Getting Exposure - But at what price?
Every amateur photographer loves to get the opportunity to see their work exhibited, reproduced in a publication or maybe even published in books by themselves. It is a very rewarding feeling and brings some legitimacy and acceptance of your work. Getting exposure is often hard work and takes time, but in todays internet world, the subject of exposure has been stood on its head. In pre-digital and internet days the printed matter was the main way photographers would get exposure, and this would be supported by exhibitions of outstanding work by celebrated photographers of the day.
There are a few things these days that I have become very sceptical about and worry that they are counter productive in their aims.
The first is the rise in “Photography Games” on the internet. There are a number of these but the ones that keep coming up in my research of them is “Gurushots” and “Photocrowd”. In these games the object seems to be that you compete for votes in specific competitions and the shots with the most votes wins. The prize can be equipment or money depending on the competition. In “Gurushots” for example, once you have subscribed and started playing the game by entering your best shots, you can purchase “Keys”, “Fills” or “Swaps” to boost your exposure in the competition. Now call me an old cynic, but the only winners in this are the game owners who are happy to let people buy these features to help their images win. In researching these games I read about very mundane images getting thousands of votes, but I wonder what that has cost the photographer? There also seems to be accusations online of vote rigging and fixing as well as warnings of rampant plagiarism of your images and people passing off other photographers work as their own. The copyright and future use of any images entered should be studied closely too before entering. They also claim to be hosts of International venue exhibitions of participants works but I wonder, have the exhibits bought a place in the exhibition or got there through merit? Is this a true measure of how you are progressing as a photographer? I am sure there is a lot of excellent photography involved in the competitions and the organisation and the fun element is true, but the judging process, buying in-app purchases to boost your chances and the “game” element just doesn’t sit right with me and I don’t think its what photography is about.
The next concern I have is with pay to enter exhibitions. These are a great way to get your work hung on a wall at an exhibition but is paying for it to happen right? I have done this myself in the past and saw my work exhibited but then I realised that the only reason it is up there with the other exhibits is because I paid someone to do it. I was left wondering, is paying someone to exhibit what I send them gaining me anything? Yes, it’s nice to see it on a wall but it’s at my cost. I don’t know if it is normal in the art world for artists to pay galleries to show their work, but I decided not to do this any more. If someone approaches me and wishes to hold a small exhibition of my work that’s fine, but I wont be paying for the benefit of wall space. Likewise with virtual exhibitions, where you pay to be included in an on-line exhibition. I do this every day, at much less cost. I call it my website and all the work is mine.
The last point I have is being paid (or not),for your work. Every now and again we may be approached by some person or an organisation, publication etc., asking to use our work to advertise or promote something. This can be very flattering and can often cloud the photographers judgement when payment gets discussed. These days people that want to use your work, in the main, don’t want to pay. They will use phrases like, “We will give you a credit mention”, “We want to help you get your name out there”, “Its all about us giving you exposure” and “It will be a great selling point for you in the future to say we used your work”.
