Hmmm…. Got to wondering if I could get the attention of a gallery. Which means getting something that would get the attention of a gallery. SOMETHING? SOMETHINGS? Wuddizit that grabs attention? Hmmmm…. I've had shows. They're a LOT of work. Last time I printed and framed over a hundred images. A friend generously had three different books of my images printed. He actually layer them out… they looked terrific. Hundreds of people showed up. It filled six rooms on two floors. Very cool, yet…
As you can see on the right there, I've cadged some awards and had a bunch of images published. The result? VERY GOOD QUESTION. See, this isn't my day job. It's where I go to escape day jobs, markets, clients, life, and other people's tensions. Which means, well, it means I'm kind of uninterested in the hard work it takes to become a successful artist.
It's been a handful of years since my last show and I've grown, created a ton of additional work while wandering into new wonderings. In the past I've asked if you can be a poet, a clarinetist, a composer, or a novelist… if you never have an audience. Hell I don't even market this blog-site the way I did some years back. In fact, it's self indulgence, huh? Once it attracted a few hundred visitors a week. Then I let it whither, went away for months. Last time I looked there were maybe a couple dozen folks who wandered in.
To keep these things going you need to generate a lot of smart copy, and then grow and nurture links, visit everyone else - become a community guy. Fact is I do visit dozens of sites a week hunting new ideas and… wonderings. But to actively interact grabs hunks of time and that cranks up the opportunity cost thing. I'd rather grow the images that all of the influences trigger..
Still, it'd be cool to have a gallery or museum hang some of my newer stuff for a while and get some flesh and blood people to react face-to-face. Nice, but improbable. Marketing's work. It's what I did for years for some very big companies. Images are an escape from that. So...
1. Here's a Lancaster City poster
2. Here's a people poster
3. Here's another people poster
4. Here's an urban poster
Maybe I should get a half thousand of these printed up - mail them to galleries/museums and nail 'em to telephone poles? Maybe I should pour some Irish over ice, push back my leather chair… and watch TV?
2 comments:
I could have written this post. Ok, not quite with the same wit or humour, nor with the same verbal dexterity but certainly with the same sentiment. I am far too lazy to take my photography to any other level. Also I would not like to risk changing what photography means to me. Same thing with the writing. I wouldn't like a large readership. I think that would change the current dynamics and I quite like how things are.
I just left a comment on your blogsite Cedric re. hubris. I spray paint onto this digital wall to make some sort of ripple in the virtual waterways. Perhaps I've just too much time on my hands? Hmmm… maybe I'll collect stamps?
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