Demise

I am not so sure if this thread should be titled Demise ou Legacy... after translation I decided for Demise. It looked more suitable to me. OK let me move on.
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Some months ago I decided to make a collection of images as a legacy for my son and my grand-son. Perhaps it is a silly idea or perhaps it is just a way or motivation to build a series or several series of images...

The fact is that I have been printing a few A3+ which are kept in a box specially made for the purpose. At this very moment I would like to post an image of the box but this work is postponed for tomorrow.

The collection is ordered by projects. Yes, the very same ones you can see at my site. I print them on baryta paper with long lasting inks which are supposed to last at least 75 years. Oh well...

The idea doesn't stop here.
I print the images - 10 or less of each project, around 6 to 8 - and keep them for exposition. If ever I get exposed again LOL. The first time it was in Setubal and ... period, no more, rien, nada, nothing, nil.

I have also ordered frames in black alu with canvas. They weight 2,9 kilograms (6,4 pouces US) each. Too much to send to biennials... or perhaps too expensive to be sent !

I am so nahive/innocent that I have hopes of selling frames on line LOL

Does anybody collect print as a demise ?

As this is a thread about photography I feel the obligation to post an image at least at the start of a thread. Tomorrow I will post my boxes later on and if I don't forget to. Today I post my frame ready to hang. Want to buy one ? LOL

I think it is a great idea, but I suggest that you print more than one copy. I have a few pictures from my grand-father, but it is only a small portion of what he did. The larger part went to a different member of the family, who was not interested in keeping them. I suppose that they are lost now.

I am a little confused as to the subject of this post - is it about leaving a legacy, showing a new series or selling images on line?

If it is about leaving a legacy, I am more interested in knowing how you have selected the images to be printed as a legacy, and why you seem to have chosen to opt for a mountain landscape series? IMO, as a legacy, I would show the full range of your work, with particular emphasis on subjects of local interest (eg your portraits of local workers and artisans etc) and those of direct family interest (which may not be of interest to anyone else).
IMO these are the types of image your immediate and future descendants may relate to, rather than your tourist/traveller images (which are very good).

With regard to selling framed prints online, I think you may find it difficult to compete with the well established photo/image websites who offer this service for their members, but hey - good luck to you.
Maybe you ought to get advice from Chris Calohan, he sells many of his images locally, how does he do it? Are his framed or just prints? Does he offer/sell series or individually taken local scenes. Does he print images himself or use a third party printer...Are they taken as a series for personal interest or taken with a specific potential client in mind etc etc.

Much to learn...but a worthy exercise - good luck!

Rob Naylor said:

Maybe you ought to get advice from Chris Calohan

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A word of caution: Chris Calohan lives in the USA. Antonio Correia lives in Portugal. I am not entirely sure about Portugal, but I believe that the market for fine art prints is very different between the USA and Europe. In France, for example, a fine art series is limited to 30 prints (more and you have to pay considerably higher taxes), but most photographers have difficulties to sell that many. I believe that the number of prints in a series is often much larger in the USA.

Jerome Marot said:

A word of caution: Chris Calohan lives in the USA. Antonio Correia lives in Portugal. I am not entirely sure about Portugal, but I believe that the market for fine art prints is very different between the USA and Europe. In France, for example, a fine art series is limited to 30 prints (more and you have to pay considerably higher taxes), but most photographers have difficulties to sell that many. I believe that the number of prints in a series is often much larger in the USA.

Click to expand...

A very good point Jerome, this would need to be considered when selling prints in a series.
Thanks for the input.

I am afraid that I will make just one copy
All this idea came from the fact that my father had some 20 images which for most I have lost track of. I still have 5x30/40 from those slowly degrading... My daughter has more and in better conditions hanging on the wall.
Black and white images from old Setubal of scenarios that no longer exist.

When I started this thread it was not my intention to sell any of my images. Well at least here... It seems to me a very inappropriate place to try so. It was more in the trend of Why...

The idea was to tell you how I am doing my legacy/demise.
Or perhaps I have mixed everything and made myself misunderstand. I can try to re-write my thought.

1. I am filling boxes with A3+ images. They are printed in baryta paper with long lasting inks. All are grouped in projects and ready for an eventual (and remote) exhibition or sell (even more remote)
2. At the same time I try to promote them in different ways:
a) on the web
b) trying to be published (LensWork, Silvershotz and so on)
c) trying to expose in prestigious places (please read galleries) submitting proofs if necessary.
3. The image I have shown you is a simulation of the frame with canvas and one image. If I change the inner image I still have the whole concept and a better idea. I can easily change the tone/vcolor of the canvas as well...
I still have here something to do and that is: to make a photograph with a sofa and me with the frame hanging on the wall so everybody can have a better understanding of the scale fo the frame.

The issue of how many images can be sold is not in my mind. If I can't sell one why to bother thinking about how many ? LOL

I hope that I have not messed up things more than I have done before...
Meanwhile, this afternoon I have photographed a box. (It was sunny but cold) They are very nice and perfect.
The size was determined by myself to fit the A3+ with a little margin. The hole is to insert the finger and make them to come up while the magnet keeps the flap from opening. It is a good way to transport real work and a more ambitious one than the A5 Folios I made last year.

Thank you for writing those words Jerome and Rob

Antonio,

This is an admirable task you have set for yourself and we should all attempt to do as you have done. It serves to have pictures ready to exhibit at a moments notice and also will be, treasured, hopefully, by generations to come.

The cost outlay could be a barrier for some of us here! Could you share some of your production choices in sources boxes, and where you get you images printed?

Asher

I will answer in two separate posts. One today and the other tomorrow.

Yes Asher, I admit that sometimes I spend too much money in Photography without results but much self satisfaction. A shame indeed. But I still have some hope in spite of.

At the beginning I started by doing Folios based on the concept of Brooks from LensWork. I designed my own Folios with the most suitable dimension for me. I decided A5 because it is a nice/likeable/appealing and economic format.
The Folios available in the US were hard to get with Custom problems and so on. I was not able to find such product in Europe.

So, I designed the Folio, made the cuttings (is this the right word ?) and made some samples after choosing a pleasant and convenient material. Here is a photo (a bad one) of a Folio with some images on it.

After this I changed the cover of the Folio to a better visual, much more appealing than the one you can see here.
When a couple of weeks ago I met with my two cousins I had the pleasure to offer them two pieces. Each Folio contains some 6 images from a project.

At the back of each image lies the concept of the project. Inside at the back of the cover you would be able to read not only my bio but also my Artist Statement.

But you know, at the very beginning I had a stronger idea from which I gave up very quickly: to send Folios to Fine Art Galleries around the World asking if they wanted to exhibit my work at convenient sizes.

I was dreaming then and I give up the idea very quickly. Why ? Because I had/have no artistic agent and I could send the printed images at the convenient size for exhibition and at the end ... no money at all if they sell them which I think they would.

At that point I wouldn't want to travel to Hong-Kong or San Francisco to ask for some Euros... I couldn't trust the galleries, could I ?

To be continued...

Last chapter LOL
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Here fresh images of my Folios with the new face. Inside images printed in baryta paper with long lasting inks are protected by tracing paper. A must

I have landscape folios and portrait folios in accordance with the images inside.
After some Folios I jumped in the more ambitious project of the box. Inside the box I can now have complete folios arranged by Projects and ready for exhibition.

I have been and I will keep sending mails to art galleries in Portugal, trying to be exhibited. I do have a contact in Berlin which I will explore soon.

Well, that's it for now folks ! Thank you for having the patience of reading me.