Mickey's PhotoPlus Expo 2007 Seminar Notes...

...on Successful Promotion of Your Work

Bill Hunt and Panel's Top Ten things (and six extra things) to do:

Be talented
Be smart, figure it out, don’t be a jerk.
Be focused – be ready, have work edited, be ambitious
Be Clear – be able to articulate what your doing don’t necessarily say why but say what, keep records
Be ready – slides, discs resume, business cards
Send Thank You notes after meeting with people
Be full – have a life, don’t be a monk
Be active – do the homework, go to galleries, find out how dealers behave, get published, get a mentor, get referrals, donate your best pictures to charity auctions and make sure that the image can be seen if it were shrunk down to a 1x1” image
Be receptive
Be merciless with yourself- EDIT, EDIT, EDIT, take out everything that isn’t good. Be great, be exceptional there are thousands of good photos and few great photos
Be Patient. None of the panel has ever shown an artist that has come to them cold. The gallery shouldn’t be a surprise to the artist. Ask yourself, is my work appropriate for this gallery?
Some of the panel like to see prints; some like books. Books are better than a random series of images. Books can contain a complete thought.
Don’t try to show dealers your work at AIPAD
Get a photo review…portfolio reviews are the best way to meet dealers.
Be able to talk about the work. Articulate in a cohesive manner why you are doing the work.
Enter as many competitions as you can.

Do your homework
Have a dialogue with your peers
One artist wanted to have show in NYC. She took a map and drew a 25mi radius from her house and tried to show in every gallery in that area. Next she did a 50 mile radius. By the time she got near NYC she had lots of local referrals.
Apply for every grant your county and state have to offer
Have a dialogue with your peers
Get portfolio reviews (20 minutes) – don’t bring big stuff, bring at least 1 final print, always listen. Record your sessions, what did you show them, what did they like, make a printout of thumbnails and make notes for each one. Photo Lucida, review Santa Fe, PhotoFest, Atlanta celebrates photography, society for photographic education, photonola.org, print center in Philly
Get your work out
Enter contests-even if you don’t win people will be discussing your work, gift your work (tax write-offs) [Note: See our Calendar page for some competitions.]
If you see a gallery you like ask them what their submission guidelines are.
Read about artist statements on photo-eye.com and www.metergallery.com, come up with a 1 sentence statement of your work, a 1 paragraph statement of your work and a 1 page statement.
Keep in touch with people you meet, send out updates of your shows, new work, etc. send thank you notes.

Meet gallery people who you think your work might be a fit.
Don’t bring work
Be a fly on the wall
Look at pricing, how stuff is mounted, what people are selling
PhotoPlus Expo is an annual show in New York City
Photo LA show in Santa Monica in Jan. has cheap airfare and hotels
FotoFest is an annual festival that alternates between Paris, France and Houston, Texas
If you can’t go to the show see if you can go online and get a catalogue of the show

www.apanational.com – check out resources – copyright articles
www.asmp.org - American Society of Magazine Photographers
www.editorialphoto.com
www.stockartistsalliance.org
www.foundationcenter.org
www.blueearth.org – if you are an individual this place will give you a nonprofit fiscal organization or “umbrella” org.
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