My Process; Photographing Work
*** This isn’t going to be about the technical aspects of photographing work. There is a plethora of great information online about how to properly and professionally photograph your work and I would just be rehashing it.
Here are two resources for the technical side of things;
I want to focus more on the importance of photographing your work (or simply seeing it) out of the studio, out of the context of it’s creation and in an intended atmosphere - be it on a wall of a home or office or gallery. ***
Where i photograph work currently - StudioStudioA2!
I started doing this back in Miami when I was a babyartist. Our condo building had a lounge up on the 11th floor that I could usually have all to myself. I would scope it out first and then bring up paintings and drawings in various states of done-ness to photograph separately and as collections.
Those windows…..
So much white.
I would usually begin with each painting on it’s own, photographed in a few different places if I’m able. This practice gave me an immense amount of insight into the work; ideas about the paintings became clear in these limited palette-surroundings. Things that would have been harder to glean in the mess and chaos of my teeny tiny artspace jumped out at me. Like little meditations on each one, without the distraction of the other work/the rest of our apartment.
Once each painting had their own little photoshoot (I would use several cameras, phone/DSLR/instax) I would start to combine works, to see what stories they had to tell each other. Sometimes collections would emerge from pieces I previously thought were unrelated. Sometimes I’d see holes, movement and colors that still needed to be addressed. I’d usually always learn something about the next steps, next direction to take the pieces. Or my favorite response from the paintings; I’m done, leave me be.
This practice is still very much a part of my process, though I’ve had to do some digging to find places to photograph work now that I don’t have access to a fancy lounge. The only rule I need to follow for the process to work is ; not in my studio.
Not around my other work, or supplies or sketches. To remove the pieces entirely is what works best for me.
Places I’ve tried (and you can too!*)
*with proper safety measures in place, because, you know, pandemic. Or better yet, make a plan now so that when we’re all safe and vaccinated you know where to go/who to call to set things up!
Reach out! Do you have a friend with a cool house? A nice big wall? Maybe send them a message and see if you can borrow it for an afternoon of photography. This can be especially handy if you want to show your work in the homes of your customers, it will give them an idea of how it can be styled/displayed.
Do you go into an office? Perhaps they have a nice minimal conference room with big windows you can use to set up work. Especially if you are trying to find more clients in the business sector - catering your imagery to where you want your work to live will help your prospective buyers imagine your work in their space.
School stairwells can be amazing little spaces of contrast between walls/floors if you’re going for a stark ‘gallery’ type image. If you find yourself on the campus of a college perhaps check out a few hallways, a good white wall and gleaming cement floor are always nice backdrops for photos.
(( Just keep in mind that good lighting is literally everything when photographing work, so either bring your own kit (which is usually fine in homes/offices but can be a little tricky if you are out in a public/semi-public atmosphere like a school) or make sure you have good windows in your immediate vicinity. ))
Rentable locations! Check your area for photography studios that might have rooms for rent. This is a really good option if you’re starting to consider prints, or wanting to control all aspects of the photo, as these studios usually have high-quality lighting kits and all sorts of the right equipment to produce perfect photos.
Without access to that fancy lounge in Miami I floundered for a bit looking for a good room to take pictures in, borrowing garage space/storage space/cool basement walls for photos. But with the opening of StudioStudio here in Ann Arbor, thankfully, I’ve got my go-to spot back again and many more photoshoots of artwork will be happening in the future.
