What do you do with your work?

Just curious - what do you people do with your printed images?

Store them, display them, give them away, what? Anybody here got a

house full of 4x5 contact prints nicely matted and framed?

Majority get thrown in boxes. The occasional outstanding image gets blown up big and tacked to my special bulletin board for a couple months, then, into the big box.

 

CXC

<p><i>" . . . a house full of 4x5 contact prints nicely matted and framed?" </i></p>

<p>No. I only use the 4x5 contacts for reference - I don't matte them. But, I <i>do</i> have quite a few matted 11x14s and matted 8x10 contacts around. ;-) The work that isn't specifically for a client (an increasingly endangered species) goes into sort of a rotating display, or gets used for gift presentations at holidays or other events. (Is it tacky to include an art-print brochure, so they appreciate the value of the gift? ;-) ) </p>

I do the same thing that Chris does above.

No contacts. 8x10 & 11x14 matted...give them away.

Literally, a few months after I had been photographing (1966) I asked

the same question. Since at that time, being self-taught, I didn't

know who to ask, so I answered the question myself. The answer I came

up with was, " You have an exhibition." But where? There were no

galleries showing photographs. So I cleaned out my darkroom--a

separate apartment from where I lived that rented for $35/month,

constructed panels, borrowed lights, and push-pinned 60 prints up. The

exhibition was up for three or four weeks and I sold forty prints--at

$10 each. My dream of making a living from my work took a giant step

toward eventual realization.

 

Although I think one should photograph only for oneself--meaning, try

to please no one else when deciding where and what to photograph--it

is important to have an audience for your work. It need not be a large

one--a few people, who may not even like your work, but who understand

what you are trying to do, is often sufficient.

 

Artists are essentially givers and there needs to be an audience to

receive what you are giving. In that way, a circle is completed, and

the essential reason for making art--to connect us to each other and

to the world--is enhanced by another occurance.

I thought the below was a great idea - I guess there's still time to donate your work:

 

-----------

 

Due to the blackout last week, the Silent Auction and fundraiser for children of a NYC Firefighter has been rescheduled for:

 

TOMORROW, THURSDAY, AUGUST 21,from 6 to 10 pm.

 

Please attend. Showing your support will also afford you a wonderful opportunity to add to your photo collection at what are sure to be well-below-market prices. Famous and near-famous photographers as well as significant photographers' estates have generously donated prints to be auctioned tomorrow. Don't miss out!

 

As previously publicized, all proceeds will be used to create AN EDUCATIONAL FUND FOR THREE SMALL CHILDREN. THEIR MOTHER, MICHELLE, RECENTLY DIED FROM BREAST CANCER. THEIR FATHER, JACK, IS A NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTER and colleague of Mike Killarney.

 

Where: SOHO PHOTO GALLERY

15 White St. NYC.

3 Blocks South of Canal St., between 6th Ave. and West Broadway.

A, C, E train to Canal St. or #1 to Franklin.

 

Contact Firefighter, Photographer, and Soho Photo Intern Mike Killarney for more information. 516 359-0574 or mikefdny1@optonline.net.

 

We need your help! Please pass this message on immediately!

 

------------------

Probably 85% of what I shoot doesn�t even get to the print stage. The remainder gets a 8x10 test print, only a small percentage of these show promise. Of these I send them off to be done in 16x20 by someone who knows what they are doing. Usually the results are disappointing, wrong interpretation occasionally, or the content is lousy, at least after you look at it for a while � never should have been printed. So none of it is displayed.

 

Frankly, given all the stunning work out there, from people like the Smiths, Barnbaum, Sexton, et.al., I�d feel foolish hanging my stuff on the wall, let alone letting other people see it. With B&W, it seems that no matter what you do, someone will find fault � �You don�t get good blacks� � �Should be warm toned not cold toned� ��Poor highlight seperation� � �Contrast too high, too low� �. And it goes on and on, and this isn�t even about content, which is even more difficult. In short, it�s terribly difficult to have any pride in what I shoot. And the more you know about the process and see the work of others, the stronger thre feelings of inadequacy grow.

 

My first camera was a Zone VI purchased new in the early 90s. In correspondence with Fred Picker, I remember him writing, � There are millions of pictures taken every year. For yours to be noticed, they must be exceptional.� Seriously, how many of us are producing work that is expceptional? Even once every blue moon?

 

Perhaps I should hobby, put the gear on E-bay and let younger, more creative people carry on.

