Include obvious details: artist’s name, name of exhibition, venue – name and place, dates, contact information.
OK to send a few images for illustration.
Make sure copyright notice is included with images so that images cannot be used without permission.
Handy to have a design template for press releases so that you create a uniform look/feel.
Format of press release: Headline and Press Release at the top followed by Sub-headline (a one-liner to explain the story). Then the Lead paragraph (should cover Who, What, When, Where, How and Why). This covers what exhibition is about and also who artist is/background. Don’t use artist statement for this. Final section “For Further Information” should contain contact information (again) and website URL, social media handles.
Press release should be no longer than 1 page.
Under separate cover provide following information for images sent:
Each image should have unique file name. Helpful if file name is same as the title of the image.
Most of the funding information in the course manual does not apply outside the UK, i.e. National Arts Councils, Regional Development Agencies in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. So I have identified organisations that provide funding in Canada.
National Council
Canadian Council for the Arts: It’s Canada’s public arts funder. Has 6 grant programs, as well as strategic funds, initiatives and awards. It has a pilot program for new and early career artists.
Regional Councils
British Columbia Arts Council: Agency of the Province of British Columbia under the Arts Council Act. Reviews and approves funding and offers support to artists. It seems grants to individual visual artists range from CAD$4,000 to CAD$15,000.
BC Alliance for Art and Culture: has an online directory with links to government, provincial and corporate institutions. Not restricted to photography but open to all arts.
Partnership Funding
In July I answered a call on the local Shuswap Everything Friendly Facebook group, expressing an interest to showcase my work in a wellness clinic. I was in the throes of preparing for assessment and mentioned that I would be available for this opportunity from October onwards. I have touched base with the owner of the wellness clinic again and am just waiting to hear back from her whether she can fit me into the 3 month schedule. Fingers crossed this will pan out.
Foundations, awards and grants
The main source of this type of funding is the Canadian Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council and the BC Alliance for Art and Culture as listed above. Little Dog Creative Consulting has a grant application calendar on its website which lists the program name, funder, funder type, program focus, opening and closing deadlines, website, eligibility requirements and geographic region.
Crowdfunding
Kickstarter: Basic principle is that one sets a goal, e.g. raise $X.00 to produce a photo book. You then decide on the time length of your campaign – can be up to 60 days. Have to have rewards to entice the investor to take part – this can be on a sliding scale. The more the investor donates the larger the reward. You create your spiel usually on a video and then invite friends, family, and contacts to support the project. Kickstarter works on the principle that all goal must be reached or surpassed before any funds are released. Kickstarter takes a 5% cut. If the goal is not reached, then no funds are released.
Some other crowdfunding sites are:
Indiegogo
Hemeria (specifically for photobooks)
Donorhut
I’m rather wary of these crowdfunding companies, especially after February 2022 when the protesting truckers in Canada had their funds seized from GoFundMe and later from GiveSendGo – all at the whim of government intervention.
Working out the Budget and What am I Really Worth
At this stage in my life photography is not going to be a full time career for me. I retired four years ago and no desire to enter the rat race again. However, it is still a good idea to find out what my cost implications would be if I decided to apply for funding to produce my photobook. So what are the costs I’m looking at?
Website www.lyndakuit.com C$154/year – includes domain name and hosting.
Petrol C$1.719 per litre
Just for interest’s sake I did a costing of one of the trips I did around the lake using Gas Buddy’s Trip Cost Calculator. What a nifty tool!
Printing costs. I’ve already mentioned the calculations around this on my Working out costs for Prints post. Now that I have a formula to work from, it should be relatively easy to calculate different size print costs. Cost of 8 ink cartridges for my Canon Pro-100 is CAD$225.71. Photo paper – Canon Matt 8.5″ x 11″ is CAD$16.78 for 50; Canon Pro Lustre 8.5″ x 11″ is CAD$59.99 for 50.
Book design and production costs. I used Affinity Publisher to create my book layout which I purchased for C$30. I have sent off for quotes from: https://exwhyzed.co.uk/, Zno – for a layflat linen cover with cameo window and debossed text quotes at about US$269. Lulu offers US$14.15 for a paperback book. The costs are really all over the map and I will have to email a few other printers that don’t provide details on their websites.
Portfolio reviews. I have one free one to use from Shutterhub, but still need to schedule a few other reviews. Costs range from US$45 to US$100. I’m not prepared to spend more than that. So far I have spent Euros 15 on the BredaPhoto Festival review, and US$15 for each of the LensCulture reviews I’ve had.
