen a moment
for the slight convulsion of the rumen,
then resume what they know
they must do.

Here is the cup, my love.
Lean toward me.
And I’ll hold it.

— George Sipos, from The Glassblowers

In talking about the images presented in the class, I started to analyze my own process for evaluating images. I don’t claim to be an expert in this, but for me, there are many factors that determine a final evaluation of a photograph. The more important ones include the following and I thought I would try, as best I can, to describe what I’m thinking about when looking as a way to measure what I value, how I come to a certain conclusion about the merit of a particular image, and offer some kind of formal process or check list to help others who might struggle with communicating or drawing their own conclusions.

I haven’t given too much thought about the order in which I’ve listed these. I suppose you could conclude that because this is the order I chose to write them in, that it is an indication of value or importance. I’m not certain of this, but it could be…

Beauty
For me, the process of viewing begins with beauty. Beauty is the portal by which I can be allowed into a photograph, to delve, and eventually process what is presented. Recently, at many gallery shows, I feel like I’m seeing nothing but banal images. I’m not sure why the current trend in contemporary photography seems to be moving away from the standard of beauty, but I find without it, I have very little interest in the photograph. I don’t think that what I’m describing necessarily has to mean “traditional.” There are many examples of “untraditional” beauty. Like Robert Capa’s photograph below, to me, is beautiful. The subject and message is difficult to digest, and painful. But because the photograph itself, without any context of what it means, still exudes beauty. It is an important component in accessing this scene. I wonder, in looking back generations from now, whether many of the images I see produced today, which are poorly crafted from capture to printing will be unable to communicate what the photographer intended, simply because they’re ugly. I sense there is a rejection of beauty as a rebellion against traditional ways of seeing. I agree, we should challenge ourselves to move forward, but the rejection of beauty will not help, simply because as a tool of communication, it reigns supreme.

© Robert Capa, American landing on Omaha Beach, D-Day

Composition
When I’m looking at a photograph for the first time, I quickly ask myself: Does the image feel balanced? Is there movement happening within the frame or is it static (and which is appropriate)? Are there any elements that are unnecessary or confusing? Should the photographer have shifted the camera in any way? Does the image successfully reinterpret three dimensions into two? Should the image be cropped? Has the composition enhanced or hurt the mood of the image? Could it have been taken at any time or is there a sense that the photographer captured something fleeting, a moment that would be lost if it hadn’t been stolen?

Asking and answering these questions has become an intuitive process for me simply because I’ve committed to looking at an abundance of prints. But, there usually is some point I get hung up on. It is rare for me to see an image like this one, that I recently saw for the first time, by Leon Levinstein, of a handball game in New York. To me, this image has been perfectly composed. I wouldn’t change anything about it. The placement of the bodies creates a perfect balance within the frame. The movement perfectly conveys the meaning and subject of the photograph. And even the decapitated body in the foreground seems ok, something I don’t usually recommend. But here, it’s a rule expertly broken.

© Leon Levinstein, Handball Players, Lower East Side, NY

Subject
One of the difficulties when planning a new portfolio is not actually coming up with ideas for work… it’s how to interpret those ideas. So, let’s say you wanted to do a body of images on greed. What does that mean exactly? Does it mean you photograph Wall Street investment bankers? Or wealthy shoppers on Rodeo Drive? Or simply the color green? This is the real challenge. What will be the subject chosen to communicate the story? And when I think about photographers who excel at this, I think of two in particular, Lauren Greenfield and Sally Mann.

In the case of Lauren Greenfield, I think about her Girl Culture series. In contrast to Thin or her latest works on the fashion world, this book’s subject is broader, leaving endless possibilities for interpretation. What I loved most about it was the different ways she explored this topic, from girls going to prom, to contestants in the Fitness American competition, to a showgirl dressed in full garb walking up and down the aisles of an airplane. I think that most of us would have just chosen one of those segments, let’s just say girls going to proms, to focus on. And you know what? That still would have been good enough. But Greenfield took it 50 steps further than that. Her choices for subjects seemed brilliant to me.

