10 Tips On Getting Your Photography Exhibited in a Gallery

Having your photos displayed in a gallery is an excellent way to put the spotlight on your hard work. In this 10 minute video by Shutterbug, photographer Jordan Matter runs through 10 tips on how to get your photographs exhibited.

1. Pay For It

Matter recommends finding an art fair near your location, and submit your work in hopes of getting a booth. You may be able to make money selling prints this way, but more importantly you will get the opportunity to speak to people about your work and build an audience.

2. Build Relationships

3. Have Your Prints Ready to Go

By building relationships with galleries, you may be contacted for an opportunity to exhibit your work at any time. If you already have a series of images printed and ready to hang you’ll make the process a lot smoother and more likely to happen.

4. Build a Strong Social Media Presence

5. Develop a Video Presence

6. Share Everywhere

Having a large following on social media assures publishers and galleries that your work will have an audience. It is also a great way to get discovered.

Developing a video presence extends that reach to the massive audiences on YouTube and Vimeo, and you may get picked up by photography website and blogs such as Shutterbug and PetaPixel!

7. Define Your Vision

Make work that only you can make. This is one of the hardest things in photography, but defining your vision and style is one way to increase the likelihood that your work is noticed.

8. Do Research

If you are interested in having your work shown at a particular gallery, first do your research on that gallery and the people who run it. By showing real interest and ensuring that your work is a good fit, you’ll up your chances of getting exhibited there.

9. Take Baby Steps

Don’t expect anything to happen overnight. Start out by approaching smaller galleries and work your way towards bigger things.

10. Think Outside the Gallery

Finally, remember that you don’t actually have to have your work exhibited in a gallery for people to see it. Local restaurants, bars, coffee shops, hair salons, and other local businesses are worth approaching to see if they would consider hanging your work on their walls. They get free art for their walls, and you get exposure.

For more from Jordan Matter, check out his website or Instagram.

(via Shutterbug)

Image credits: Video and still frames by Shutterbug