The self promotion game

During my two months of recovering from lung surgery (two surgeries in two days), I have been doing a lot of thinking about "where do I go from here?". Do I want to continue on the path of the exhibition circuit or not? There is a lot involved in exhibiting, both in time and money. Creating the art is just a small part of the process.

An important part of the process is self promotion. When you don't have a "following", how do you generate interest in your art? One thing I try to do is find free resources to promote my work. 

When I was preparing for my Haven exhibit, I found a Canadian magazine called smART Magazine, published by Lighthouse Immersive, that encourages submissions of all forms of art. Submissions are free. I prepared a short statement, included my exhibition location and dates, and a short bio and sent off an email with ten samples of my work.

Much to my surprise, I received an answer a short while later. My submission was accepted! I had to laugh when I read that I would not receive any compensation for the submission since there was a promotional aspect to the submission. It never occurred to me that I would be paid! lol

The first bit of promotion was included in a newsletter they sent out by email in March: (click the image to view it larger)
 

The magazine was supposed to be published in May, which would have been perfect timing for my exhibit. However, due to supply issue problems faced by many businesses this year, it wasn't published until July. No matter, I am thrilled to be included in this high end publication. 140 pages of interesting art and articles...and two pages are about my art!

This was quite a success story for me. I won't get into how many rejections I have received!

Artist Talk - Chester Art Centre

Last week I gave an artist talk for the Chester Art Centre in Chester, Nova Scotia. If you are interested, you can click on the box below and watch the talk on YouTube. 

 

My exhibit will be running until May 29th. If you'd like to see the exhibit virtually, there is a tour on my previous post.

Haven Virtual Tour

In case you can't make it to see my Haven exhibit in person, here is a virtual tour of the gallery before the opening.

Haven Exhibit Guide & Artist Talk

A project just wouldn't be the same for me if I didn't have a way to document the event. I have just as much fun putting together a book or magazine as I do in completing the project itself. 

This is the exhibit guide for my Haven exhibit at the Chester Art Centre. The exhibit runs from May 5th through May 29th. I have printed up a number of guides and am hoping to raise money for the CAC through the sales. 

Click on the image below and you'll be taken to the website for Blurb Books where you can view the complete magazine. If you click on the diagonal arrows at the top of the page, you'll be able to view it full screen. Then just click on the pages to move forward and back through the magazine.

Enjoy! 

Also, I'll be giving a free artist talk on Zoom on Thursday May 19th at 7pm ADT. If you'd like to sign up for the talk, go to this link: https://www.chesterartcentre.ca/haven . Scroll down under my profile photo for the sign up box. Hope to see you at the virtual event!

Haven

By Sara Harley

Exhibit Update - Haven

Everything for my upcoming Haven exhibit has been delivered to the Chester Art Centre. The exhibit opening is on May 5th from 5-7pm. Here is a little invitation from me that was sent out in the CAC newsletter recently:

I have created an exhibit guide and they will be available for purchase at the opening. Most of the proceeds will be donated to the Chester Art Centre. I'll post a link to the exhibit guide after the opening so you can view it online.

Funny story about the exhibit guides (not so funny at the time)...I had ordered the guides early in April and was guaranteed a delivery date of April 13th. On April 22nd it occurred to me that I hadn't received them yet and checked online to track them down. The information said the package was damaged on April 13th, and also said the package was "abandoned" on April 13th. Panic time! I contacted the printing company and received an automated reply that they were behind and it may be weeks before a response is sent. At this point, what do you do? I decided it wasn't meant to be, and tried not to fret about it.

But, I did hear back from the printing company and they processed a re-print and guaranteed delivery to arrive three days before the exhibit opening. They arrived yesterday...yay! Happy endings do happen.

Another piece of good news...16 images from my Haven collection were published by the online art magazine Tagree along with a lovely article about my project. You can read the article at this link (scroll down...it's a long one): https://tagree.de/haven-by-sara-harley/

Thoughts about titles

I am giving a lot of thought these days to titling images. Before I pontificate, I would love for you to comment below or email me with what you think....preferably just one or two words...when you look at the image pictured above.

