The showcase: How to exhibit your photography (part one)

From choosing a gallery to the nerves of an opening night, holding a solo photography exhibition is rewarding, and daunting, in all kinds of ways.

It’s not only a chance to share your creativity and get discovered – it can lead to new opportunities including invitations to exhibit elsewhere, a higher profile, openings to shoot for other projects, media interviews, great sales and most of all, an enjoyable experience.

So, how do you do it?

Find an affordable gallery

Unless you have a gallery in mind, the first place to look for a suitable venue is usually in your community, especially if you are exhibiting images taken locally.

You could approach a café, a restaurant, a public space, a library, a private gallery or, as I did for my most recent exhibition, a council owned and operated gallery. Curators are incredibly helpful, insightful, and encouraging.

To see my work expertly hung in light filled, well-appointed rooms at the purpose-built Rosalie Art Gallery in southeast Queensland was thrilling. The small gallery fee for a month-long exhibition and 25 percent commission for each work sold was very reasonable – particularly when the show was almost a sell-out.

I exhibited 30 images in total -25 were 50x70cm prints, plus one lead image that was 50 x 90cm.

Applying to show

Once you have selected a venue, it’s important to carefully prepare your approach to exhibit. Whether it be in person or a more formal, written application if required, you should provide a blurb about your work and include any achievements, credentials, experience, and awards.

Put forward your reason for exhibiting – what’s your aim? And advise if you intend to print in colour, black and white or a mix. 

You’ll also need to outline your ideas and intentions for your proposed exhibition. Explain clearly how you will present your work – framing (or not) and any deadlines needed along the way.

I applied to exhibit in October 2022 and on acceptance in November, I was given a choice of dates to exhibit for 2023. I wanted plenty of time to prepare - so I chose to start the exhibition on May 28, 2023 and it ran for a month.

That gave me six months to prepare. I held a 'meet the artist day' once the exhibition opened which was like an opening day. Interestingly, I was also invited to run a photography workshop any time that suited me during the month of the exhibition, but I declined because the cost of insurance was too high.

Choose a theme

Consider what might be popular with your audience, and what might sell. Perhaps portraits of local people, rural or urban landscapes, street photography, people at work or play.

You’ll need a consistent body of quality images, so only use your standout work. I found once I decided on a theme and title, in this case People and Places in the High Country, shooting for it was surprisingly enjoyable. Fun and enthusiasm soon outweighed any pre-exhibition nerves.

And while I already had a file of possible images to exhibit, those that made the final cut were those shot for the exhibition. It created a sense of achievement and pride to present new, previously unseen work. 

Once the theme is decided, your project will likely take on a life of its own, which can be full of surprises. For example, as my exhibition consisted mostly of environmental portraits, I needed to approach people I hadn’t met before to invite them to take part.

I found that once my subjects understood the images were for a local exhibition and I’d earned their trust, they were generally keen to be involved and would even offer their own ideas, including possible props, for more interesting shots.

Like anything, it can take some time to set up a shoot – and you should be prepared to return if necessary to reshoot if something can be improved.

Because I was shooting portraits, I found a small gift to my sitter was a nice way to thank them for their time. I also provided images via email to my subjects. 

Presenting your photographs

You’ve got your shots – now what? Framing is an important decision.

Do your images warrant different frames and sizes? Or would they look better uniformly framed? Should you present your work in good quality, expensive frames or good looking, less expensive frames?

I decided on the latter – keeping my work at affordable prices. This I believe, led to more sales. If your work is well known, you may have the standing to charge more.

Ensure your work looks appealing on the walls and be careful not to overwhelm the gallery space with too many images.  Carefully curate your work – this is often where the gallery’s curator will step in. Trust their advice.

A nice way to enhance your photographs is to hang a small story board with just a few sentences next to each image.

For example, if you are showing a portrait of an artist, you could include his or her name, their unique talent, the medium they work in and perhaps a snippet of some interesting, quirky information. 

You might also like to hang a smaller, framed image to highlight the subject’s work – for example a closeup of the artist’s hand holding a crayon over a colourful crayon box.

I did this for a few of the prints and believe these helped sell some of the images - people enjoyed the background info. Ultimately though it’s your show – you make the creative decisions. 

Look out for part two next week.