Being True to Yourself

One of the hardest truths I have come by, with respect to liking what I do, is to decide what to print. I run into interesting dilemmas in balancing being an artist and trying to make some money from my craft.
I have come to like a few combinations of mood, light, and materials that help me make photographs I can look at and be proud of. When I show that work to others I usually get a fairly flat response, or none at all.
Then, as an experiment, I print something that I know my wife likes, and all of a sudden, the response is fairly good, generous even.
So what to print? Do you stay true to your own ideals and print what feels good in the soul? Or do you go with what's 'liked and admired' by your surrounding and potential buyers?
I have had the good fortune to be able to afford (on a shoestring budget) to practice photography without needing to sell my work or services. It's nice when it happens that I earn some money, because it financially justifies my expenditure in time and money.

I'm really curious about hearing what your arguments for either approach may be.

- Thomas

There's nothing wrong with "selling out," but don't go on mistaking paradise for that home across the road (alright, thank you in-my-head Bob Dylan).

What I mean is that everybody makes compromises, sometimes they lose money for their vision, and sometimes they lose vision for money.

Personally, I would consider doing prints-that-sell-well as a useful and worthy means, but not as an end.

Like you, I have another job, so photography is peripheral to my income (waaaaay peripheral...). I can entertain the idea of art without too much anguish. The few prints I sold so far happened to be prints that I liked, but they were not necessarily the ones that I liked the most.

We would all like to be acknowledged and famous for that One Photo that's really what we consider the pinnacle of our art so far, but I think we have to admit a little modesty: maybe we are not always the best champions or critics of our art. Understanding what people like in our work can give us insight in what works and what does not. Art is also a form of communication.

In the end it's about making choices, and choices are often local, specific to a particular situation. There are moments when it makes sense to do a pleasing work; others when we would be stupid not to take a risk.

IDK myself, but is photographing as a "service" a very artful endeavor in photography?-----I'm sure it can be. Or, is it simply that, a "service". I believe AA identified it as assignments from without (service oriented photography) and assignments from within (expressive fine art type stuff). IDK, but I do know I can identify with your dilema. I have some contact prints that my wife really likes but that I simply see nothing there and I always leave those negatives in the sleeves as I don't want to waste materials on them.

Good feedback, guys. I guess it bothers me to some extent that I sell work for money that I am not entirely happy with myself. There is a tiny piece of me that exclaims within that I should not be doing that. I guess I am a man of principles, and found through prior experiences in life, both personal and those of friends, that unless you are true to yourself, you will always compromise how happy and pleased you feel about things.
My best friend in Sweden had a very hard time admitting to being a lesbian. When she finally decided to be true to her 'calling' it transformed her personality into something much more confident and sure-footed. It was amazing to see. I feel the same way, to a much lesser degree, about my photography. By presenting those images that don't fully appeal to my senses, or 'calling', I compromise the artistry I'm trying to achieve. That work is out there, in someone's home, because they liked it, and not I.

I guess I should stop thinking about it so much and just realize that maybe I am the only one to care, and that I should just be very happy being able to create work that I want to develop for much of the time.

- Thomas

I can empathize Thomas. I have been in a similar spot myself. I take photos of things I am drawn to for more elemental reasons. My wife just says, oh, another silo, or not more pictures of that stupid wall again?! For some people, an image needs to be congruent, or speak to the viewer who is not always able to see, or perceive the more intangible reasons that only people like us can see on why we made the image. What might be an average image to us, may speak volumes to the average joe who would gladly pay for it. Making a compromise between what sells, and what you can feel comfortable producing is the right approach. A Lot of pro's keep bread on the table with commissioned work, or other non photo work entirely! Then do their personal artsy stuff in their spare time.

It is all in your choice of words. Ralph Gibson once told me that 'It's not selling out, it's cashing in'. I sort of like that quote. Combines a bit of honesty with some remunerative possibilities.

If you analyze the sentence carefully, you'll see that he is headed in the right direction. Selling out is changing what you do to please someone else. Cashing in is pleasing yourself so ably that eventually you can demand that others pay a little bit to get a glimpse of what you do.

Thomas Bertilsson said:

Or do you go with what's 'liked and admired' by your surrounding and potential buyers?
- Thomas

Click to expand...

Nobody wants to buy any of my stuff; as a consequence I print whatever I want, however I want

Interesting thread! I often find that images that really move me are usually seen by others as uninteresting, while images that I don't really care for are absolutely loved by others! I have found that for my personal work I print what moves me. As far as paid work goes, (I shoot weddings) my clients get to pick what they like. Interestingly enough they usually tend to pick images that are, in my opinion, just plain or "run-of-the-mill". I can give them 100 images that I find inspiring, but they will choose image # 101 which I find to be boring.

walter23 said:

Nobody wants to buy any of my stuff; as a consequence I print whatever I want, however I want

Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat as Walter. But I'm curious, is it so difficult to keep the "art" and "commercial" worlds apart? In other words, can't you do both? Is there a difference between an artist doing commissioned work and you doing work that sells?