Gallery hire. I haven’t really looked into having a physical solo exhibition. I may rather go for a virtual exhibition using Kunsmatrix which would cost between US$12 and US$30 per month.
Usage. I have had a look at the Association of Photographer’s Usage Calculator, but it geared towards UK photographers and is a little difficult to understand.
Running costs. I know I should factor in the square footage my office and printing room and work out the percentage of the electricity and heating I for this space.
Mounting and framing. I purchased three 11″ x 14″ pre-matted frames for $22.97 each for the Sewllkwe exhibition. If I was going to do a solo physical exhibition, I would source better quality frames off the internet.
Silk prints. 1 Real Georgette Silk – 35.43″ square formatCAD$136 from Contrado. Two 52′ x 39″ Silk Habotai from ArtFabrics CAD$64.00.
I have renewed my free student membership with AOP.
Support in kind
Some ideas:
ArtFabrics – a discount Framing – possible discounts Book cover design – a collaboration with another OCA student
I had a look at both the Canadian Council for the Arts and the British Columbia Arts Council to see what their definitions of ‘support in kind’ are and could find nothing on their sites. It is possible that these definitions are only available on the secure application portal.
Engaging with the audience and audience outreach
If I’m applying for funding I need to know who my audience is. I think this applies whether I’m applying for funding or not, if I am presenting my work to the public. In Canada it is customary to acknowledge the local First Nations people on whose unceded territory we are operating. I know I have to work at being more succinct in explaining my work. I am due to give an artist talk next week as part of the Sewllkwe Exhibition and I will need to give careful thought to my speech. I only have three of my photomontages in the exhibition and these do provide a fair representation on my whole body of work. Do I mention briefly work that the audience won’t be able to see, or do I just stick to what is in the exhibition?
Doug Boarwick’s piece on audience outreach mentions that there are 4 types of audience engagement:
Artists meet audiences: this is the usual presentation followed by Q&A which we are familiar with
New Population Centres: taking the art to places where it is not normally seen, e.g. going to smaller villages or under-served communities.
New Venues: think outside the white cube box here – hospitals, shopping malls. Viewing the artwork outside its normal milieu.
Relatable Cultural Idioms: (Familiar/popular forms and styles). Arts organisations showing work outside their normal culture in order to reach a wider audience.
I’ve spent quite some time research various photography website builders and came across a handy Youtube video that ranked user satisfaction and ease of use for the following website builders:
The presenter spent time explaining the difference between CMS (content management system) This is what WordPress is . Wix and SquareSpace according to the presenter are general website builders, while those sites he researched are geared specifically towards photographers’ unique needs, with focus on image display and client proofing facilities. A website builder will host your website for you, while with WordPress or a CMS site, you need to set up the hosting. The downside to hosting on a website builder is that the site always has to remain with that website builder.
While Format was rated #1 on the client satisfaction rating I found that there were not any tutorials accessible on their site. I signed up for the free 14 day trial and spent a rather frustrating afternoon trying to layout images and create something usable. I’m one of those people that actually likes reading the tutorials. So I went to #2 on the list. In contrast PortfolioBox has a whole bunch of step by step videos that you can watch before committing yourself to their platform. I watched a few, then decided that it looked fairly simple to use and decided to follow along with the instructions while I set up my own site. You can pretty much go through the whole set up before paying for anything. Included in the price is a free top level domain. I did a search for my name and found it available in various top levels, so decided on lyndakuit.com, and registered it after setting up my site. It apparently takes a few hours to activate through their hosting company so I’m waiting for a confirmation email before making my site live. They provide a free month try out and the annual rate for a Pro site is US$114 which is CAD$154.00. The features for the Pro site are:
500 Images
50 Pages
10 Products
5 Password Protected Pages
Powerful SEO Tools
Custom CSS Editing
Image Protection
SSL Security
Unlimited Bandwidth
Mobile Optimized Website
Advanced Styling Options
Free Custom Domain (yourname.com)
24/7 Support
Powered by Portfoliobox Link (this is not included in the Pro Plus option – but I’m not too fussed about have that small link at the bottom of my page)
Adobe Lightroom Integration (not included on the Pro, but is on the Pro Plus). There is a plugin which allows you to export your images directly to PortfolioBox. Again not a game changer for me).
Pretty much a one-stop shop which I really liked.
Bibliography
Portfoliobox Stockholm AB (s.d.) Portfoliobox – Portfolio Websites | Online Portfolio Builder. At: https://www.portfoliobox.net/ (Accessed 09/11/2022).
