When last I wrote, I had recently returned home from my trip to England and had hoped to get back to my regular blogging schedule shortly thereafter.
That hasn’t happened quite yet, but it’s not because I haven’t been working on my photography. In fact, it’s because I have been working on it, but just a different kind of work.
Any photographer can tell you just how expensive photography can be, especially those working with traditional materials. Obviously, then, selling one’s work would help to cover some of those costs – and for years people who have looked at my prints have told me that they’re good enough that I should be able to sell them.
Still, while that is always gratifying to hear, it is much easier said than done. Over the nearly twenty years that I’ve been doing my black & white printing, I have to say that I have not sold more than a handful of prints, and none of them have been recent.
So, what to do? Finding a gallery to market my work would be great, but again, easier said than done. A website? I’ve had one for years and still no sales.
On the other hand, I do know some other artists – people who paint, draw and (yes) photograph – who have sold some of their pieces online via some art marketing websites. While such things are never a guarantee, it is worth trying, especially as listing yourself and posting your art is free of charge.
One site on which I have posted my work is Saatchi Art. This is affiliated with the big Saatchi Gallery in London, and it’s the site from where the people I know have sold their work. The other one is Artfinder, which may not have as big a name as Saatchi, but seems to be more of a community of artists than the other. (For example, I already have 27 followers on Artfinder and I’ve gotten 93 favorites, compared to just 3 followers and 9 favorites on Saatchi, even though I posted on the Saatchi site just a day later than Artfinder.)
So, please take a look and let me know what you think of my pages.
On Artfinder you can see my page here. (You may need to register, but it’s free.)
On Saatchi Art you can see it here.
Thanks for the valuable information Dave. I had a show once that by the time the booze was finished had cost me a thousand bucks. That the art business!
You’re welcome, Michael – but how much did your show cost without the booze? 😉
Dave
I believe the bulk of the booze bill came after I figured out my images weren’t selling. 😦
Ahhh……Understandable, then. 😉
Dave, this is a common issue to many artists. When committing to sell artwork on sites like Saatchi Art and similar the artist instantly find him/her self in a huge pool of competition. Between thousands of other photographers, painters, etc. is even harder in my opinion to have the chance to shine and come on top of the pack. Honestly when browsing your images on Saatchi I’ve got easily distracted by the other artists images, starting from your favorite’s selection….
There is a lot to say about selling art in general and specifically online. Huge topic.
In the meantime best of luck!
Thank you , Lorenzo, for reading my blog post and for your thoughtful reply. Yes, I understand exactly what you are saying. There are literally thousands of other works of art out there to be bought, and the odds of someone choosing my work out of it all seems slim. Still, it’s better to try than to just let my photos sit in boxes at home – and who knows, maybe someone will see my photos on someone else’s favorite’s list!
Dave, since it’s been a few months now I was wondering, as a fellow artist, if you had any luck with sales from these two sites and if you would suggest one over another for any reason?
Hi, Beth.
As it happens, I have not sold any prints from either of these sites. However, I have to say that I have not added any artwork since I posted the first set of prints, and I would imagine that one needs to keep adding work to get on the lists of new work put up for sale and therefore remain current. (I do have more prints to offer, but I need to re-matte them as the current matte windows are less than perfect. I have ordered professionally cut mattes for 30 prints, but I have not had the time to work on them yet.)
Regarding the difference between Saatchi and Artfinder, I think that Artfinder is more of a community of artists than Saatchi is, as you get to see new works by other artists you’ve listed as favorites, and I think you see the new works by artists that they like, too. However, I see no reason why you shouldn’t list your work on both sites, unless you want to claim some kind of exclusivity for one site. Either way, good luck to you.
Dave