Between the devil & the deep - how to make a portfolio

Well, my husband has been badgering me for the past year to make a portfolio of prints from my negatives. So I decided I would humor him and do just that... as soon as I get an understanding of what the heck to put in my book. :confused:

I am not exactly sure how I should start. I tried having him go through my negative books and look at my contact sheets. He marked about a godzillion photos that he likes. Oi. When I go thru, I get maybe 6. :rolleyes:

Is there some way to figure out what goes into a portfolio book? I mean... beyond the "your best prints" thing... is there some standard method of organization? I am really confused about it, so any enlightenment you can provide will be gratefully received!

TIA!!!

What's the point of your portfolio? Is it a random selection of your 'best' images? Is thematic? Does it tell a story? Is it based on a process? On a film type?

I went through this with an ARGH!!!

I had assistance on this and a very good one at that, but I still think my portfolio is too broad, so next year I'm splitting my portfolio into 3 or 4 portfolios. Like an amoeba, I guess, I am spawning portfolios. Each portfolio will be thematic or process specific. For example I will have a portfolio of my glamour and fashion work that will have specific theme to it. I'm thinking "Fairy Tales in Flamour". I will have to take new pics for this. I will have another portfolio of my favourite muse and model, which I am going to call "Starr Light, Starr Bright". Then I will have specific portfolios for my art stuff. I haven't figured out the theme for that yet. Plus I will have one specifically for my Polaroid transfers. This one I will make very different than the others and not have it a portfolio book, but in a box, where each print will be mounted and matted.

Portfolios are a pain in the butt.

Regards, Art.

I've been procrastinating as well on building my portfolio. I was told (by a pro) that the photographer should not pick their own images for the portfolio, nor should they have a non-photographer pick. Basically, he said that you or I should get a few photographer friends together to look at a whole huge pile of prints and pick the 10 - 15 they find to be the best. This way, you avoid the ones that we know we spent 2 hours crouched in a muddy puddle to get (the ones you and I would choose) and the ones that are composed perfectly but have technical issues (the ones the non-photogs would like).

That said, if you want to put together a book just for yourself, pick the ones you like, even if they have flaws.

Hey J,

If you have 6 you like, that is a really great start! I think I have 3 or 4 myself. Well, maybe two or one...

Best,

Will

BW,
Great thread, I too have thought about this but have no one who cares about my work so, I guess I will have to come up with an idea and go through my work and print those. I will keep an eye on this threat for ideas.

Michael Andersen

Thanks Jeanette, I have also been thinking about this. Should the prints be unmounted. Some of my best are mounted and matted. I have an entire show mounted and matted to 16X20 in two photo boxes that I keep together as a sort of portfolio. But I have lots of prints I like that I could put in a portfolio type binder. What's best to show??

I was hoping to build a portfolio over the next year (Long range planning, hurrah), and this has presented some stuff I hadn't thought of as well. I have a good friend who's stuck around and commented on most of my photos since I started taking them (plenty of bad ones to begin with, but she's honest), and she has a fair degree of photographic knowledge under her belt as well so I suppose I'll continue to bug her for opinions as I go. At this stage I only have a handful of black and white prints I really like, and maybe two in colour.
Mixing mediums doesn't seem so bad when there are only a few, but as Art said I suppose they'll separate themselves out as required.

Usually first image is strong and last is the strongest as that is what they will remember. You also want to try and create a theme with the body of work that has a like feel form one image ot the next and you want the image to run smooth like a song from one transition to the next. When you go thorugh the image one after another and it si smooth you are onto soemthing.

Start with 50 photos lay them all out on the floor. And start taking them away one at a time until you hit 20. Put all 20 side by side re-arrange the orders and edit again. Edit until you can no longer edit as they seem to fit perfect side by side.

Be hard on yourself and if you feel anything is wrong with the image toss it out of the set.

Hello Jeanette,

You might want to try finding a copy of Dead Link Removed by Selina Oppenheim. There are many great considerations within that book. I think it is an excellent guide for putting together a portfolio.

