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new to this.

Posted by Randi Lorber on September 17, 2015 at 11:37am in Questions & Answers for New Members

Hi all. I am new to this. I believe I am ready to begin applying to shows. However I am struggling with how to determine what shows to apply to and in what category. I am a photographer, however ALL of my work is manipulated to some extent or another and ranges from moderate manipulation to composite pieces ( i lean toward applying in the digital category)  I am also struggling with how to price my work, much of it is large, all of it is on archival materials and framed with the exception of prints which are also limited in number. Any thoughts would be appreciated. This is my current booth shot. Its fa first attempt. Any thoughts or advice is welcome and needed :) 

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  • Robert Wallis September 18, 2015 at 11:00am
    Regarding category; just looking at your booth shot indicates it should still be photography. I beat the daylights out of my work, both the new work shot on digital as well as the older B&W work on film. It's still photography. I also do alternative process work using 19th century processes and it's all photography. Paint over your work with acrylics and it would be mixed media. Scan all sorts of funky textures and layer it over real images and it's still photography. If it could have been done in a darkroom, it's still photography.
    • Randi Lorber > Robert Wallis September 18, 2015 at 11:42am
      Thanks!! I think I'm going to take y'all's advice and go with photography and see how that goes :)
  • Randi Lorber September 18, 2015 at 9:40am
    Connie, I have read and reread show rules as well as looked at a multitude of shows websitesamd attended a number of shows, and I have to say that honestly 9 times out of ten, I feel that some of my work doesn't seem to fit the photography category ( seems to fall in between honestly)as most of these are composites.... Not sure what to do with that. If I read the shows descriptions and take them verbatim then my work is digital as the resulting images are not produseable without heavy use of photoshop and other computer programs. Will I have issues if I apply in the photography catagory and show my composite pieces? Can I use my composite pieces as jurry images or do I need to use pieces that are clearly traditional photography? Connie I'm in northern va. I am actually an artists kid :) my mom is a potter and so I've been attending shows since I was little and have a good understanding of what it's like. This is my first venture out on my own as my mom has gotten out of showing. Yes Connie I totally agree that making the art, at least in my case, is for certain the more straigtforward part of this. there is a show deadline today for a show closeish to me that I thought I may apply to. Other than that it's getting in to winter and so most everything is south. Not sure I'm ready to apply to any of the Florida shows. Thanks so much for the advice, it's very appreciated!!
    • Randi Lorber > Randi Lorber September 18, 2015 at 10:51am
      Will do :)
    • Connie Mettler > Randi Lorber September 18, 2015 at 10:48am

      Sounds like  you've got a good handle on this, Randi, and know what to expect.

      What I'd do if I was in your shoes is directly call the shows you are interested in and get their advice on what your category should be. They want your application, don't be shy. 

  • Connie Mettler September 18, 2015 at 9:22am

    Ditto what Larry said. It is photography. 

    There is another discussion going on here about pricing painting. See what folks there are saying about that. Do you live near any art fairs? Attend some and get some idea about what the other people are doing for pricing, just so you can ballpark it, not to compete. This is not a business where the lowest price wins. It is a business where the best work wins out over pricing. 

    Looks like you've got the setup ready and you've invested some $$$ into getting started here. As you've no doubt learned, creating the work is only half of your job ... the other half is selling it and figuring out how you're going to do that.

    Where do you live? a smart strategy is to get your feet wet as close to home as possible to keep your overhead down. Visit our sister site, ArtFairCalendar.com, to see a pretty good list of possible shows.

    Welcome to our site. There is lots to learn, much strategic advice available.

  • Larry Berman September 17, 2015 at 12:11pm
    You use a camera, it's photography. Everyone's work is manipulated somewhat. That doesn't come close to making it digital art because it's not initially created on a computer.

    Larry Berman
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