© Lauren Greenfield, Alli, Annie, Hannah, and Berit, All 13, before the First Big Party of the Seventh Grade, Edina, Minnesota, 1998

In the case of Sally Mann, the work that comes to mind is What Remains. Again, what I found fascinating with this series what how far she decided to push it. This work started with her photographing the remains of one of her beloved dogs. Again, how many of us would have stopped with just that? Then, she went and photographed human corpses at a research facility. And then, on top of that, to end it, decided to come back home, full circle, and photograph extreme close-ups of her three adult kids. What I have learned from both of these incredible photographers is the power of interpreting an idea through different subjects.

© Sally Mann, Untitled #11, 2000, from What Remains

Mood
How does the image make me feel? I think is one of the hardest questions people struggle with, but one of the most important.

The mood the photographer creates, with tools that include composition, equipment, printing style, and more, all work together to set the stage for how the viewer will experience an image.

What people find annoying about plastic cameras is that they clearly set a mood, but often the photographer relies too heavily on this gift and just gets sloppy, usually with composition, seduced by the aesthetic quality from the camera. It’s one of the difficulties of being taken seriously while shooting with them… convincing viewers that you’re not relying on the equipment, but merely using it as a tool to enhance the mood you’ve already set with the subject and composition.

Each of us, when presenting a show, or book, or body of work, should look at it as a novel, the most satisfying of which build slowly, over time, with the author carefully leading us down a path they want us to follow, all the while thinking we’re the ones in control.

Context
I believe a lot of the questions that I ask in this category are really tied to how deeply you believe photographs are a depiction of reality.

For example, with Gregory Crewdson’s work… does it matter, in the evaluation of the photographs that these are all staged presentations? Does knowing the context in which these photographs were shot make them better or worse? If you see a beautiful print of a majestic landscape, would it matter to know that a utility pole has been removed in Photoshop? If I didn’t know that Ansel Adams had only a few seconds to calculate what aperture/shutter speed to create his famous Moonrise picture, would the picture, or my perception of him decline? I struggle with this… how much to reveal, how much to hide. It is really a reflection of whether the photographer understands their own work, what needs to be shared in order to understand the story, and what should be hidden to add mood or enhance the viewing experience.

© Gregory Crewdson, Untitled (Blind Reflection)

Execution
As most of you probably know, I believe an image itself is not the end product in photography. The final deliverable is the print. I feel that the craft of printmaking is a necessary and vital component of making photographs. I have heard stories lately of gallery directors having conversations with photographers who have been accepted into group shows asking the director about how or where they should have their image printed, including what size to print at and whether Wal-Mart was acceptable. This is dangerous territory for me to write about because I feel so strongly about it, but let’s just say this, if you do not take the time, effort and energy to learn how to print images properly, all of the work that has gone into building your eye and developing a visual narrative becomes unnecessarily threatened.

I recently judged a plastic camera show at LightBox gallery in Astoria, OR. It was fascinating to me, to be able to see the prints that came in from the jpgs that I had seen on my monitor. In many cases, I was shocked by what some thought was an acceptable print. I’m talking about halos, posterization, off-colors, etc. It made me so angry that my fellow photographers would not take the care and responsibility for presenting high quality work, but also, and more importantly, that now having these prints on the walls, they were now the standard for what a “fine print” was.

I have a close friend who is currently obsessed with monitor calibration. She has spent a ton of time and money trying to figure out why what she sees on her monitor doesn’t look like what she sees in her prints. We’ve talked about all the possibilities for what could be the problem and like a doctor trying to diagnose mystery ailments, she is going through lots of tests to check off all the things that might be the cause.

She has told me a couple of times that when she asks fellow photographers about it, they respond with My prints always come out right! She has reached a point where the results are “close” to what she sees on her monitor, but she’s not satisfied with “close.” She wants to know that what she’s doing on the monitor, the adjustments she’s making, have value.

