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I went to Arles and all they got were these lousy tattoos - The Open College of the Arts

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I went to Arles and all they got were these lousy tattoos thumb

I went to Arles and all they got were these lousy tattoos

sharon B portfolio

Sharon’s portfolio by Wendy McMurdo

I went to the opening week of Les Recontres D’Arles to network, have feedback on my work, hopefully find some outlets and connections and generally soak in some South of France culture, wine and sunshine.  Tick, tick, tick, tick.
For those of you who don’t know, Arles is home to one of the largest photo festivals in the world.  Where else can you find Bill Hunt (or Sean O’Hagan or Dewi Lewis…) having coffee in the street where it might be considered viable to introduce yourself to him and show him your work? That might be the case for some, I’m not there yet, but I did have a few nice chance encounters where the opportunity naturally arose for me to show my work to curators, publishers and festival directors over coffee, dinner and wine.  Networking, to use a horrible business term, is what I was doing and I hardly even noticed because I was having so much fun.
I decided a few months ago to sign up for the official portfolio reviews to get myself back out there and also to give me a deadline to produce some work for.  I went to 5 reviews with various festival organisers, publishers and curators and inevitably had mixed responses.  I learnt that so much of how your work is received stems from the first 30 seconds of meeting someone.  First impressions are massive.  When I was nervous or wasn’t sure of the person I was meeting with my work didn’t go down so well.  Lesson 1.  Be confident in your introduction of yourself and your work.
One meeting was a complete disaster – my work tends to be quite words based and although it said in the bumf this particular reviewer spoke English it turned out he didn’t and had a translator so it took nearly the full 20 minutes for him to even see the three projects I had brought.  He summed it all up by saying ‘Your work is beautiful, sensitive and well presented but it’s not for me.  Good-bye.”  Needless to say this was not a great experience. Lesson 2.  Know your audience.
The most helpful review was with a publisher I have met before.  He knew me and my work and has enabled me to have exhibitions before so I was hopeful and knew what to expect.  He looked at the work quickly yet thoroughly, asked some well placed questions, got the work, enjoyed it and then gave me a barrage of names and people to contact.  Lesson 3. Take a pen and paper.
As I referred to earlier I carried my work around with me constantly so that if and when an opportunity arose I was ready to show it.  As a result of this I was able to show my work to two potential publishers, another artist working in a similar area who I will definitely be seeing again (this exchange took place at 1am in the middle of a street party), a curator, the director of the Museum of Photography in Helsinki, a journalist, the director of a photography school in Florence, old friends, people I have previously exhibited with, potential collaborators…  Who knows what exactly will result but some possible outcomes might include a publication, two exhibitions, an idea to pursue and a few other leads to follow up.  Lesson 4.  Be prepared for anything.
And because I was skulking around with Wendy a bit, I also saw some photography shows.
I’m going back for more in September on the OCA Study Trip – there are still some places if you want to come.  If you are interested in signing up for the portfolio reviews next year keep an eye on the official website for when they are revealed.

Screen Shot 2014-07-15 at 18.05.09Lousy Tattoos by Sharon Boothroyd

 


Posted by author: Sharon

14 thoughts on “I went to Arles and all they got were these lousy tattoos

  • An interesting and timely post for me – how to get one’s work noticed is something I am grappling with just now. Maybe I will try your approach at Format.

  • It sounds a most fruitful (and enjoyable) visit. I like the tattoos. Will it be a loom band next? I’d dearly love to go to Arles again but it was just too hot for me. I’ll have to make do with Brighton I think.

    • Funny you should say that – the loom bands just arrived today. I have hardly seen them all afternoon. 🙂 Shame you won’t be making Arles – hope you enjoy Brighton and hope to see you soon.

  • Hi Sharon! Hope you are well!
    Well done for your networking (oh, that word)… sorry to hear about some not going well, but thanks SO much for the tips!
    I really hope the things you have mentioned pan out, so please keep us updated…
    I do have a question though… the photograph at the top of the post, shows what I assume to be the work / portfolio you took with you, and showed around. I have no idea what I would even think of taking, but it seems to me (if that was indeed what you carried with you) that you had a very portable friendly version of the work, very minimalistic, but beautifully presented.
    Would you by any chance be willing to share in what format you prepared and took your three works, please?
    If you’d rather not, no worries.
    The reason I’m asking is, I’m starting to think of Adv presentation and formats of works, and just thought of asking the ‘pros’ what they do …. 🙂
    I’m miles away from even thinking of this kind of networking or reviews.
    Again, good luck, and thanks for the post!
    Talk again soon
    Dewald

    • Hi Dewald 🙂
      Good question. Yes I had three projects which I presented each in 6×4 black print boxes like you can see above. For one of the projects I had printed a prototype of a book (A5) I intend to make to show publishers and actually this was the work that was best received. I also had a prototype of a concertina book as a concept for how some of the prints could be presented.
      I had bought a smaller portfolio box intending to take 11 x 14 size prints but as I started making tests I decided that I liked the smaller size better – they are more intimate too which suited my work. I think there is something to be said for having big prints too – apparently in Houston it has been known to sell prints to reviewers right there and then… 😉
      I think you should attending a review sometime. It’s a helpful experience.

  • Thanks for sharing your experience and your positive energy with us Sharon, all these tips are really helpful even when the idea of doing a portfolio review seems still so far away. I regret not being able to come to Arles this year but instead I’ll be trying to do more networking around where I live!

  • Thanks for an interesting perspective of what we may aspire to in the (distant) future. Talking of aspirations, I will keep looking at what is happening in 2015 as I hope that a trip to Europe will pan out and we could include Arles.

  • I hope that something comes from your venture.
    It’s a big step to take that first foray into a portfolio review – I went to Format last year (?) with Into the Valley and Speak My Language, and yes I got mixed reviews… possibly because I opted to pick out some disparate reviewers – the curators were appreciative, the gallerists and magazine people less so – Lesson 2: know your audience.
    I think you really have to be prepared for questions coming from odd angles too – know your work and why you have made the decisions you did…
    As for Arles, I feel it’s a little too great a leap at the moment, maybe in a year or two… However, there are other places for those looking into a portfolio review for the first time, places such as Redeye in Manchester (there will be others) – much lower key and friendlier in my view, but still getting the work “out there”.
    And Sharon, did Gareth pass on the catalogue?

  • Networking can be fun but it seems to take a bit of practice (well I need some more practice anyway). I also was interested like Dewald in what prints you actually took with you. Thanks so much for sharing the lessons and if I ever get to the point where I’m sharing my work more broadly then they will be useful 🙂
    Hopefully I’ll make it to one of the big festivals one day, in the meantime I plan on getting to the Biennial in Australia next year and I shall endeavour to take some work with me to share :))

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