There seems to be an endless number of books, magazines and Internet forums discussing the latest camera equipment. There are fewer places to get information about actually taking photographs, even fewer with regards to printing those photos, and hardly any giving advice about putting on an exhibition.

Over the past two years I’ve had my first 4 exhibitions. It has been a real learning experience, from the initial stages of working out how I am going to produce the prints to finally sitting in a room watching other people stare at my photographs. There are many things I know now that I wish I had been aware of a couple of years ago. They may be obvious to some, but I thought I would share these little nuggets of wisdom.

Time

Do not underestimate the amount of time it will take. If you are putting on a solo show with numerous prints life is going to be busy!  For example, I thought it would be quite simple to frame all the prints by myself. It did, however, take an average of about 2 hours a picture and with 24 prints it became a huge job. Some galleries also expect you to be present during the entire show. And although it’s very enjoyable meeting interesting people, it involves a lot of days spent in a room when you might rather be out traveling or taking photographs.

Listen

If you are at the gallery the entire time it provides a fantastic opportunity for feedback. Some conversations were about what I could do better (see labels and height), others were advice on great places I should visit in the future. When I asked visitors which photograph was their favorite the results were fascinating and quite unexpected. The vast majority of Japanese men liked “Into the mist”, while the Japanese women were far more enamored with the photographs of either Fuji or the snow monkeys. The Geisha / Maiko photograph although very popular with western visitors was of far less interest to Japanese. I was pleased that this range of choices validated my decision to show a diverse selection of photographs. An entire exhibition of bridge photographs might have had a tighter artistic theme, but then I would have missed out on the conversation with the elderly lady who pointed at my print of a deserted Okinawan beach and explained how she had visited the exact same place sixty years earlier.

Labels

There should be clear labels that tell the visitor exactly where the photograph was taken, and even better a description of how you took the photograph. Labels should be printed large as a surprising number of the people who visit galleries are older and don’t want to be straining their eyes looking at small typeface.

Height

Hang the prints at the correct height for the average viewer, not yourself. Otherwise (if you are six foot foreigner in rural Japan) you may have people balancing on their toes trying to see them.

To sell or not to sell?

Some galleries are display only, others will happily sell your prints and take a commission, while others will vary the cost of renting the gallery space depending on whether you are displaying or selling. I chose to display only for three of the four exhibitions, but handed out business cards to anyone who enquired about prints.

Advertise

You may have the most amazing selection of photographs but if nobody knows about your exhibition you are only going to get a few random visitors who happened to be passing by. It is worth talking with the gallery to find out how much if any advertising they are willing to do for your exhibition. Of course tell family and friends, but also consider contacting local newspapers to let them now about the event. The key here is to do it in advance so that hopefully you will get mentioned in the paper on the first rather than the last day of the exhibition.

Guest books

Guest books are vital way of staying in touch with visitors who come to your exhibition. It is essential therefore that as well as a name and comment you get an email address or a full mail address. That way you can thank them for attending and / or let them know when your next exhibition will be held. (It will be a little tricky to do this if all they write is John Smith – Nevada.)

Portfolio

At my second exhibition I put out a small file with some tear sheets from various magazines that have used my photographs. It turned out to very popular, people could sit down and look through the pictures and spot which of the ones that had been in magazines were now up on the wall.

Real Art

Putting on an exhibition is a wonderful way to show everyone your work and hopefully most people will be full of praise. It is unlikely, if not impossible, however that praise will be universal. What surprised me was that there is still a certain snobbery by some gallery patrons that photography is not “real art,” or that real photographs are black and white, not color.

Once you embrace the fact that your can’t please everyone, (or that some can’t be pleased at all) it is much easier to concentrate on following your own artistic vision.