There was a time...not too long ago....when I thought that titling my images was a very important part of my process. I often came up with a concept or title first, then built an image around it. If I was out with my camera making photographs, a word would often come to mind while I was pressing the shutter. 

It was important to me to guide the viewer with my title....to help them understand what I was trying to convey with my image.

Now I'm not so sure about that. Isn't it better to let the viewer decide what the image means to them? 

Let's use the image above to try to illustrate my point. 

I made this image last year and gave it the title "Forgotten".  I am currently preparing for an exhibit and plan to include this image. With everything going on in the world these days, I thought maybe more positivity was in order and considered changing the title to "Gratitude". 

The two different titles would certainly direct the viewer in two very different directions.

But why do this? Why not let the viewer decide whether it's a melancholy story or something more positive?

My current thought is to use more generic titles to allow the viewer to create their own story. I'm curious to know your thoughts about this.

February Summary

February Portfolio

February was a lot more active than my usual February months. I have been in a good place creatively, which I'm very thankful for as I'm preparing for a solo exhibit in May. At the moment I have a lot of images crammed in my head and my challenge is to actually create them....a much better situation than not having any inspiration at all!

Creating nine images that I'm proud of might not sound like much, but considering each image is made using a "collage" of elements from 10 or more images, it does take a lot of time. My goal was to create 6 quality images in February, so the fact that I created 9 is wonderful in my mind. 

That doesn't include the pieces I wasn't happy with, or started but not yet finished.

I participated in an artist talk for Pasadena Photography Arts - This is a Photograph Because I Say it is:

I created a magazine for the artist talk (linked above)....on the "good" roster of the month and a good foundation for the exhibit guide I'll need for May.

I was declined for an artist grant that I submitted in November 2021...on the "bad" tally.

I was approached to supply an image for the cover of a Literary/Arts magazine...details will be shared at a later date....definitely on the "plus" side.

And...I created and sent two magazine submissions...both a long shot, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

All in all, a productive month!

Artist Talk Companion Guide

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll be presenting an artist talk tonight at Open Show #41 at Pasadena Photography Arts. The topic is "This is a photograph because I say it is" and I'll be presenting with 3 other artists who create photo montages. I am thrilled to be included with such talented artists:  Diana Nicholette Jeon, Deborah Kaplan, and Roger Guetta. We all have very different styles, and it should be a very interesting talk.

In order to help with fundraising for Pasadena Photography Arts, we were asked to donate a print for them to raffle off to people who make a donation. Instead of a print, I decided to donate a magazine....a companion guide to my talk. 

Ordinarily, I wouldn't go to all that effort as it takes quite a lot of time to put together a publication like this. However, I was working on one for my upcoming Haven exhibit (scheduled for May at the Chester Art Centre) so I just modified it slightly for this talk. Plus, I must confess, it's a great piece of shameless self promotion.

You can view the 32 page magazine online by clicking on the link below. Once you arrive on the page, just click on the cover to move through the magazine. If you click on the diagonal arrows at the top right, you'll be able to view the magazine full screen.

Hope you enjoy...if you have any feedback about the images, please let me know. At this point I haven't selected the final images for my exhibit....and I'm still creating new ones...so this is a work in progress.

Haven

By Sara Harley

Artist Talk: Feb 22nd

Open Show in Pasadena/East LA put out a call for artists to submit a 15-25 image portfolio. I was thrilled (and very nervous) to receive notice on Friday that I have been selected to talk about my work on February 22nd. I wish I could say I was flying to Pasadena for my talk, but it will be on zoom :)

One thing about the ongoing pandemic is that the world has opened up for showcasing your work. I have to say, although I will be nervous making the presentation, it will be much easier on zoom than in person.

The show is called This Is A Photograph Because I Say It Is, and there will be two other presenters as well (details below, click on the image to see it in larger format). If you'd like to register for the talk, click on this link. February 22nd, 9:30 pm AST, 8:30 pm EST, 5:30 pm PST. Tickets are $5 US.

