The Bartender Never Gets Killed

Whenever I see this kind of scene I say - ok, shoot it, get it out of your system, and then no more for the day - so shot, scanned, published. Get thee behind me Lee

If I had to sum up living in Spain, this would be it…

Second in an occasional series… first was here

Well, not really ‘new’, but sort of. As I wrote in an earlier post, things are starting to move for me - more on this another day - but one of the consequences of having a lot of activity is I need my website to be a lot leaner and easier to get round than it was, so I’ve done a tidy-up and a bit of a rethink. I’d been meaning to do it for ages, but now it is done.

I’ve cut down on the number of projects, and cut back on the number of pics. So now each project has a page with an introductory text, 6 thumbnails and a pdf of the whole project. This means I now have pdfs available for everything, and people can get a taste of things without wading backwards and forwards. Only done the English side so far, but the Spanish is to come. The look of the site is the same as I have zippo design skills. As usual any thoughts or problems anyone finds I’d be grateful if they would pass them along

I’m on a bit of a high at the moment. Film is building up in the fridge for processing, the weather is now offically hot enough for Sangria, the rollei is working smoothly, and in the last two weeks I’ve had three people come by to look at work with a view to buying, and yes, two sales confirmed, one nearly so. I don’t usually see the people who buy prints, so opening up the boxes whilst someone is here is a rare experience.

Last night José Luis came around to view prints. We looked at the work on my terrace - he needs to smoke whilst he thinks, and I need to drink wine. José is a lecturer in Philosophy and Fine Art, so he is a critical viewer.

I was amazed. He is the first person I’ve met who could ‘read’ the reason for the pairings in the Scene of the Crime pics. He was also very enthusiastic about the new work, the trips, the urplace work. I got a real buzz from talking to him. He gave me a kick to take down some of the earlier work from the website, and to really concentrate on the montage and the less traditionally ‘photographic’ work - it was a real pleasure. We talked about the future, and different avenues to explore, both aesthetically and commercially.

It got me thinking about the relationship between artists and galleries. I’ve also had an interesting email from Jen Bekman who explained more clearly her work. Despite still not feeling comfortable with the Hot Shot side of things, I am very impressed with what she has created in such a short time and how clearly her photographers are benefiting from her efforts. However… whilst I think a gallery can be your best friend, I can’t help thinking it is an uneasy alliance. Chatting with some photographer friends I laughed myself silly at the following scenario… ‘Hi, yeah, who did you say? Fraenkel? Oh yeah hi. No, sorry, send me a cheque for 200usd and I’ll pop my portfolio round…’ Now while it is perfectly understandable that a gallery has to recoup their time and act as a gate keeper, it is just getting so darn expensive!

I also think there is a confusion between the act of getting your work shown, so you can communicate with an audience, and selling the stuff. In a way I’m lucky, I have three friends in various countries who act as agents. They have contacts to the right class of people. I give them a portfolio, and they sell from that. I get a steady ‘trickle’ of sales at gallery prices for a low outlay, but no more. I’m not getting critical reviews, which would lead to being able to show the work and actually get people to see the stuff. I think Bee Flowers seems to have cracked this and is getting some high profile shows. His focus certainly seems to be on the communicative side of things.

Anyway, I see a strong shadow cutting across the bar below, and there is a red plastic chair leg, partly in shadow framed by the legs of a yellow plastic table, plastic flowers on the table with that shadow bisecting them…

I had a customer come to look at some recent work. Whilst he was looking at some of the new trips, he said ‘Kieslwoski - the red movie’

Now, its a long time since I saw ‘Three colours red’ so I didn’t immediately get the reference, so I got the dvd out on loan at the weekend.

The photography is amazing. Almost every scene would make a good still, the sheer virtousity of the way the red motif is handled is an inspiration. I know, I’m gushing, but if you want a visual stimulus, see the film.

I really don’t know where I stand on Jen Bekman’s 20×200 scheme,

The idea of selling my stuff cheap, frankly appalls. I spend thousands of euros a year in film , processing, marketing, attending portfolio reviews. Every step of the way there are mechanisms to extract money from the artist, diverting energy and funds from producing work. If I’m lucky I get an exhibit and spend 10k on printing and framing. If I’m lucky, VERY lucky, I break even. More likely I’m paying off the bank loan, which eats into the ability to make new work. So I want a realistic price for my work, for the hours, the effort.

I’m also undecided about the Hot Shot phenomena. The idea of relegating photography to a series of one off’s I find to be part of a dumbing-down and commodification process that is strictly anti-art - I could here go into a philosophical ramble on the social funcion of art, but I’ll resist. I also find the idea of paying a gallery to look at my stuff so that if they approve they can sell it for a profit, to be, well, decidedly American.

Having said that, there is no denying the energy JB puts into marketing her photographers and her dedication to supporting new artists and finding new markets. The idea of making 2k (although it will probably be 1k after gallery cut) for only the expenditure of printing off a batch of A4s, would be very welcome, it would certainly help fund existing projects! Not to mention the publicity, and 200 names for the mailing list. So as a marketing tool I can see it being beneficial.

So where do I stand…

I guess ‘thanks but no thanks’ for me, but a hearty ‘go for it’ for JB and her stable of image-makers. I’ll sit on the sidelines and applaud from afar with a slightly worried frown on my face.

Update.

I had a very nice email from Jen Bekman explaining more fully the way her gallery works. Now whilst I’m still, from a philosophical point of view, unhappy about the Hotshot process, I have to say I think she is on the side of the Angels and I think having her fight your corner would be very valuable. I wish my last gallery had had her grit. I also made a comment about this here