To tell the truth, I never sold anything until I started to make prints that I wanted to make. That "clarified" my style - and ... I don't know ... the "connections" became more effective between me and the potential buyer.

The first sales were surprises. I think, now, I can see how it all works.

Be true to yourself. Your work will reflect that integrity. That is one really good and valuable characteristic of the work.

I agree with most of the opinions here, there are pros and cons to each approach.

I do, however, think that closest to heart are the opinions of Ed. It's clear to me now that I need to separate the efforts of trying to be both a successful artist (creating art that I like) and a commercial success (figuring out what sells and make photographs based on that) and either do just one of them, or find a balance between the two.
I think that deep in my heart I believe that I have to be satisfied with the work I produce and present, or I will feel like I cheat myself. I have to remove myself from the purpose of selling the work and just rely wholly on being satisfied with my own work. If somebody else decide they like it too - bonus, but no grief if they don't. My art is for me, it is my 'insanity asylum' where I can concentrate 100% on attempting to make one thing perfect. It would be a shame to compromise that.

Thank you so much for offering your opinions.

- Thomas

I would say photograph and print what moves you when you can afford to, and develop your vision so that it becomes ever clearer and more powerful. This I think is the artistic pursuit. Even if you are a genius at what you do, probably very few people will be moved by it as you will, especially people surrounding you. If you need or want to cash in, or produce some prints that others can easily enjoy, know what you are doing and feel good about it.

Probably, both of these pursuits can coexist in harmony.

There was an article in lenswork not too many months back that talked about this in terms of sex vs cash. Travolta makes some great movies -- Pulp Fiction (sex) and some bad movies -- Battlefield Earth (cash). Hemingway wrote A Moveable Feast at the same time he was writing for the Kansas City Star newspaper. One could even have the same discussion about one's day job, for all of it I have the same answer: Do the commercial work when the opportunity arises, but do it with the attitude that the commercial work exists merely as a host organism for your art.

I don't make a damned thing off of my photography, but I DO make prints that I might not be particularly happy with myself, because family/friends like them. I give my prints away freely when I think kith/kin actually like them and aren't just being polite.

In fact, the finest prints I make are not those which I am myself satisfied in, but those which please the people I care about. To tell you the truth, I'm never perfectly satisfied with ANY of my prints. There's always something I wish was better about my prints, and maybe that's because I've been doing photography for only about a year and a half.

It seems to me though, that I could draw a parallel with sex.

Masturbation is fun, but it does not represent (to me, your mileage may vary) the epitome of sexual expression. There really is something to be said for the overall experience even though compromises are made when intercourse involves a partner/partners.

*** Of course, I don't sell photographs, I just give them away, so I can't speak authoritatively to the commercialization of art, any more than I can speak authoritatively to the commercialization of sex. I do see how others might see the value in these two industries, just as I do see very strong similarities between the two industries.

I spent more than 25 years full time producing photographs on assignment. Many, many thousands of photographs. I found the work often challenging and occasionally very satisfying. The money was great, the lifestyle was great, it was very seductive and the time flew by. When I hit 40 I came to the realization that I would only create photos if someone was paying me. So I took a couple of weeks and went out to shoot landscape. Over the next few years i'd spend about 2-4 weeks a year shooting landscape work, the rest of the time was advertising and magazine assignment work. It was not until I was 44 that I closed my NYC studio, spent the next year building a small studio and darkroom at home and then in 2004, at age 46 began to pursue my landscape photography full time.

I am now in my fifth year as a full time landscape photographer and I can tell you that it is vastly different than doing assignment work. I shoot what excites me, things that I want to see, going to places I want to go. The only way in which the "market" influences me is in whether or not I'm going to turn one of my negatives into a print edition. Personally I don't need to print 80 copies of the same image, that is purely a commercial consideration. Then again, there is a direct relationship between the money that I make from the sales of prints and my ability to pursue more images. It is not cheap to travel as I do, to use the equipment I use and to have created the type of facilities I enjoy. The dependance that my art (that word always seems pretentious) has on my ability to sell prints is inescapable.

Those who have not done extensive assignment photography can't fully comprehend the difference between selling prints of your personal work and shooting assignments for others. If you are truly shooting the work that interests you, then no matter how many prints you sell, it's still your personal work and you are being true to yourself.

I also find it vastly more gratifying when someone buys my work versus when I did assignments. People who buy your prints are truly putting their money where their mouth is. It's very easy for people to politely say they like your work even if they feel otherwise. When they actually buy a print and choose to hang it in their home (which is quite an honor) you know that you have really touched them with your work. For me it's one of the things that makes all the time and effort worthwhile.

