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People taking pictures of your art at shows?

Posted by Kimberly Merck- Moore on March 28, 2011 at 1:42pm in Welcome to Art Fair Insiders!

Hello,

This may sound like a stupid question (total newbie here), but what do you do when people try to photograph your work in your booth?  I participated in my first "supposedly" juried art fair last weekend, (which wasn't really juried, and lame, but that is probably for another thread) and several people took pictures of my work with their cell phones.  I asked the one guy who did it why he was photographing my work and he said he wanted to put it on his blog.  I didn't know what to think.  What do you ya'll tell people to do when this happens?

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  • Blaine Owens April 24, 2011 at 9:06pm
    I am a photographer. If someone stands outside your booth and takes pictures there isn't much you can do except ask politely that they stop. If they step inside your booth you have more authority and can insist that they stop. You may also place a sign reading "No pictures allowed".

    If they are using camera phones I usually just leave them alone.
  • Terry Corcoran April 21, 2011 at 10:20am

    I'd given up trying to stop people. Then I read here about how inexpencive it is to get a poster size image made from a digital file. 

     

    I'm not letting photos be taken now, AND because it might be well intentioned and not an attempt to steal the image, I am offering to send them an appropriately sized image. Something smaller than 1M. This allows me to be friendly, engage the person in conversation, find out their intent, get an address and have a second contact with them when I send the image. You can also send a larger image with a watermark. 

     

    • Larry Berman > Terry Corcoran April 21, 2011 at 10:30am
      It's not the file size in megabytes that determines how large an image can be printed. It's the actual pixel dimensions. If you limit the size to approximately 500 pixels long dimension, they probably won't even try printing. Divided by 300 (as in 300PPI) your print will be under two inches. But if you give them a one megabyte file, depending on the amount of detail in the image, you can probably make a 16x20 print.

      I limit the size of the images on all my web sites to 500 pixels long dimension and include my copyright in the image.

      Larry Berman
      http://BermanGraphics.com
      412-401-8100
      • Terry Corcoran > Larry Berman April 21, 2011 at 12:43pm

        Wow, good info. I'll have to look, I select "save for web" and assumed if I also limited my file size I was good. 

        Terry

    • MICHAEL ALAN STIPEK > Terry Corcoran April 21, 2011 at 10:27am
      It's not the file size - 1 Mb can still be reproduced if the resolution is, say 300 ppi.  Always send a file size of, say, 72 ppi.  (if it's around 1 Mb, it'll still look nice on their computer screen).  That way, they get a nice fuzzy 5x7 print to mat and frame and hang over their fireplace!
      • Larry Berman > MICHAEL ALAN STIPEK April 21, 2011 at 10:33am
        It's not the resolution as in 72PPI or 300PPI. It's whether there are enough actual pixels to support whatever resolution you want to print at.180PPI, 240PPI or 300PPI are all common resolutions for printing ink jet prints.

        Larry Berman
        http://BermanGraphics.com
        412-401-8100
  • Linnea Lahlum April 21, 2011 at 10:08am

     

    It can be delicate. The first time I saw someone shooting a picture of my work with a cell phone, I was worried but didn’t know what to do. She said, “I’m sending this picture to my daughter; she’d like these earrings.” I didn’t know whether to believe her or not. The next day she, the daughter, and friends showed up in my booth to buy.

     

    So you have to be careful. If they are a jerk, it’s easier to judge. But often in that few second encounter you can’t tell.

     

    I had a young couple standing in front of my booth with a sketchpad once, the woman was drawing away like mad. I asked why. He said, “She has a project due next week and needs ideas.” I asked them to please stop. They did, but backed away very slowly, drawing all the while.

    • Barbara Poole > Linnea Lahlum April 22, 2011 at 9:43pm
      I would have asked if it was a project on plagiarism!
  • Pauline Ross April 9, 2011 at 6:38pm
    I will not let anyone photograph my art at a booth with a phone camera or anyother camera. I have heard it all. They want to show a friend, they want someone to see it for an opinion, its pretty, I like it, blablabla.  I tell them if you like it enough you may buy it to enjoy for $_____!!! And I say "no photos please" if I see someone walking in the booth with a camera. When I  caught someone in the act of shooting a picture, I ask them to DELETE IT! because they know just by looking at my face, Im pissed off. I demand to see what they did and TELL them to delete because....... So you do what ya gotta do to protect your copyright.  There was a fellow walking around an art show with a fairly large camera. He stood across the way and photographed others artworks without you knowing it at all. One artist discovered her art with someone elses signature attached to the print for sale at a shop!! SO please make you statement very clear when people come around with a camera.
    • Arlene & Bob Carey > Pauline Ross April 10, 2011 at 12:10am
      301643070?profile=RESIZE_320x320The rudest of the rude was a man who was sketching on of my abstracts a few weeks ago.  I asked him to please stop and give me the sketch...which he refused to do...explaining that he was a woodturner and wanted to copy my work...what an ass.  Go figure.
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