Concerns with allowing Quality images submitted for Jury

I understand the importance of submitting good images for jury, in order to get in to shows.

My concern is giving "high Quality" copies.

This is not the booth shot. It is the work samples.

Jewelry, fabric, sculpture woodwork, metalwork etc are mediums that would take great effort for someone to copy and steal their work.

I am a photographer. A digital file is very close to a finished copy of my work. Of course this does not take into account, I still control the media it is put on and the full process, however it is most of the way there.

Giving out high resolution images of my work is a great risk. It is obvious how easy it would be for said work to be misappropriated.

If I give a copy with strong watermarks or other infringements it may not be acceptable nor pleasing for the jury.

If I submit in 72dpi, it likely would not be accepted or approved.

I am aware I have protection under copyright laws however that is closing the barn door after the cows are out.

I am not conceited enough to claim my work is more desirable than everyone else and therefore it would be misused. However I have been victim of theft and do not desire to repeat.

I have tried to make arrangements with promoters who are local to allow me to hand them finished, prints of my work and take them away when I leave.

However not all are willing. Also this is not an option for remote shows.

Some shows require "High Resolution" 300dpi or better samples.

I seek a good resolution to my desire for low resolution of high resolution work ;-)

Solutions? Ideas?

Thank you for the input.

Although I've been reading this forum, this was the first post I had made. I will try to take it as constructive and have a thick skin. I seek to receive and give constructive criticism.

The comments made:

"... of being paranoid and high maintenance. What you're asking for is special consideration .... One person out of literally hundreds asking to be judged on hand-carried prints instead of following the guidelines is going to be viewed as a pain the butt and not given as much credence...."

I trust were not insinuating I am paranoid, high maintenance, a pain in the butt etc.

A) I have heard of issues with images being misappropriated, how prevalent?

B) Do we know how many others may have my concern?

If one is to voice concerns or bring awareness of a possible problem to others, it will often lead to finding resolution. Not to be confused with creating an issue.

Suffice to say I have been a professional in the corporate world dealing with misappropriation of digital data and security thereof. Often well ahead of the curve.

This is not far different from the issue many of us face when it comes to posting our work online. The debate on that is rather large. No one has yet come up with a standard that solves all the issues. None have come up with a method of stopping theft of the posted images. Of course that is a separate discussion.

I have little concern for the average person using a cell phone to take a quick snapshot of my work. It takes effort & knowledge to take a shot of a printed photograph good enough to make a good copy. They may gain my idea for composition & subject matter but all else would be lost. Whereas the digital, decent resolution file, would enable copying.

I have gained more information on this subject since posting my query.

Replies

Robert Wallis September 26, 2016 at 3:46pm

The 300 dpi/high resolutions are a crock. The ZAPP requirements are the defacto standard at 1920x1920 pixel dimensions. It's irrelevant if it's 300 or 72 dpi as the viewing system determines what the height/width is. Don't worry about image theft from the jurying process as that's one I've never heard about. I'd be more concerned about copying of your work during the fair itself by people with cell phones and larger cameras.

Yes, I know those 1920 pixels can give very decent 12-13 inch prints, but it was far worse when we sent out copy slides before ZAPP existed. However, considering how many shows there are, and how many artists are submitting entries, and how this issue just hadn't come up before, I would have to say it's a needless worry. I'd be more concerned about giving the impression of being paranoid and high maintenance. What you're asking for is special consideration and the electronic submission platforms were created to be a level playing field. One person out of literally hundreds asking to be judged on hand-carried prints instead of following the guidelines is going to be viewed as a pain the butt and not given as much credence.
- Larry Sohn > Robert Wallis September 27, 2016 at 10:48am
  
  Thank you for the input.
  
  Although I've been reading this forum, this was the first post I had made. I will try to take it as constructive and have a thick skin. I seek to receive and give constructive criticism.
  
  The comments made:
  
  "... of being paranoid and high maintenance. What you're asking for is special consideration .... One person out of literally hundreds asking to be judged on hand-carried prints instead of following the guidelines is going to be viewed as a pain the butt and not given as much credence...."
  
  I trust were not insinuating I am paranoid, high maintenance, a pain in the butt etc.
  
  A) I have heard of issues with images being misappropriated, how prevalent?
  
  B) Do we know how many others may have my concern?
  
  If one is to voice concerns or bring awareness of a possible problem to others, it will often lead to finding resolution. Not to be confused with creating an issue.
  
  Suffice to say I have been a professional in the corporate world dealing with misappropriation of digital data and security thereof. Often well ahead of the curve.
  
  This is not far different from the issue many of us face when it comes to posting our work online. The debate on that is rather large. No one has yet come up with a standard that solves all the issues. None have come up with a method of stopping theft of the posted images. Of course that is a separate discussion.
  
  I have little concern for the average person using a cell phone to take a quick snapshot of my work. It takes effort & knowledge to take a shot of a printed photograph good enough to make a good copy. They may gain my idea for composition & subject matter but all else would be lost. Whereas the digital, decent resolution file, would enable copying.
  
  I have gained more information on this subject since posting my query.
  - Robert Wallis > Larry Sohn September 27, 2016 at 6:15pm
    
    Didn't mean to sound too brusque. I've just not heard of image misappropriation through the jury process. I've served on fair juries before and we're generally under the gun to get the job done with no time for fritzing around. There's way more danger of your images being pirating at art fairs by someone with an 8+ MP cell phone camera or higher quality camera. The built-in apps are fairly decent capability and there are other apps out there that will do perspective correction on rectilinear images. Work is copied and duplicated in China by the boatload, so the advice is to be more cautious with the friendly folk taking snapshots in your booth.

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