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Photo Clarification

Posted by Lin Glore on April 21, 2011 at 6:59pm in Jurying for Art Fairs & Craft Shows

Ok, so this has been a really strange season -- I was accepted to shows I never dreamed I should even apply for and been declined where I've been often enough I have repeat customers.  I'm trying to do fru-fru to my photos, applications, stepping out in faith as it were, upping the ante, becoming all I can be.

 

I've read the suggestions/recommendations that photos are best with generic, non-distracting backgrounds.  The problem is that my pieces look like kaka with generic, non-distracting backgrounds.  Well, that's my opinion, and like elbows, everybody has them.

 

So, is there an exception to the rule?  In order to put my best foot forward, do I have to submit the vanilla photo that I don't think shows the piece in it's best light?

 

This is the same piece -- one with a solid, generic background, one as I believe it should be presented.  Suggestions? 

 

 

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Replies

  • Richard P Sullivan April 24, 2011 at 4:22pm
    A clean background refers to the background behind a 3D Sculpture, jewelry or mixed media piece. Jurors do not want to see jewelry against a pile of glass beads or laid in the sand. They do not want to see the sculpture in a forest setting. What they want is to see the work. Of your two images the one that was photographed with the world behind it is much more lovely than the image with the plain white sheet. The plain one is not a true representation of how the piece will look hanging in your display or hanging on someone's front porch, however, a piece of jewelry photographed against a gradient gray background is not how the jewelry will be displayed nor how it will be worn but that is a pretty standard way to photograph jewelry for jury submittal. Although your more colorful background makes the image much more beautiful I would suggest something in between the world and the white sheet.
  • Lin Glore April 23, 2011 at 9:20pm

    I appreciate everyone's input on this.  I have to believe Larry when he says there are only exceptions.  No swing sets, but I think enough background to at least show light and texture. 

     

    Barbara, that's so true!  But I have no way of telling what background the jury will see, so I really can't reproduce it.  I know they WON'T see it against a solid white background.

     

    Thanks so much for your thoughts!

    • Larry Berman > Lin Glore April 23, 2011 at 9:46pm
      You're missing the point. When the word background is used, it refers to the background around your art in your picture. The reasons the background need to be neutral and match is so that the jurors don't notice it in the few seconds they have to see your images.

      As for backgrounds surrounding the images. ZAPP monitor jurying is black. JAS is monitor jurying and neutral gray and ZAPP projection jurying is in a dark room. Knowing all of this, you need to make your images pop off the background, or saying it another way, the background needs to recede and the image come forward in the juror's minds.

      A good way to photograph glass panels is to hang them in the shade and hang a white wrinkle free sheet behind them in the sun. That will show patterns and colors in the glass without any additional color or texture brought in by a distracting background.

      Larry Berman
      http://BermanGraphics.com
      412-401-8100
      • Lin Glore > Larry Berman April 24, 2011 at 7:41am

        I did get the point, Larry, thanks.  I understand that whatever image is used there is surrounding black/grey.  You're suggesting that I submit the first photo -- which is against a white, wrinkle-free sheet in the sun.  My question, which I think has been answered, is which to use -- the one that looks flat and without life and would hardly be recognized as the same piece when actually hung anywhere or the one that is visually pleasing.  Evidently for better shows the "rule" is to go with the first.

         

        But I really wouldn't be applying to any shows of the caliber that would insist upon the white, wrinkle-free sheet-look.   My work wouldn't fit.  And I'd rather use the second photo which more closely resembles what the piece looks like when hung and gives the visual punch that I was after.  Your comment that there are exceptions was working for me.  Barbara was very kind and thoughtful, but her jury wouldn't consider either photo nor would I submit either in application.  For the shows I'd be interested in I would hope to be the exception.  

         

        Looks like a tie at 2 to 2.  

        • Art on the Lawn: Barbara Berney > Lin Glore April 24, 2011 at 12:04pm
          Actually, Lin, our juries would probably accept your work, as it would be an excellent fit for either show. If you make the assumption that you won't be accepted into any particular show, you may miss some wonderful opportunities.
        • Larry Berman > Lin Glore April 24, 2011 at 7:52am
          I haven't looked at your images closely yet so I'll reserve judgment on which to use. Can you e-mail me your jury set 1920 square and I'll go over them and give my opinion, which may or may not be valid.

          Larry Berman
          http://BermanGraphics.com
          412-401-8100
          • Larry Berman > Larry Berman April 24, 2011 at 8:02am
            I just downloaded the two images and took a quick look.

            You can't ask for opinion on the ability of them for jurying without seeing the entire piece. Without seeing the the entire piece and having it end within the image, it leaves too many unanswered questions in the viewer's mind. But my initial reaction is the colored one looks good, but the glass is not responsible for the color and it's too busy for jurying as your eye bounces around the color and you don't see the glass within the few seconds the jurors have to decide. The one without the color lets the jurors see the detail in the glass, which is where you want them to go.

            Larry Berman
            http://BermanGraphics.com
            412-401-8100
  • Art on the Lawn: Barbara Berney April 23, 2011 at 8:16pm
    While the photo with the background is more interesting, it does not accurately represent what the jury would see when looking at the real, physical piece. Our juries tend to be pretty picky, but others may not have any problem with it.
  • Larry Berman April 23, 2011 at 12:04pm
    I would say that there are only exceptions, no rules. Nothing is set in stone, as you've seen.

    I have a picture I show at my seminars called " pink boots". I was working with a wood worker who designed very large vessels. The one he had photographed was over 16 inches tall and sold for over $30,000. There was no way to convey the size while photographing it. On the last picture, the photographers assistant took her boots off and placed them in the picture. That's when it all came together. Something no one would have recommended in a jury slide got him into a lot of major shows.

    Larry Berman
    412-401-8100
  • Connie Mettler April 21, 2011 at 7:41pm
    Hmm...maybe you are right. I like the images, well lit and full of interest, but the one with the green really jumps out and says "look at me" and is more interesting.
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