I'm going to be putting some of my photography up for sale in a downtown coffee shop called Taste Full Beans this week. I have a 7-week show in April which will feature a lot more of my photographs up on walls, in mattes and so forth, but for the month of December the owner of the coffee shop said I could just put some prints out for the holiday shoppers if I would like. I thought that would be a good idea especially as a test-run, so I printed up 12 for now, gotten foam backing and plastic covering for them and have them just about ready to take over the the cafe.
In the meantime I have been talking a lot with my friends, family and coworkers about pricing, themes, donations and so forth. For instance, how much should I charge for an 8x10 print? Some say $35, some say $20, I was originally thinking around $12. Should I label my photographs to show that I will be donating 25% of the proceeds to UNICEF? As part of my mission to Advance Humanity, I thought it would be a nice thing to share. Will the shoppers even care? Should I just do it without mentioning it? Interesting to think about.
Art is funny; often the person making the art doesn't think about money, but then it can sell (often posthumously) for tremendous amounts. Watching my sister and I sell photographs or paintings for a small amount of money frustrates my dad and I understand that now. When it comes to my sister's artwork I think she should charge like crazy, but then when it comes to mine I downplay it and just ask for enough to get by. It's not really about the money, but regardless of whether you want to or not you are going to decide what the artwork is worth. Someone will probably pay it, no matter what you ask. It's a matter of how it makes them feel and what they think it is worth.
In the meantime I have been talking a lot with my friends, family and coworkers about pricing, themes, donations and so forth. For instance, how much should I charge for an 8x10 print? Some say $35, some say $20, I was originally thinking around $12. Should I label my photographs to show that I will be donating 25% of the proceeds to UNICEF? As part of my mission to Advance Humanity, I thought it would be a nice thing to share. Will the shoppers even care? Should I just do it without mentioning it? Interesting to think about.
Art is funny; often the person making the art doesn't think about money, but then it can sell (often posthumously) for tremendous amounts. Watching my sister and I sell photographs or paintings for a small amount of money frustrates my dad and I understand that now. When it comes to my sister's artwork I think she should charge like crazy, but then when it comes to mine I downplay it and just ask for enough to get by. It's not really about the money, but regardless of whether you want to or not you are going to decide what the artwork is worth. Someone will probably pay it, no matter what you ask. It's a matter of how it makes them feel and what they think it is worth.
My hope is to share with others great photographs that have the common theme of advancing humanity. This includes the photograph being of something that captures the nature of our humanity, our world or our ideals and also using the proceeds from those photographs to support charity work and my own future photography as I travel throughout the world.
