Background

I attended a Photo Americas (kind of like Photofest which I had heard of) and got my work reviewed by art gallery owners, art school and art museum people. Each and every one said that I would never make is as "Fine Art Photographer" (even though they stated that the 10 photographs I brought were technically good!) and I should concentrate in the stock photo market since I did not make my pictures "uncomfortable for people to look at"!!!

If people like to look at a picture, and it makes them feel good, even when it is not part of a themed body of work, it should be okay to do that kind of work. However, if you do this type of work (and I do) your work will likely never be shown in galleries and museums since they do not like to show a diverse body of work from a person. These same place will show images if they are all within a themed topic but it should make the viewers "uncomfortable" while viewing the images.

Since I am not purposely creating work that forces people to question their values, ideas, etcetera the art reviewers stated they would not show it nor would I ever be likely to get my work shown in that type of setting. I would have to change my work style, specialize in one theme: take pictures of topic X from various perspectives and not do a topic in a "conventional" manner; if I ever want to have my great looking pictures to be hung in an "Fine Art" photographic gallery or art museums.

Photos Reflect the Photographer

What and how you photograph items reflects the photographer's view in many subtle ways — even when on assignment doing work for others. To become a "Fine Art Photographer" I would have to change my style, create messages in my photographs, and photograph to a niche perspective of what these people want to show in their galleries. Well, that is not me so I will not change my style to suite their needs. If you want disturbing pictures, esoteric themes, narrow viewpoints of the world go to these galleries and purchase prints for $500+ for a 11 x 14 image. If you want great pictures — ones you do not have to explain to others what it means — then look at what I have at 1/5 the price that they sell theirs for.

Photo Americas

I did get some value out of this. I found out some useful items or was given some advice as to what to do to improve:

• That my work would not be put into galleries (I already suspected this just from looking at what was already IN the galleries around Portland)
• I have a good sense and use of color
• Technically good
• I should use a larger format camera (2 1/4 x 2 1/4 or larger. i.e. Hassablad, Mayima or other type square format camera) to get larger negatives that enlarge with even less loss than a 35 mm does from a Nikon
• I should sell my work to stock agencies
• I cover a lot of ground photographically that most do not (do others over-specialize in one narrow field so they cannot take think how to take other types? or just only interest in one facet of work? Who knows?)
• You need to prepare 15 to 20 prints in a single photographic area (just doorknobs showing reflections of nude women would be a perfect item) that you cover since these people cannot handle seeing a diverse range of photographs from a single person. Then you should have 5 to 6 sets of themes and present just theme of photos to a reviewer that they like to see to even have a chance to get into a gallery. If you are already famous then none of these rules apply and you can do what you want since you are famous and they want your work in there even when covering a diverse set of topics.
• I should take a art appreciation or photographic history course to learn more about the wide ranging styles of photographing that goes on.
• Three possible stock photo places to sell my pictures that I did not know about.

Summary

I'll never bother going to another one of these again. To paraphrase THHGTTG "Mostly Useless". The information I got I already knew (though I will admit that confirmation from other people of what I had been explaining to my fellow photographers of my methods and philosophy was good); the four days of actual time that it went on; and the $800 spent getting ready for it I could have better spent doing other items. The most useful were the three leads on selling my photographs.

Tom Philo