Those of us who have done shows for years, have heard many comments from the public regarding our art. If you survive the system, you quickly develop a thick skin. As a photographer, it is not uncommon to hear things like, 'Ive got a shot just like that at home', when you know it took you 25 trips to the same site, or 50 shots from different angles just to capture that special image. At Ft Worth I heard one I hadn't heard before. A young (20's) man had lifted up his iPhone and was about to photograph one of my images. He did it right in front of me, and I quickly approached him and asked him not to. He turned to me, while saying not to worry because the iPhone would just create a low resolution image of my work. Then he snidely commented that he was just taking a shot to show his brother. Because his brother '...did the same kind of stuff that I did, and to show him that he too, could be getting $345 for his images...'. Unfortunately, I was too stunned to reply. :)
That made me remember a couple of other times. Like the time when these two ladies were looking at my work, and I heard one turn to the other one, who really seemed to like it, and say something to the effect of 'Come on Edna, we can just get this at Wal-Mart'.
A couple of years ago another photographer on the circuit (don't remember who it was) told me the story of the customer who bought one of his small images (either a 4x6 or 5x7), apparently took it home, scanned it, and printed up an 11x14. The customer then showed up at the photographers booth the next day to proudly display his new enlargement.
Got any good stories to share?
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((hug)) thanks Rose. As Rick said, skin-of-stone, skin-of-stone....
First show of the season is in a week and a half. I'll try to remember some of the more colorful things I hear....
While dodging love bugs yesterday at Siesta Key, a lady came into the booth and said it was too bad I didn't have frames on my 1.5-inch Gallery Wraps. I started to say, "Ma'am, these aren't designed to have frames on them; if you like I can make one with a narrower depth and no wrap so that a standard frame will fit. That will save you money at the frame store." But she cut me off at the semi-colon and said, "I UNDERSTAND how they're designed, thank you. And I want to do all my shopping in one place. Why don't you put frames on them??"
I took a deep breath (after all, she was the first person all day who'd even ASKED about a canvas print!) and replied: "Because I used to offer framed pieces, and I don't anymore because nobody wanted them"
She sniffed and said, "Well, if you went into Wal-Mart and Target, you'd see them going out the door. every day!"
I thought to myself: "My point, exactly!" ;-)
The ones that bug me the most are the wannabes that are lonely, or just want to get out of their current dull dead-end job, and want to show you every picture on their camera. I tell them, with a smile,
"If you want to talk about my work, I'm happy to share. If you want to talk about your work, it's $100/hour. My standard consulting rate."
That usually gets them to wrap it up and leave, unless it's a really slow day. Then I ask them to make an appointment for a weekday.
I'm thinking about a large sign...
My personal favorites, aside from woman who wanted a picture of an angel, are:
"Do you have a picture of that arch that fell down last week?"
Yes, would you like to see it? Let me show it to you.
"No, I just wondered if you had seen it before it fell down."
"Is that a painting?"
No, it's a photograph, printed on canvas. It's called a gallery wrap.
"Oh, it's just a picture, then."
"Do you take all of these pictures?"
No, I send my camera out, and it FedEx's the photos back via wireless.
"Have you been to all of these places?"
Only in my dreams.
One reason why I try not to photograph recognizable landmarks anymore. At least for sale at Walmart art shows. Luckily, most of these customers are still alive. You can't fix stupid, but you can have a good laugh after they leave. And seriously, most of the time, it's a way for them to start a conversation. I always say, there's no silly questions, just silly answers.
Skin-of-stone, skin-of-stone, I have skin-of-stone.
There must be a logical reason they don't read the sign.
I have skin of stone.........
Wish me luck, first show coming up in a week and a half,
(skinofstone, skinofstone....)
Rick that's the key to the solution!
I'm laughing so hard the tears are streaming down my face!
We all make signs that say:
" ONLY ORIGINALS SOLD HERE"
What are these people thinking! We buy kits????
"They found this in Walmart" over my dead body!
I had an article stashed in my polital folder about IQ. It says the average American has an IQ of 98.
http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/id1048.html
As a Mensa member, all I can say is too much TV.
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