Tonight, my first art exhibit will close. It’s been up for a month and, for a first show, was successful.
I met quite a few new people at the opening reception. Not being much of a social animal (at least amongst total strangers), I was surprised to realize that I really enjoyed myself. I spoke with quite a few people that had questions about my work (i.e. where certain shots were taken, what my process is, etc). I spoke with a sculptor who’s interested in having me come shoot some of his work. I also spoke with a contact who is interested in re-interpreting some of my work to be put on apparel.
In addition to that, traffic on my Cafe Press retail site is starting to increase. That, in combination with the possibility of putting my work on apparel, has led me to think a lot about the intersection of art and commerce. I’m aware this is probably a well-worn path and that the vast majority of people who have created anything and put it out into the world eventually deal with the idea of ACTUALLY selling it.
My first sales were to people who either knew me or had some sort of connection to me. I am extremely grateful to friends of mine who have decided to show their support and like one of my prints enough to add it to their collection and display it in their home. That gives me such an incredible feeling of pride and gratification.
The sales I am starting to get now are from total strangers. People who buy my work, having no connection to me whatsoever, are clearly responding ONLY to the work and the feelings the work evokes in them. This gives me a somewhat different feeling. There is of course, pride and gratification, but now that’s accompanied by curiosity. Have they been to where I shot to image? Are they moved by a feeling the image evokes? Do they need something that matches the sofa? These are all reasons for people to buy art and I find that I am now just as curious about my buyers as they are about me.
I think about my Cafe Press merchandise and realize that someone is now sitting at their computer, running their mouse over a mousepad I designed with one of my images. Across the country, a woman is serving wine to her friends and their wine glasses are sitting on coasters I designed with one of my images. And in another part of the country, someone is writing in a journal that has one of my images on its cover.
I know that on the surface, the transaction might only consist of “oh, those look cool. I’ll buy them”. But once they’ve bought them and started using them, I believe that a connection has been made. And the result is that people are incorporating bits of my life and my experiences into their lives. That’s a trippy thought.
But it’s also at the core of why I enjoy photography and then selling my work. It’s about making that connection. In the Sondheim show “Sunday in the Park with George”, the painter Georges Seurat gets so lost in his work and his art that he has to keep reminding himself to connect. I feel the same way a lot of the time. I naturally connect to the work. The process of creating the image is ingrained enough that it doesn’t actually require cognitive thought to shoot the image. Connecting to people is different and has always been difficult for me – and I love that my art has enabled me to find a way to connect.