 

RJ

I shoot and print for my own pleasure. Most of my stuff goes into black binders that no one ever will see. On occasion, I take my better images to work to show to some friends and often give them away upon request.

Jeez! When you put it that way, maybe I should quit photography too... (just kidding)

 

I'm producing exceptional work all the time thank you! Maybe not to anyone else, but the most important audience at least initially, is me. Something along the lines of... "if you don't like it, who will?"

 

Like the rest of us, the vast majority of what I shoot ends up in storage or in the garbage. What's left standing at the end of the day and if it passes all the cuts... it gets printed, hung up sometimes, given away, or better yet sometimes sold. But the primary reason for shooting to me is personal satisfaction.

>Frankly, given all the stunning work out there, from people like the Smiths, Barnbaum,

>Sexton, et.al., I�d feel foolish hanging my stuff on the wall, let alone letting other people

>see it.

 

hey robert,

 

why? what you're talking about is a normal part of being a creative person. Sure they'll

always be people who you admire who's work you think will be "better" (notice the

quotes around this word), but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do something you enjoy.

art isn't a contest (i think even Barnbaum talks about this in one of his books). don't let

your inner critic run unchecked and don't let other people's critique (or work) run over

you. at least 50% of the reason i enjoy photography is because of the experience and

adventure of simply doing it. if you no longer enjoy doing it, that's another matter.

 

me, most of my work is never printed. 90% of it never even gets a contact sheet. If i have

something i like, i print it, give it as presents, or put is on my website - and more times

that I wish, I throw it in the trash.

 

j.

I do not work in large format but was curious regarding what folks do with their stuff. I personally get lots of satisfaction putting my best work in a pratt portfolio 8.5x11.

 

I was surprised to hear that many only print up to 8x10 or 11x14. Why use large format?? Is it that you work in black and white? or that having tilt and shifts compensates for such a large format?

"Why use large format??"

 

Detail, tonality, movements, the sheer joy of a large neg/tranny, focusing on a ground glass with 2 eyes instead of a viewfinder with 1. Lots of reasons besides the possibility of huge enlargements.

>was surprised to hear that many only print up to 8x10 or 11x14. Why use large

>format?? Is it that you work in black and white? or that having tilt and shifts

>compensates for such a large format?

 

hey hugh,

 

the short answer is (probably) that most of these people are printing contact prints from

their 8x10 and larger negatives. the characteristics/benefits of contact prints are discussed

throughout many of the threads here (and in other places) - if you're interested.

"Why use large format??"

 

What Matt and Jon said. You can literally walk into a LF contact print, and then spend hours looking around. Another reason for contact printing is the costs associated with blowing these bad boys up. 8x10 enlargers are not cheap.

Here is my testimony: I live in a small and far country named Chile. I´m probably one of the few photographers here that photograph the landscape in large format and B&W. The rest of the native landscape photographers here are the classic Art Wolf type. I don't make a living out of photography, but since there is'nt much here to show in large format, I have had lots of success showing my work at art galleries. I have even won some local fellowships. I´m not saying that my work is only good because of being shot in large format, but people here are not very use to see this kind of photography.

I'm kind of luck here I guess.

 

regards,

 

Jorge

I share Robert's view on this topic. Sadly, most of what I shoot ends up in boxes in my closet because I never think they're good enough to show to anyone or sell, much less give away. I've made a few good photographs over the years and have those framed and on the walls in my home.

When I look at one of my prints, I try to imagine what other photographers might say about them.

For instance, "Bad print color," "Yeah, it's flat," "Gee, you should have cropped this out," "You don't have a good black in this print."

The worst response to my photographs is a sickly half-smile, followed by something like "Oh, yeah, that's nice."

I've never gotten an "oooh, wow, look at that!" response to an image.

My wife, bless her heart, loves everything I do.

And by the way, I think 4x5 matted contact prints are wonderful.

Robert, you wanna go bowling with me?

If it's any good, I immediately give it away. The rest I keep in a box or toss. Hmmmm, that leaves me with a large collection of...

 

er, times up, gotta go now.

Lately I print, mount and frame the ones I like, and I do have many prints hanging around the apartment. I also give some away to family and friends.

 

In the past I've done the occasional small exhibition and I've done a little work for hire, but now it's mostly personal projects and things I do for friends, like author portraits and promotional headshots. Maybe when I feel like I have enough new work that seems to hang together on a particular theme, I'll see if I can organize another exhibition.