A friend of mine asked for a piece to hang in his office.
He knew he wanted a triptych and in black and white, but I asked him more details.
It was not going to be one of my existing photographs, so it is going to be
a unique work, "tailored-made". I asked him to make a list of ten words.
I still haven't gotten the list, but I have allready some ideas which I have been working
on my head.
To me, this is not him telling me what to do, but opening himself up for me to investigate.
The photographic work itself will have nothing to do with the person, but with his desires.
It is going to be a portrait, but not a face. A photograph of his inside world.
But he doesn't know that.
So, I still retain full artistic expression and I let the situation, the person and the place,
to guide me because I believe that art springs from restrictions.
So, I might not be going for something violent and crude, but I am going for something
subtle. I want it to be surrealistic and unsettling, but only if studied closely.
Something he and his partner will do, but not his customers.
So, I like it! Feels like a game.

I am also working with a jewelery maker and she is conservative so has all this
restrictions imposed upon the work. That's fine. I have many ideas on how to
approach the subject and I can just work on the non-nude ideas for example.

I am still in the very beginning of my artistic growth, so I don't mind a bit of playing around.

Thomas Bertilsson said:

One of the hardest truths I have come by, with respect to liking what I do, is to decide what to print. I run into interesting dilemmas in balancing being an artist and trying to make some money from my craft.
I have come to like a few combinations of mood, light, and materials that help me make photographs I can look at and be proud of. When I show that work to others I usually get a fairly flat response, or none at all.
Then, as an experiment, I print something that I know my wife likes, and all of a sudden, the response is fairly good, generous even.
So what to print? Do you stay true to your own ideals and print what feels good in the soul? Or do you go with what's 'liked and admired' by your surrounding and potential buyers?
I have had the good fortune to be able to afford (on a shoestring budget) to practice photography without needing to sell my work or services. It's nice when it happens that I earn some money, because it financially justifies my expenditure in time and money.

I'm really curious about hearing what your arguments for either approach may be.

- Thomas

Click to expand...

Hi Thomas,
If it's about money, do more of your real occupation and do your photography for yourself. You must do some things for other reasons than money..Evan Clarke

Very true. And wisdom to live by. Thank you. I think I can say that every single negative I have ever exposed, the intention has always been to satisfy myself, and that clears things up for me.

- Thomas

Early Riser said:

... If you are truly shooting the work that interests you, then no matter how many prints you sell, it's still your personal work and you are being true to yourself....

Click to expand...

Words I've heard spoken by Artists:

- "never show any of your photographs that you don't personally like". (a photographer)
- "never give your artwork away, always charge a fee, or it wont be appreciated". (a painter)

Personally, I've given away my photos for free. I've also been offered money for some of my photos on different occasions, and made substantial amounts of money for producing photos on assignment for a book publishing company as well as for industrial photos for a manufacturing company. It was always a satisfying experience when I was called for more assignments - repeat business.

I'm not really in the business of photography, I do it for pleasure. I like to think of it as an art form that I get totally absorbed in. Favorite photos from my personal work end up in frames on my own walls, and no other place - the ones that satisfy me on a personal (deeper) level. It's difficult to explain in words, so I don't.

Paul

There's a similar thread on here with a similar "selling your art" topic that you might want to check out. It was at about 5 pages last time I checked, but it was very similar stuff.

I doubt that, based on what I see of your work, That you'll put out a calendar that will infiltrate the office spaces of thousands of people, because your art is very different than what most people find appealing. I love your stuff, but unfortunately when people say "photography" they think mountain landscapes with perfectly (and exageratted) saturated colours and other tourist destinations. Most people don't find the artistic merrit of tresspassing on an industrial sight to capture a photo of something that is decaying or falling apart. As long as you can avoid the voices that say "take a picture of this because people will like it and buy it" than I think you'll be fine. I'm sorry to say Thomas, but you'll never get rich off photography. Your work will be admired by people who understand, but to those that don't, your lith prints with be nothing more than a golden brown piece of paper.

I think it sounds logical enough to say, "why not make money off photography? lots of people do it", "why not make money doing what you love" and "art is meant to be sold and shared" in the type of world we live in. But if you look at some of the "happiest" (depending on which peer-reviewed research article and theory of happiness you buy into) countries on the world, they are poor and don't gear their happiness towards money. If making money makes you happy, then get a digital camera, buy the latest version of photoshop and hit up the rockies.

Everyone has different reasons for being into photography. Personally I'll be seen ducking in and out of alleyways like a junkie in East Vancouver, trying to challenge the common myths of what people think of as a "beautiful" photograph and constantly pushing my comfort-zone in photography.
However, I also work in the emergency social services in the biggest oil-booming province in the country where everyone is making a huge amount of money in the tarsands, while I chose a line of work I love at the expense of living pay-cheque to pay-cheque. In short, photography is what YOU make of it -everyone defines "selling out" differently and no one will ever admit they sold out. Instead they make up logical reasons to why they are selling their art to justify what they do. It all depends how you do it and what you want your photography to be.