What would you do if you were asked to show a sampling of your photographs? I am sure you would jump at the chance. . . but. . . what if you were told you would be showing prints? No computer screen, no projection. Now what would you do?
What if today, right now, you were asked to have ten of your photographs ready to be displayed in an exhibition in thirty days. Could you do it? Do have ten photographs that you would put on public display? If so, do you have finished prints ready? Are they, at a minimum mounted? Could you have them dust spotted, mounted with an over mat and framed in a month?
Have you ever had to prepare for an exhibition of your work? Do you have any idea of what is involved in preparing for an exhibition of your work? Do you have the materials on hand? Have you ever framed your work for formal display? Do you have a mat cutter? Have you ever cut your own mats? Yes you can buy precut mats, but do you know where to get them? Do you have frames and glazing? Do you know where to purchase suitable frames? What frame would you choose?
It is not a trivial task and I would venture to say it will take you at least three times as much effort and time than you would expect. I don’t care what your photographic medium is. It matters not if you are traditional wet darkroom, hybrid or all digital; do you have finished prints you can show if asked? Not that you would run into this situation but, could you deliver in thirty days or maybe less?
We always have mat board on hand. In several sizes. We cut our own custom over mats; have frames and glass on hand; have presentation cases filled with mounted photographs ready to be shown on a moment’s notice. We like to be prepared. We did one exhibition of our work which included over 100 framed photographs. I can guarantee that took longer than thirty days to prepare.
The idea is, if you put your time, skill and money into your work, why not have it in a finished state, ready for display? You never know when you may be asked. Think about it.
JB
