Today's opportunity: Pictures for sale
For many people, life is a series of opportunities. Chances to go places, do things, do people, make money. For others, life is a series of regrets. Moments of missed opportunities, forgotten ideas, lost time. For me, life is a series of jealous thoughts. How is it possible that certain people follow through on pathetic plans while I sit around with lots of ideas and zero motivation to accomplish any of them? Why do certain people take risks and find rewards while I follow the easy route?Case in point: How do certain quote-unquote artists get to hang their "work" in coffee shops and galleries? How do these quote-unquote artists come up with the prices? Who buys these works of questionable art? Case in point: These pictures of "nature" I recently saw at a certain unnamed coffee shop on Granville Avenue near the lake. Photo of tree reflecting in water, $160. It's a snapshot actually. Anyone could have taken it, printed it, mounted it. But this guy did that and then somehow persuaded someone to let him hang it and, eventually, someone will think that it would look just lovely above the fireplace and buy it. A hundred sixty bucks for a photo of a tree.
Last summer I was at a street festival somewhere, maybe the Old Town festival at Welles Park, and a photographer there was selling absolutely stunning photographs of Tibet. They were huge, maybe four feet across, and gorgeous compositions of man and nature. I was almost tempted to buy one. But the cost? About $1,000 each. For that much, I thought, I could almost fly to Tibet myself and take hundreds of snapshots. And ... and ... then I could turn around and sell those photos at festivals and coffee shops. And the money I make from the suckers that buy my shit could then go to finance other trips.
Hey, I'm thinking out loud here. Well, I mean in writing. But here's my thought: From now on, every photo from my various trips and adventures is for sale. I just have to come up with a pricing scheme. And a way to get someone to hang them in a coffee shop. And the motivation to do any of this.
Whatever. I'll start here. Here's my first series, called CROSSINGS.
Raccoon, Vancouver, Canada, 2005
Street, Dublin, Ireland, 2005
Legs, Quito, Ecuador, 2004
Don't miss your opportunity to buy these wonderful prints, unavaible at any coffee shop in the city.
posted by teacherman @ 8:36 AM
5 Comments:
how about you send me a file with the pictures and I'll go to CVS and print them out for 29 cents. Oh wait, you won't make any money that way, but at least you'll get your work out there and into someone's living room. Sorta like blogging. < insert annoying smiley face >
I was actually thinking of charging some ridiculously stupid price like $9 per print, just to piss off all the other photographers out there who think their stuff should be worth more
My uncle had his pictures developed and put them on notecards. He sold them mostly at church fairs priced so that they just covered his costs. I think you should frame some of your shots with little price tags and randomly hang them up in various local shops... see how long they last.
AP, I'll frame your photos and shop them around to coffee shops. Of course I don't work for free, and well, I suspect the coffee shop probably takes at least 40% of the sale profits (galleries probably 50%), which leaves you, the "artist" with a handful of change. Guess I'd mark those buggers up too.
It's a deal! If we could just work it out where I'd make 79 cents per print, I'd be happy.
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