What we have concluded over many conversations is that there is a whole crop of photographers out there whose aspirations are merely to be good enough. I honestly can’t imagine a time when I’ve ever been satisfied with a print the first, second or even third time it came out of my printer. I wonder how many prints it took for George Tice to get this one right? He told me it took him 20 years to print one image correctly. Believe it or not, this problem runs in the opposite direction too. I’ve heard people comment, when looking at a masterfully printed image, That’s a beautiful print. They seem to do this unaware that the photographer might instead prefer to hear, That’s a beautiful photograph. I don’t think the viewer is ill-intentioned when this happens. It’s almost like the print is so beautiful that they can’t evaluate anything else, the beauty has blinded them, or made them suspicious.

© George Tice, Country Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1961

I encourage you to challenge what I have proposed above. I have come to the conclusion, after having gone to countless shows and looking at an endless number of images, that I’m a tough customer. I rarely see work that I like. I think that while not all of these criteria have to be met in order for me to like an image, I believe that we should strive to come as close as we can to a point where most of them are.

My hope in reflecting on this is that we as a community can encourage each other to raise the bar for what we should expect from photographs and that I might help those of you who struggle with talking about images, gain more confidence… no matter how you feel about them, you are right!

Click here to listen to the interview…

I think that the larger and more useful question is actually about communication in general, and what methods I’m using to communicate with galleries and collectors. So, I thought I’d give you my impressions of what’s working, what isn’t, as well as my general philosophy about getting exposure.

The first thing to understand is that there are communication tiers—levels of messaging targeting different groups that are used to take advantage of specific forums. The second thing to realize is that with all the options now available for gaining information, everyone seems to have a personal preference, so while one set of followers might only look at what you post on Facebook, there are others that will only follow your twitter feed, and yet others who will only read your blog.

The tiers that I have been using include:

1. Web Site: www.laurenhenkin.com
The web site today seems to be losing a bit of it’s power as a tool for communicating. Of all the tools I will describe below, my web site is the one that is visited the least frequently, and I suspect this would be true for many people’s sites. I believe the reason is because I use it as a final showcase for all that is “perfect” in my work. It is a place to view final portfolios, my updated cv, recent announcements that might include prestigious competition placements or reviews. The information may change there once a month for small updates, and as infrequently as once every four months for a major addition like a new book or portfolio. With the advantage of one-stop-shopping for information on sites like Facebook, the likelihood of someone returning to your web site over and over again is unlikely, so understand that, and reserve it for your best stuff.

2. Email Campaigns
In terms of effectiveness, the email campaigns that I send out with the help of Constant Contact are by far, the most useful tool for communicating a specific message. The list of about 500 names that I have generated over years is extremely targeted, so there is usually a large viewing rate, usually between 60-70%. This is the only method that I use that comes directly to someone’s doorstep so to speak, so I think it probably feels more personal than something that might be posted on Facebook or Twitter. I will usually send 1 or 2 of these per month. I wouldn’t recommend more than that as you might irritate some people on your mailing list… less than that and you start to lose touch. Like the web site, these are “quality” messages, meaning, the information being conveyed should be important… a new portfolio, a competition win, a new show, a new review, etc. In a way, because you are invading someone’s e-mail box with these, you should be sensitive to that and make sure that what you’re saying is worthy. Some e-mail campaigns I’ve sent in the past include the following:

3. Blog: www.laurenhenkinblog.com
I started this blog without really knowing what I was going to be writing about, or how frequently I would be posting. I have enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, and have found it fascinating to track who is following this method of communication and why. While my web site might be dedicated to
“final” work, the blog has been an opportunity to explain works in progress, and to expand on why I’m doing the things I am, what inspires me, and to even ask for help. It is a great forum for explaining things in detail, and to expand on my working methods. Over time, I realized that this second tier seems to be primarily read by the 40+ crowd. This shouldn’t be too surprising considering the ever-decreasing attention spans of our youth. Those who usually respond to what I’ve posted, write quite a bit… it’s not the 1 or 2 lines I might get back from an e-mail announcement. That may in part be to the more lengthy messages that I am broadcasting, but I find it an interesting thing to note, especially if you’re looking for real feedback… My blog gets on average 3 times the number of hits as my web site and Facebook page, so in terms of spreading a message, this is vital.

