Dan Henderson
Member
The APUG community is blessed with the wide range of skill and notoriety of our members. Consider the distribution of apuggers as a bell curve: a very few are among the best photographers working today; many are highly skilled photographers who are not so well known but produce great work nonetheless, and a few lack the craft to produce good work. I would like to believe that I am somewhere in the middle of the curve.
Although I would also love to hear from the photographers who are well-known and support themselves with photography, this question is aimed primarily at those who produce good work but sell very little, either by choice or because their work is not purchased by others:
How do you value the worth of your photographs?
I am asking a much broader question than how to determine a price for a photograph. Photographers spend a great deal of time learning and perfecting their craft. Most have a significant investment in equipment, and spend money on film, paper, and chemistry. The expected outcome is a photograph that communicates a message to its viewer; that causes some emotional response. But how is this response measured?
As you may suspect, I am one of those photographers who has sold little work, which is causing me to doubt its "value," in much more than a monetary sense. It is making me ask myself why I continue to spend my time, energy, and money making photographs. I get good feedback on some of the work that I post here, pieces I show to friends, and photographs that are displayed in a co-op gallery to which I belong. Should I be satisfied with that?
I envision art as a complete circle that begins with inspiration, proceeds to creation through the use of craft, and is completed when a strong response is received from viewers. When that response is manifested by the desire to own the work, it is easy to measure. But beyond that, how does the artist know his work is successful in non-monetary ways? Should it be enough for the photographer to be satisfied in the belief that her vision was translated into a finished piece? Does the verbalized response of viewers justify the energy put into the creation of the work? Is the simple love of photography reward enough?
Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and for sharing any thoughts that you have.
Although I would also love to hear from the photographers who are well-known and support themselves with photography, this question is aimed primarily at those who produce good work but sell very little, either by choice or because their work is not purchased by others:
How do you value the worth of your photographs?
I am asking a much broader question than how to determine a price for a photograph. Photographers spend a great deal of time learning and perfecting their craft. Most have a significant investment in equipment, and spend money on film, paper, and chemistry. The expected outcome is a photograph that communicates a message to its viewer; that causes some emotional response. But how is this response measured?
As you may suspect, I am one of those photographers who has sold little work, which is causing me to doubt its "value," in much more than a monetary sense. It is making me ask myself why I continue to spend my time, energy, and money making photographs. I get good feedback on some of the work that I post here, pieces I show to friends, and photographs that are displayed in a co-op gallery to which I belong. Should I be satisfied with that?
I envision art as a complete circle that begins with inspiration, proceeds to creation through the use of craft, and is completed when a strong response is received from viewers. When that response is manifested by the desire to own the work, it is easy to measure. But beyond that, how does the artist know his work is successful in non-monetary ways? Should it be enough for the photographer to be satisfied in the belief that her vision was translated into a finished piece? Does the verbalized response of viewers justify the energy put into the creation of the work? Is the simple love of photography reward enough?
Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and for sharing any thoughts that you have.