In general, there is a post and rail system of organizing, much like building a fence, that is popular organization for many portfolios. You start with a strong image, and end with a strong image, the between images allow the viewer to cruise along the rails until the next post, with each post being a strong image. The idea of ending with a strong image is that some people viewing your book might actually start at the back, then go to the front.

If you have only six strong images, that is better than 10 so-so images. Generally I read advice that indicates 20 to 24 as a maximum, though I have also seen some 40 image portfolios. It can also depend upon what you want your portfolio to indicate about your photography. A portfolio for a wedding or portrait potential client would be different than one for advertising, and something else again for fine art (like a gallery review).

If you have a website to show a portfolio, try not to have duplicates of every image in your book. You should have something different to show in part of your book, and only some overlap (duplication) of images on a web portfolio.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
Dead Link Removed

Since it sounds like you have a lot of stuff, I would first categorize them all by some flavor of theme.
Apples to apples, ducks to ducks.
Then decide the overall size of the first "offering."
Keep adding to the themes, and create the next offering.
DT

BWGirl said:

Well, my husband has been badgering me for the past year to make a portfolio of prints from my negatives. So I decided I would humor him and do just that... as soon as I get an understanding of what the heck to put in my book. :confused:

Click to expand...

and ...

grt2bart said:

What's the point of your portfolio?

Click to expand...

I know nothing about creating a portfolio, but ran a business (quite successfully) selling "stuff" for more than a decade and it seems that Art has posed the question most needing an answer. It seems to me that only after Arts question is answered will it be possible to follow all of what seems like great advice in the responses you've gathered.

It also seems to me that in the short run the object of your portfolio (your "sales target" if you will) is your hubby. Maybe that's good as he could be your practice target audience? Once you've been through it and satisfied him, you'll have not only all the advice offered here, but the experience of having created the practice folio?

just a thought ...

I tend to lean toward what I have observed from other noted photographers. A good source is the book entitled The Portfolios of Ansel Adams. His portfolios were not thematic for the most part...they were the strongest images that he produced in a given period of time (there were exceptions to this...but not many).

The same held true of the work of Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee. Michael in the early years was very critical in his choice of prints and it served him well. More recently his work is more thematic.

I mount and mat all of my prints in my portfolios. I believe in selecting my own work...it must be strong in presentation...nothing to detract from the images in composition, printing, or presentation. Acid free mounting and matting is obviously called for.

I believe that the prints selected must next be sequenced in the proper order. Begin and end with a strong image. Leave the viewers wanting more. Too many images in the portfolio detract from the impact of the presentation. If there is something that weakens an image, leave it out. I strive for 10-12 strong images.

Thanks for so much good advice, everyone! Yes, John & Art... you are both right that I need to start by understanding the 'purpose' of my portfolio. I think I'm almost there with a purpose, so I'll keep thinking and start printing.

I'm also vey happy to learn that I am not alone in not understanding this 'portfolio' concept. Projects have been suggested as a possibility for portfolio work, too.

Again, thanks a lot for the input!!!

Whatever you do Jeanette, I want to see the portfolio!

Me too!

Bumpety Bump...

Me too! How's it coming along Jeanette?

kjsphoto said:

Usually first image is strong and last is the strongest as that is what they will remember. You also want to try and create a theme with the body of work that has a like feel form one image ot the next and you want the image to run smooth like a song from one transition to the next. When you go thorugh the image one after another and it si smooth you are onto soemthing.

Start with 50 photos lay them all out on the floor. And start taking them away one at a time until you hit 20. Put all 20 side by side re-arrange the orders and edit again. Edit until you can no longer edit as they seem to fit perfect side by side.

Be hard on yourself and if you feel anything is wrong with the image toss it out of the set.

Click to expand...

great suggestions kevin!

First you have to decide the purpose of the portfolio. If it is to showcase your work for a galllery or any third party a major consideration is the time spent viewing the work. People looking at work generally have many portfolios to view and their time is precious so you must keep it short and too the point. Consequently, I agree with Donald in suggesting that 10 - 12 maximum is the optimum size. If you have not made an impression in the first three or four images you are likely to fail in achieving your objective.