Evolution of an idea

Resilience

My image Resilience (created December 2021) was selected for the Planet Recovery Project exhibit by Labyrinth Gallery in the UK. The exhibit will be online for the next six months. Their set up is quite unique and looks like a real gallery tour. The online exhibit can be viewed at this link. 

I always find it interesting to read or hear about how someone came up with their ideas, so here is a back story that I hope you'll enjoy.

I originally took photos of a clear cut piece of land in 2013. I found it devastating to see, and knew that someday I would try to create an image with a message.

My first attempt was created in 2016 and combined my image of the clear cut land with a photograph of a mill I took in 2013. 

It was one of my first digital compilations. I combined the two photographs to create one "mirror" image. I rotated the photo of the mill, to make it look like a reflection and then converted the colour image to black and white. I called the final image Wounded.

Wounded, 2016

Wounded (def'n): 1. An injury to an organism, especially one in which the skin or another external surface is torn, pierced, cut, or otherwise broken.  2. An injury to the feelings.

Last year I created a new compilation which was inspired by the untitled image by Jerry Uelsmann, featured on the cover of his book Uelsmann Untitled: A Retrospective.

My first take was this:

Under Our Protection, Take One

I decided that was too dark, so I changed the sky to a more hopeful one and also changed the image to square:

Under Our Protection, Take Two

 

Then I took an online workshop with Maggie Taylor and my creative world expanded, so I re-worked the concept yet again and titled it In Our Hands:

In Our Hands

 

I printed it and pinned it to my bulletin board. Then I started fretting that it was a bit dystopian. Was this image actually coming from me, or had I been too influenced by the original inspiration piece by Jerry Uelsmann?

A short time later I was browsing through a junk shop with a friend and spotted these: 

which lead to this:

Resilience

Resilience was created from twelve different photographs and is part of the Haven Series that I'm working on. It's quite a different concept than my original image Wounded.

(Editing note: I seem to have different font colours in this post, but I have no idea how to fix it. Sorry!)

Rfotofolio Selections 2021 - Merit Award

I am proud to say that my work has been chosen for the Merit Awards as part of the Rfotofolio Selections for 2021. Photographers were asked to submit a portfolio of 7 images, along with an artist statement.

The portfolio I entered:

The image featured by Rfotofolio:

The Gathering

My statement:

I create composite digital images using my own photography, curating various series that emphasize emotional healing. I enjoy the freedom and individualism of creating conceptual art, images that are based in reality with my own photography, but developed from my own imagination. Minimalist and surreal, frequently using my love of birds and nature, my creations often illustrate feelings we seldom discuss.

Over the past two years, our changed world has caused a myriad of emotions about the importance of home and family, which has led me to explore the concept of haven. The dichotomy between the safety of our own environment and the threat of the unknown from without has contributed to increased levels of social anxiety  Whether based in reality, or perceived, the situation has challenged us to examine our thoughts and ourselves.

What makes us feel safe? Where do we take comfort? The answers are sometimes surprising.

What is Rfotofolio? From their website:

Rfotofolio was founded in 2012 by Connie and Jerry Rosenthal as a way to build a photographic community,  to give photographers access to a larger audience, and to educate the viewing public about the diversity found in photography through our sites, exhibitions, interviews, and articles.

In 2014 Rfotofolio became a non-profit, 501( c )(3) organization and in 2015 established the Rfotofolio Grant.

To learn more about our grants please visit the Grants and Awards page.

Rfotofolio supports the work of photographers by awarding the Rfotofolio grant once a year to a photographer working to continue their photographic endeavors.

Our Mission

• To build a photographic community.
• To provide a positive forum.
• To give photographers access to a larger audience.
• To curate, and promote brick and mortar exhibitions.
• To provide an educational and inspirational community for photographers and collectors through our meetings and forums.
• To nurture the art of the printed photograph.
• To establish forums to promote the craft of photography.
• To sustain, maintain and grow the exposure of the photography through our websites, exhibits, and publications.
• To award the Rfotofolio Grant.
• To Award the Denis Roussel Award.