Having a little home exhibition can work pretty well. I did it once, but with paintings, not photos. I framed 10-12 ranging from 4"x6" to maybe 2'x3', and hung 'em up in my apartment. Then I invited all my friends, promising nice champagne (they aren't all art lovers). I had a price list with what I thought they were worth, as a kind of joke. Then I gave any painting away to anyone who wanted it.

 

I have to admit that I do regret giving away one particular work, the standout of the idiosyncratic style I was into at the time, gone forever, lost touch with owner, who didn't hang it up anyways.... If there were a way to say, politely, 'Bring it back when you are done with it', I should have said it. Of course with photos you just keep the neg/tran and print it again...

 

An exhibit can also be a superb way to motivate yourself to complete a body of work.

 

CXC

"the short answer is

(probably) that most of these people are printing contact prints from

their

8x10 and larger negatives. the characteristics/benefits of contact prints are

discussed

throughout many of the threads here (and in other places) - if

you're interested."

 

Ahem - there are also quite a few of us on ehre who shoot 8x10 (or larger) in colour and obviously don't usually do contacts.

 

I work on various projects - personal and comissioned. I scan mine - print em out 11x14 and see which seem to be working. The "best" I get drum scanned and printed up larger. Some for exhibition, some for sale, some for clients. (and some go on my wall - but I prefer the home pritned Walker Evans pritns from the LOC I have there right now...).

 

Today I'm just working on an idea I had for a minature hand bound book of 7 Photogrpahs (8x10 printed 4x5 on lovely cotton rag paper) to go out to some galleries I have links with and some photo editors I deal with.

The reason I made my comments is because of the expense and serious commitement this stuff involves. This LF stuff is not a walk in the park! I can only imagine what you 8x10, 11x14, and 12x20+ shooters go through. The process is rewarding, but only to a point. Part of the reward in my book has to be results. If I was making steady progress that would be one thing, but I don't feel like I'm taking better photos than I was three years ago.

 

But this is just my view, I can respect different motivations.

 

RJ

i guess i am one of the lucky ones. all of my work these days is done for the historic american engineering record (HAER) and the historic american building survey (HABS) and goes into the collections of the library of congress. i spent many years trying to figure out what the hell all my photographs were good for (even though i was fortunate enough to have had several nice exhibitions, sold plenty of stuff, and managed to get a few images in the collections of a couple of art museums), and even put the camera away for a couple of years. i thought i wanted to be an "artist", but after a few years, that game started to wear on me. finally, i found my self a niche where i feel like my work has real value, and i am grateful i am able to contribute something to the body of work at HABS/HAER. btw, that's a perfect reason to use LF - the LOC will not accept any smaller formats. you guys who are looking for a worthwhile way to use your LF skills should contact your local or state historical societies and offer to do some recordation work for them - these organiations are always looking for good documentary photographs of significant buildings, sites, etc. when i first started doing architectural work over 20 years ago, i contacted the photogra[phs librarian at the oregon historical society offering to shoot a few things for them - they sent me a comprehensive shoot list that i am still working on today.

The simple answer is... I am a process junkie. I love working the materials and seeing the results of my handiwork. The image is almost secondary.

 

The more complex answer is...

 

 

My stuff usually doesn't get printed either. Be brutally critical with your contact sheets. My daughters get some of my work, some is turned into gifts, calenders for next year, cards...

 

Now as I say that, I am looking at a Cyanotype I have contacted off a 4x5 of Blodgett Canyon, Hamilton Montana. Guess what? It's a nice print, still needs a bit of work before I am happy with it. But everytime I look at it, I think back a couple of months, on a hot June afternoon, hiking up a trail for an hour with press camera in backpack, tripod in hand, talking, inspiring, being inspired. Will this print ever make the National Gallery? Nope, but it will find a place somewhere in my home and I could care less if you, my sister, or anyone else likes it or not.

 

I am thinking about a houseful of 4x5 cyantypes, VD's, oilprints, etc. all nicely matted and framed. Maybe I'll even silver print one or two.

 

Great question.

 

tim in san jose

Tim wrote: "Ahem - there are also quite a few of us on ehre who shoot 8x10 (or larger) in colour and obviously don't usually do contacts."

 

--and there are even a few of us who shoot 8x10" or larger in color and sometimes even DO do contacts. The attractions of a contact print in B&W are very much the same in color, with the exception of issues relating to materials like Azo or alt processes. I do more B&W than color lately, but I have color reversal prints that I'm quite fond of.