Website Bio - first or third person

[sun of sand]

And Bio is different than Artist Statement. I think some are getting the two confused. If you write the bio in the first person then it would be an autobio. No?

exactly
but not really
your "artists statement" could be built right into your -auto-biography

An autobiography has to be an autobiography whether in 1st or 3rd, right?

 

[RobertP]

Yes a bio is an account of the facts written about someone by someone else.

 

[sun of sand]

Yes in a way, a Bio is a statement of fact rather than opinions.

Ian

is an opinion a fact?

 

[sun of sand]

That has to be a very boring biography to read if it's just facts about their life. And short
If you believe someone to be one way -is that a fact about that person?

Bios are factual in that a persons opinion of someone is their own
little more than that, I think
Bios should be a bit more artistic and with that comes license

 

[RobertP]

When writing in the third person and including statements from the artist in quotes it makes it appear to the reader biographical. When writing in the first person it makes it appear to the reader autobiographical which is much more along the lines of an artist statement.

 

[RobertP]

Maybe some of the professional writers here will chime in. I'm by no means a professional writer.

 

[JHannon]

Every time I read one of those statements, I keep thinking of the character on Seinfeld that always referred to himself that way..."Jimmy's angry".

 

[eclarke]

Write about the subject matter in your photographs, why you made the pictures and what they mean to you. Everyone has an artist's statement and bio, they are like the advertising plastered everywhere, something to bypass. If somebody is curious enough about you, they will contact you..Evan Clarke

 

[Ian Grant]

Many APUG members who have been to university or college will have been taught to write their own bio's, & artists statements and also write critically about their own work. It's normal to keep the use of the first person to a minimum.

The problems with threads like this arise when APUG posters have have websites for very different reasons & purposes.

If as a photographer you are exhibiting your work in serious galleries (or hoping to), seeking funding, or looking for publication etc then it is expected that you will have a biography (bio) as well as an artists statement for the project your working on. This applies for commercial work as well, people want to see your track record.

An excellent example of a biography is John Sexton's as posted earlier in the thread. In reality it is a type of CV that only includes material relevant to your photographic practice. Because it's likely to be sent to or used by magazines or other publications it is standard practice to use your name or refer to yourself in the third person, and the same for press releases etc.

So how and what you put on your website should compliment your aims and goals, and what you want your website to do for you. It may be there's no need for a bio on you website, the "about you/artists statement" is enough.

There is an approach that hasn't been mentioned and that is where you focus on "the body of work" instead of yourself, and this can make it very much easier to write about your images.

There are no hard and fast rules, and you have to use what suits you and your own website, as others have said the images are more important.

Ian

 

[Matt5791]

I think you have put that well Ian.

In my case I need to promote and market myself, and so I need to have an eye on what sounds good to potential customers bearing in mind who they are.

For a wedding photography business there are certain aspects of the photographers background and approach that are very important to the average bride - like experiance, and personality - both of which a bio or about page can be used to get across.

However in the end this is just a complementary tool alongside the actual photographs.

Didn't think this topic would receive so much interest!

Matt