Organisations: I decided to join Shutterhub, even though I’m situated in Canada. They seem to offer so much support to the photographer from every aspect. Compared to the Canadian Association for Photographic Art which focuses on photography competitions and club activities, it really is a no brainer. I will be able to have a free portfolio review (included in the annual membership fee). There are also various pro-d opportunities, and other events that I can look forward to.
Resources: My Resource Database continues to expand as I pick up details of various organisations, publishers and so on via online research or recommendations from other students.
Portfolio Preview: I have done a substantial edit of my Body of Work for the Portfolio document to be used to send to reviewers or galleries. I’m calling it a Portfolio Preview document as I’ve done an edit down to about 12 images.
Affinity Publisher: I have really come to grips with Affinity Publisher during the creating of my Portfolio Preview document. I first created a portrait format document, but found that the images were too small. I subsequently changed to a Letter size Landscape format which does justice to displaying the images. I now know how to insert alternating footers and page numbers and have a better understanding of using the master pages facility to lay the document out consistently.
Collaboration: This understanding of Affinity Publisher will be extremely helpful as a professor at the university where I used to work has been collaborating with me since my final project on Identity and Place, writing short stories to accompany my photographs. SYP might be a good place to bring that project to fruition at last. Work got in the way for both of us and the project has been put on hold more times than we both can remember.
Portfolio Reviews: I’ve identified a few more potential reviewers who might be a good fit for my work. I’ll check with my tutor who he thinks will be good matches. I will also make use of the free portfolio review that comes with the Shutterhub membership.
Michael Kirchoff (although he works mainly with analog, he will look at other work too)
Local Book Publishers/Printers: I have sent an email to the Associate Director of The Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver to find out if she can perhaps recommend any Vancouver local book publishers or printers that I can work with for my book, especially those who can do short-runs. It would be nice to have a face-to-face meeting to discuss layout aspects, fonts etc. as there doesn’t seem to be anything local to my area here in the interior. Update: I have heard back from the Polygon Gallery, but not good news. They mentioned three possible contacts, one which is already listed on my Resource Database. Unfortunately that publisher’s cost of getting a book out is in the region of $30,000 – so no short runs there at all! The other doesn’t specialise in photo books. The final organisation mentioned seems to work with galleries, so that would also be outside of my budget.
Open Calls: I’ve submitted 8 images to an International Open Call at the Glasgow Gallery of Photography – a sampling of photomontages, collage and landscape images. I have also submitted 3 of my photomontages to the Mimesis Loosenart.com Open Call. I find it much easier to select images from my photomontages. I think that is possibly because they can stand alone and are not quite as dependent on sequencing as the full body of work. Booooooom is an organisation that I’ve never heard of but boasts that is is Canada’s highest traffic art platform, and one of the largest on the Internet. Strange that it hasn’t popped up on my searches during my OCA journey. They’ve been going since 2008. Anyway I submitted a single photomontage to their 2022 Booooooom Photo Awards mainly because it is a local site, so could give me some Canadian exposure.
To do List
Research website platforms
1st November – Grant writing 101 workshop
31 October – Delivery of artwork for Sewllkwe Exhibition – Salmon Art Centre
5th November – Sewllkwe exhibition opening
13th November – How to Write a 2-Page Grant Proposal workshop
17th November – Sewllkwe Exhibition Artist Talk walkaround
I am three weeks into this module now. This is just an update report on my progress with SYP so far as well as an action plan of what still needs to be done.
I haven’t had an introductory chat with my tutor yet, but as I have the same tutor that I had for BOW, I feel quite comfortable in moving ahead and will drop him an email if I have any concerns about something.
I have made a cracking start on building my Resource Database. Doing this kind of research comes very easy to me as I used to do this kind of thing in my job before I retired. My database is in a Word document at the moment, but I will probably break out relevant sections of it when I start building my email mailing list. I was quite surprised by the number of photobook printers I managed to unearth here in Canada. Granted none of them are within easy driving distance from where I live, so I’m going to have to communicate via email or Zoom. Hopefully I can find someone close by.
I have set up a Padlet that can be used for assessment. Having it all set up so far in advance means I can add to it as I complete each assignment or have something that absolutely needs to be highlighted. I’m hoping this will alleviate assessment preparation stress.
I belong to a few student groups (SYP Forum, L3SG, L3/L2 and the Rest of the World). I’m fairly comfortable sharing work with my fellow students and getting feedback on those forums. All groups are very encouraging, but are also not shy to say if something is not working, which is good.
