Photography Book: Good Idea or Bad?

January 11, 2007 11:17 AM

Photography / Gallery / Book Filter: I am a amateur photographer in the process of building up gallery shows and the like. Can I create a book to show my work? Is this acceptable to most galleries? MORE INSIDE

Lately I've been sending my submissions for shows in on a CDROM that has samples of my work as JPG, FLASH and slideshows for both PC and MAC. This has worked well, because the format is different than most.

Now however I'm tempted to make use of POD site such as lulu.com to make a 100page book with my photographs and the appropriate text and use that to send to galleries and venues. I'm experienced in gfx design, so it would be presentable and professional looking.

My question is whether or not this would be acceptable and/or unique. Would owners/managers look at this something like this or would it backfire? Has this been done before?

It simply seems the best way to send out information on myself as the cost is so low and the ease of shipping, immediacy of use, etc is perfect.

posted by damiano99 to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

I work at an art gallery and I believe that it is appropriate. The important thing is that the work is viewable and the presentation is professional. If you are applying to specific group shows, museums, etc., you need to follow the posted guidelines, though.
posted by elkelk at 11:21 AM on January 11, 2007

I'd say that the quality of the printing should be top notch for it to make a good impact. Mediocre printing may present the pictures in a less than flattering fashion which be counterproductive. If it presents the pictures so that they absolutely don't compare with professional quality ink jet prints then it may not be worth it. I'd say you are much better off spending the money on high quality 8 1/2x11" ink jet prints and get a nice leather portfolio display album.
posted by JJ86 at 11:42 AM on January 11, 2007

Kevin Kelly at KK.org/cooltools has some excellent suggestions about self-publishing large photography books. There are some good links on this very subject if you search through MeFi too.
posted by parmanparman at 12:27 PM on January 11, 2007

100 pages? How many gallery owners or managers are going to look through 100 pages of unsolicited photos? I think something smaller might be more effective and cheaper since probably many of the books you send out you'll never see again.

At any rate you'll want to get samples from different places to see the quality differences. The internets seem to suggest trying Asuka, Blurb, or MyPublisher before Lulu. I've used MyPublisher and what you get is fantastic for the price, but I'm not sure if it's portfolio quality. You'll have to check for yourself.
posted by sevenless at 9:16 PM on January 11, 2007

for unsolicited work, i should think that the book format would be fine, as part of an artist packet (as elkelk said, clearly, you're going to want to follow the specific gallery's guidelines for regular calls for submission).

i went through lulu once. it's not cheap, and their color rendering is atrocious. might work if you're work is black and white. frankly, though, you'll do much better to work with a brick-and-mortar printer. it'll likely cost less, and you'll be able to order proofs (not without cost, of course) until you're happy with the image quality.

also, 100 pages is way, way too many. i wouldn't exceed twenty. it demonstrates confidence in your work; with 100+ images, it's going to look like you're throwing everything you have indiscriminately, hoping the programming staff likes something.
posted by wreckingball at 8:43 AM on January 12, 2007