On the other hand if the portfolio is for your own use, eg to give friends and family a set of your images I feel that you can indulge yourself a little more by increasing the size to say 20 - 24.

You also might have a disinterested third party look at the preliminary portfolio to help you edit it...perhaps an instructor or another artist or??? I once had to submit a half dozen images for a student show, and I took what I thought were 50 good images to an instructor who edited the photos for style, content, technique...I ended up with a cohesive group of six, half of which I would not have picked, but fit well as part of a group.

Good luck in your editing!

As Les said, you have to know the purpose of a portfolio before you can start picking your pictures.

I think 20 prints is a good amount of work to show someone. But there can not be any duds, and they all need to be consistent.

Kevin's suggestion about sequencing is right on too, but I have to add something. It is good to hit the viewer hard with the first image, and then hit them harder with the second one. Then just see what pictures follow each other the best, and make sure to lead up to a strong finish.

I have found that it is always to sequence a greater number of prints than fewer (picking 10 prints for a submission can be murder). It isn't really something that can be taught. You just pick it up after doing it all the time-- though looking at the sequencing of books does help (as long as they are good books) maybe one of the best in Walker Evans' American Photographs.

I don't try to get commercial jobs based on my portfolio, so I don' know what clients are looking for, but I do have experience with portfolio reviews and collectors, and that is where I have geared my "portfolio" or, as I call it, my "showing set." Portfolio reviews tend to want to see about 20 images. Collectors want to see more. You have to think that if a collector is going to take the chance buying you (being unknown artist that is) then they are going to want to see a full body of work. Portfolio reviewers, on the other hand, only have 20 minutes with you and you want them to talk to you about your work and whatever you hope to get from the, but they can't do that if they are stuck looking at 50 prints.

I still carry around a box with 50 prints, but I solved the above problem by creating, as Art called them, mini portfolios. I have my older work which tends to sell better so I keep them in my box to show new collectors. I have my new work from two different series, and if they might be interested, I keep with me a series of my 2 1/4 contact prints.

I hope this helps in some way.

Best of Luck.
__________________
www.RichardBoutwell.com

(It's gonna be) 500 prints

BWGirl said:

Thanks for so much good advice, everyone! Yes, John & Art... you are both right that I need to start by understanding the 'purpose' of my portfolio. I think I'm almost there with a purpose, so I'll keep thinking and start printing.

I'm also vey happy to learn that I am not alone in not understanding this 'portfolio' concept. Projects have been suggested as a possibility for portfolio work, too.

Again, thanks a lot for the input!!!

Click to expand...

I've been embarking on the same journey myself recently, and have decided to split my 'master' portfolio into separate bodies of work, eg objects, Normandy battlefields etc, each consisting of about 20 images-I'd rather have 20 really strong images and feel I'd left good work out than put in fillers (a good portfolio is like a good album IMO). The purpose of all this is to get my work exhibited and published -have already sent 12 portraits of my family to UK B&W though no reply as yet (but I guess no news is good news ).
I've been spending a LOT of time looking at contact sheets (I blutacked a whole load to my darkroom wall, which was v helpful) and making work prints-nearly 10 days making work prints from more than 200 Normandy battlefield negs, for instance. I got through lots of Johnny Cash, Mark lanegan and Tom Waits while I was doing that (also Dylan). -these have now been whittled down to about 50.
I'm going to print on either 9.5x12 or 16x12 paper (planning to get an 8x10 so former size handy for contacts)-FB, naturellment (RC, sacre bleu!? ) and accompany the prints with examples of published work (this was v well recieved before when I did it) plus a one page statement and brief CV (not my favourite job, but necessary for galleries-but my pics are my real CV). Oh yes, and things like postal portfolios, print and postcard exchanges are great for getting feedback on work and just getting some circulating-thanks for all the comments on my stuff so far.
And good luck!If you look hard and long enough, the pile can be conquered

PS- I've found editing my work to be SO much easier than choosing a mountain bike Now that was REALLY hard....

I think that it's really nice that your "significant other" is so supportive of and interested in your photography. That's a really nice compliment and you should reward him -- I'll bet that a big gift of photographic paper and film is just what he's looking for!

Mike