4. Facebook: www.facebook.com/laurenhenkinphotography
Ok, this is the one I get questions about the most… To come to any real conclusions about the value of using Facebook for networking, to me, is premature. I signed on about 2 years ago, but I’ve only been using it for marketing for about 1 year. The hardest part for me about Facebook is that you really don’t know who is looking at what you’re posting, how often they’re looking, and if anything else beyond that initial read is happening. But… it is a great way to send out small messages frequently and to a wide audience—for free. It’s a perfect place to talk about smaller accomplishments like participating in a group or juried show, collaborations happening, even applying for a residency. The most critical part is that you have to post often, and with new information. It also seems to be a wonderful place to gather a more international audience. I know when my work went up on Urbanautica.com, I got a lot more fans from locations outside the US. People want to see that things are happening, and that you’re actively working. Nothing upsets me more than going to a friend’s website and seeing that nothing has been added since 2006. In my view, the biggest question mark for a gallery is not whether what you’re presenting is good work, but rather, Will this artist continue to produce good work? You need to convince them that the one brilliant body of work will feed into others. By communicating your progress, by any methods, you will be reassuring galleries and collectors that you are here to stay, your good work will continue, and that they can take a chance on you…

5. Twitter: www.twitter.com/laurenhenkin
For me, Twitter is the lowest tier. I just don’t have the time, energy or desire to post something on it more than maybe twice a day. That’s not to say it isn’t a good way of communicating. I think it’s perfect for quick messages like reminders of upcoming events, publication notices, even recommendations of shows or work. I know people that use it all the time, and I wonder what the results have been for them. I will say this, of all these methods, Twitter seems to draw the most people that I have never interacted with. I hardly recognize the people following my Twitter feed. While I don’t necessarily know what the implications of that are, I think it’s important to note. While it may seem overwhelming to have to deal with all these methods, one thing that helps is to link them together. So, for example, when I post on my blog or Facebook, a notification automatically goes out on Twitter, so there is some effort saved there.

In summary, the most important thing to do, when starting, is gather as many targeted names as you can. You want your mailing list to be effective and to do that, you’ll have to build it slowly, event by event, contact by contact. A lot of what is exciting about social media is that it’s new and therefore the possibilities for what may happen from it are unknown. A lot of the successes I’ve had have been through trial and error, just trying something and evaluating what has happened from the effort. I think that most people talk themselves out of doing new things and a big unknown loss is the result. So, I would encourage you all to experiment, find what methods work for you and your lifestyle, and then just work that until you get the results you want.

If you have more questions on this, please feel free to send them my way…

Hope this is helpful!

EVENT INFORMATION

Location:
Berkeley Art Museum
Pauley Ballroom
2626 Bancroft Way
2621 Durant Avenue
Between College and Telegraph

Dates
February 6-9, 2011

If you would like to attend and schedule an appointment with me to view books and/or photographs, please let me know!  For more information, you can visit www.codexfoundation.org.

MARKETING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS WORKSHOP
I will present a morning seminar on effective marketing strategies for fine art photographers. We will discuss how to develop relationships with curators and galleries, the benefits of portfolio reviews and producing effective marketing materials. Lauren will also make a presentation on the emerging book market, funding opportunities, logistics, and marketing for limited edition artists books.
Saturday, July 31st / 9:30am – 1:00pm / $75.00

PORTFOLIO REVIEWS
I will be offering 20-minute individual portfolio review and coaching sessions to assist photographers in their marketing and artistic development.
Saturday, August 7th / By Appointment / $60.00

BOOK LAUNCH &; SIGNING: DISPLACED
Saturday, August 6th / 7:00pm

To register for either the marketing workshop or a portfolio review time, please click here.

I hope to see you there!

Art Focus on KBOO Radio has asked me to come on the show for a half hour LIVE interview on the new book.

11:30am to Noon
Tuesday, the 29th
Wendy Webb will be guest hosting the program.

This will be a live interview, should be interesting!!