I did two portfolio reviews with LensCulture during Body of Work. The feedback is written and this is a good way to break the ice into portfolio reviews. Last week I did my first face-to-face portfolio review via Zoom, which just happened to take place at 1:30 am my time, so doubly nerve-wracking! I definitely don’t recommend doing this as one is rather brain-dead at that time and hopefully any future reviews I do will be at a decent hour for me.
I have compiled a CV which I’m quite happy with. My bio is quite short and might need some adjustment. I’ve had a crack at my artist statement.
To do list:
Check Artist Statement (highlight difference between general and BOW specific). Which one are we supposed to write?
Review Affinity Publisher to create attention grabbing PDF to show to industry.
Do edit of Body of Work
Determine who document is intended for, get background info on them and contact information, determine form the submission should take.
I have spent countless hours writing and revising my CV, or resume as they tend to call it in North America throughout my working life. The resume tends to change form based on the position one is applying for, but I always found that it is good to have a CV on hand that is completely chronological, if only for reference purposes for oneself.
The Practical Art World website offers good advice on what to put into an artistic CV (and more importantly what to omit if you have had a regular working life before becoming a photographic artist). I have spent some time digging back into my past life looking at where I have had my photography published and was quite surprised that I do have a fairly decent list to start with.
Personal details (name, website, contact info)
Education (art related only)
Mentorships (if any)
Exhibitions
Bibliography (books or publications your work appeared in)
Collections (usually public, but can state “private collection, Place” if you are starting out and have either sold or gifted work to private individuals).
Texts (if you’ve published work relating to your own practice – I’m assuming that my dissertation for Contextual Studies would be applicable here).
Teaching
Grants and awards
Residencies
The majority of the photographers’ CVs that I have viewed seem to follow this format above, listing first the date followed by the details. Lisa Barnard (http://lisabarnard.co.uk/resources/biography/) starts her CV off with a brief bio/artist statement, followed by Group Exhibitions, Solo Exhibitions, Awards, Monographs, Periodicals/Interviews/Articles, Selection of Conferences, Talks and Symposium and Selected Reviews.
I’m also wondering if the books I created in OCA modules via Blurb will count towards my CV. I suppose they could as I could sell them on Blurb if I so desire. Something to check with my tutor I think, but for now I’ll add them in.
An artist’s bio is a brief synopsis of his/her artistic career. It should be no more than 120 words long. Apparently gallery research reveals that viewers tend to switch off after reading 150 words of wall text. So basically just one – two paragraphs.
Birthe Piontek’s bio is written in the third person, and is 6 sentences long. Sentence 1 = where born, emigrated to Canada, education. Sentence 2 = where work has been exhibited and public collections. Sentence 3 – 5 = book awards and grants received. Sentence 6 = current place of employment and membership of Cake Collective.
Priya Kambli’s bio is also short, also 6 sentences. Also written in the third person her bio is slightly less formal than Piontek’s. It lists her origins, move to the US, education, place of work and a book award.
Emily Neufeld’s bio is really short. As she is Canadian, she mentions the unceded territory she is working on as well as the conventional city name. This is something I might consider doing as well. She then mentions what her work is about, and finishes with exhibitions, education and interests.
Career summary: brief overview of life and career. Include name, year of birth and country, medium, methodology, and style.
Common themes, what subjects drive the underlying themes.
Influences – political or historical context
Art education
Collaborations, collectives
It’s quite difficult to distill your life down to 120 words, even if the “photographic life” is rather in its infancy stages. I’ve managed to do it in 107 words.
According to our manual, there are two kinds of artist’s statements: a general one covering your whole practice, and a body of work specific one.
Giya Makondo-Wills has a well structured artist statement on her website. Starts off with name, origin, type of photographer/visual artist. Then follows with education and statement about being exhibited and published internationally. Then mentions collaborations and first book. Main thrust is about her work challenging the western gaze, colonisation and forgotten stories. Finishes with current employment.
Mind map: look back at all previous work and look for connections/themes, repeats. What adjectives describe your work? What emotions/reactions do you want the audience to experience?
Interview yourself: who is the audience/what are your influences/ explain your work simply/ how do you make the work/ how is it unique.
Be careful of using abstractions. Look for the essential information to include.
No jargon or artspeak.
Use active voice. Proofread the statement.
I thought it would be helpful to create a mind map to briefly track most of my OCA assignments to date and see what the common threads are. I can definitely see themes of identity, immigration, memory and language running through my previous projects.
