Displaying your work Exhibitions/Social Media

Alan Smithers Photography
You can follow me via
alansmithers.co.uk www.alansmithers.co.uk/ www.facebook.com/smithers.phot… twitter.com/#!/AlanSmithers
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Recents Blogs
*Thoughts on displaying your work Exhibitions/Social Media - www.alansmithers.co.uk/section…
*The Garage Studio - www.alansmithers.co.uk/section…
*New Direction - focusing on portrait photography  - www.alansmithers.co.uk/section…
*Featured Interview - Iris Aperture Photography www.alansmithers.co.uk/section…
*Featured Interview - Liz Phillips Photography - www.alansmithers.co.uk/section…
*Featured Interview - Andrey Obryvalin aka inObrAS - www.alansmithers.co.uk/section…
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Thoughts on displaying your work Exhibitions/Social Media

Exhibitions
I have done 2 exhibitions both very different. The first one was for a record label that was having a promotional night for their bands. I was asked to display some of my work in the bar area of the venue. I chose colourful long exposure work to complement the atmosphere. The people at the venue were there to see live music so the displaying of my work publically for the first time felt like an achievement but to promote my work this probably wasn't the best location, low lighting meant that some of the works impact was lost on the walls of the venue also gig posters on the wall distracted from my framed artwork/photography. I did have a few people approach me and were really impressed with what was on display but this was for one night only and for a handful of people. It was good experience on how to display my work but not so great for promoting my work.


My second exhibition was something I had been planning for a while, a week long exhibition featuring over 50 pieces of my work showing my cityscape photography. This was very expensive because of the prints and the cost of frames, however you can view the frames as an investment for future exhibitions. I did get a huge buzz when people walked in to view my work and gave me instant feedback the main benefit I can see from doing public exhibitions is getting people who are not necessarily into photography/art engaged with your work. Mostly people would stop on there journey for a few seconds look through the glass wall to view my work and carry about their day.
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Overall I see exhibitions as costly, they require a lot of planning logistically and the venue you choose needs to be in a busy location that will get lots of visitors to your exhibition especially if your work is on display for a short period such as a week or two. Seeing your work printed framed and on display feels great and getting to talk to people about your work is a nice experience but remember your not doing this just to feel good about your self you are doing this to promote, network and hopefully sell your work.

Social Media
The great thing about social media is it's free, great for networking and getting feedback. However my advise on this is if you think that creating a facebook page, twitter account or deviantart page tomorrow is going to be about posting your work and waiting for the follows and feedback to come flowing in, you will probably be disappointed. Social media is just that and to get people looking at your online presence you need to be social. Leaving comments and likes on other artists work will get those engaged in your work too it also enables you to network sharing ideas with other enthusiasts and also make friends who share your passion too. Those viewing your work will have a passion for photography/art so unlike public exhibitions engaging those who normally won't be interested in photography/art is less likely.

Deviantart is amazing what you get out of here is a huge benefit and if you become a member its well worth the cost. I try to like and comment on as much as I can there are so many talented photographers on there, everyday I see so much work which I admire. Being social on this site is a must not just to show respect to other peoples work but to get people viewing yours in return. Overall the comments and feedback are great and the majority of people on Deviantart are genuine enthusiasts.

Facebook www.facebook.com/ pages are good to but they are all about building up your likes (followers) creating a page you can promote this on your news feed on your personal page but this will only engage those who follow you, the challenge here is getting other people on facebook viewing your page for this I don't have much advise I don't want spam people so I tend to just link it on my other sites. Facebook pages are really beneficial for local networking as friends liking your work or if your lucky sharing your work on there newsfeeds will gain you more exposure to people in your area. I find local models message me on here if they want to work with me for the first time. The pages have folders for your photography making it easier to showcase all of your work and break this down into the different subject areas of your work. The recent downside is that not everyone who likes your page will see all your posts unless they change their settings

Twitter twitter.com/AlanSmithers I tend to use for just for updates. The limited text space and the lack of capability to showcase your work mean's I find this the least ideal social networking site that I use. I tend to tweet updates with links to my other sites taking my twitter followers to sites where they can see my full work. I have some great followers on here but I tend to find the majority of people on here are purely obsessed with having lots of followers but not so fussed about the context of there followers tweets. Also if I do my one tweet for a few days highlighting some recent work this can be lost easily in the constant steam of tweet updates. I do have a small hardcore group of followers on here and without them I probably wouldn't use this site.

There are other sites worth trying too tumblr for example I was on here briefly but I want to limit the amount of social sites I am using.

My own site, www.alansmithers.co.uk/ this came of the back of the last exhibition I did. It's cheaper than a two week exhibition and the subscription is for a year or I can buy this for multiple years. The idea is to have my own dedicated permanent exhibition online currently allowing me to show up to 500 pieces of work if needed. It also allows me to decide how the work is displayed which is why I have a white background with black text it's simple but gives an exhibition feel to it.