Fig. 1 Previous work and common themes
Looking at my BOW images I then thought about adjectives to describe the work: contemplative, layered, archival, historical, poetic, experimental, metaphorical, evocative, ghost-like, muted.
If I think about the emotions or reactions I would like viewers to experience it would be to a) look past the surface, b) consider the history of the place, c) the “official history” is not the only narrative out there.
Rest of the World group: I organise the Rest of the World student group which is an international OCA multi-disciplinary group for students on any level. We have students participating from New Zealand, Canada, Zambia, USA, Chile, Japan, Canary Isles, Germany and South Africa. Feedback from such a diverse group is especially handy when it comes to cultural perceptions and interpretations. We meet once a month.
L3/L2 Documentary group: this is another group that I organise. Originally it was an L2 Documentary group, but has morphed into an L3 group as the cohort has progressed to the final stage of study. The group is open to any interested L2 students. This group is more focused on photography and also meets once a month.
L3SG group: a group of 6 L3 students led by Helen Rosemier. We meet once a month and are accountable to each other, reporting back on our progress.
SYP Network: another group led by Helen Rosemier, focusing on SYP issues, such as networking, etc. Also meets once a month.
Professional Network
Due to Canadian PIPEDA (The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) regulations I will not publish any personal details here as emails may be personal and thus not freely available on the internet. I will, however, provide a PDF to my tutor.
BredaPhoto Festival 2022: Portfolio review with Marc Prüst – Visual story editor & photography curator (scheduled)
How to Prepare for an Online Portfolio Review
I have looked at Laura Noble’s blogpost, recommended in the course manual on how to prepare for a portfolio review, and also Mary Virginia Swanson and Format’s advice on how to prepare for online portfolio reviews.
Do in-depth research on the chosen reviewer. Rank preferences, if applicable.
Ensure work is tightly edited and sequenced.
Create PDF to share in advance. Consider offering the PDF as a “leave behind”. PDFs are easier to download and the format also prevents images getting lost/copied.
If sharing JPGs save at 150 dpi resolution (maximum for online).
Check your setting for distracting backgrounds and clutter.
Practice your presentation and timing. [who, why, what, when of your work = the overview. Shouldn’t be more than about 2 minutes].
Artist statement – write it ahead of the reivew – 300- 350 words. Will help focus thoughts. Don’t use artspeak.
Series statement – no more than 150 words
Develop a language about your work. Not good to rely on others’ interpretations as they may get it wrong. Need to position the viewer’s experience.
Make sure any computer/phone notifications are turned off to limit distractions.
Keep an eye on the time.
Consider how to share work if work is in book format.
Its OK to show work in progress. Fine art work doesn’t have to be polished for a review.
Ask questions – its a conversation.
Ask what works/doesn’t.
Reviewer can help you position your work among other contemporaries as they see a lot of work.
Be confident. What are you trying to say/communicate? What is the story you are trying to tell? Why are you making the work? How did you come to create the work? What inspired the project? Why would the viewer care? Why is your voice the best one to convey this information? Caveat: not always possible to go into great detail during a review – so have the basics ready.
Don’t undersell yourself.
Worth having a brief bio or CV to upload. These are better read than spoken.
Have 2-3 series of work ready to show, if time allows, so reviewer can see how work has developed over time.
Remember if doing a batch of reviews during a festival, you will get contradictory advice and clashes of opinion. It is all subjective. Don’t take it personally. Filter it and reflect on it.
Have a website or social media platform like Instagram for the reviewer to access your work after the review.
Resource Network
Pro-photographic printers that most of the professionals utilise are located in Vancouver.
Also offer scanning and framing services.
Local printers in the Shuswap area seem to only offer office reproduction services.
Photographic paper retailers: Vancouver and online
Camera equipment, rentals, printing equipment: Vancouver and online
Public Relations Network
Format:
Headline: short title, include date and “Press Release” or “For Immediate Release”.
Sub-headline: short text to explain story.
The lead: first paragraph to cover Who, What, When, Where, How and Why
1-2 paragraphs about the work – artist statement – keep it clear and concise. Write in 3rd person always.
Biographical info: short paragraph about yourself, where you are from, where you received your art education. List exhibitions/achievements. If none go into more detail about the work.
Feature 1 image in the release. Should be a good representation of the body of work. Provide links to other images for journalists via Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.
Provide crediting information document in PDF format. This lists captions to artwork, artist’s name, work’s title and year.
Include copyright notice, stressing images cannot be used without permission.
Include name and location of venue
Press release ends with contact information for you.
Who to target:
Organisations/people who are interested in your work
Lynda Kuit Photography Level 3 