Determining my worth
A colleague came into my office yesterday at just the right moment, when someone was asking about the photographs I made on vacation. She asked to see some, and went overboard about them. Her father appreciates fine art photography, and she decided she'd like to give him an "original print from a real artist" for Father's Day.
Very, very cool.
Except then she asked for pricing.
Uhhhhhh.
How does one go about determining the worth of one's art? Especially since I'm a little p photographer and not a big p Photographer. I mean, it's not like there's high demand for my work. And, since I'm learning the laws of supply and demand in school I realize that low demand typically equals low prices.
But how low, exactly? What's an 8x10 of mine worth? An 11x14, a 16x20? Cost for production is negligable, so let's take that out of consideration from the get-go. Basically, I'm trying to place a price tag on my artistic talent (which I feel is cheating anyway, given my subject matter of Yosemite...I mean, really, how can anyone make a bad image given that raw material with which to work?!).
So, I'm in a quandry and up against a deadline to boot, since Father's Day is just around the corner and she needs the print in time to have it matted and framed. Or I could do the matting, if it's small enough. My mat cutter allows me to do up to about 11x14 comfortably. I love to cut mats, and am extremely picky about it (overcuts are the work of the devil!).
I guess the first step is to have her look over a proof sheet (which took me an hour to create, damn Photoshop Elements) and determine what size she wants. I have a feeling, though, that she's going to ask for pricing for the various sizes and make her decision off that.
Guess I'll try to do some research and find out what the going rate is for the work of unknown photographers. I keep trying to convince M to be my business manager so I don't have to deal with stuff like this, but he doesn't show much interest. Guess that's what I get for trying to convert an engineer into an art dealer.
Very, very cool.
Except then she asked for pricing.
Uhhhhhh.
How does one go about determining the worth of one's art? Especially since I'm a little p photographer and not a big p Photographer. I mean, it's not like there's high demand for my work. And, since I'm learning the laws of supply and demand in school I realize that low demand typically equals low prices.
But how low, exactly? What's an 8x10 of mine worth? An 11x14, a 16x20? Cost for production is negligable, so let's take that out of consideration from the get-go. Basically, I'm trying to place a price tag on my artistic talent (which I feel is cheating anyway, given my subject matter of Yosemite...I mean, really, how can anyone make a bad image given that raw material with which to work?!).
So, I'm in a quandry and up against a deadline to boot, since Father's Day is just around the corner and she needs the print in time to have it matted and framed. Or I could do the matting, if it's small enough. My mat cutter allows me to do up to about 11x14 comfortably. I love to cut mats, and am extremely picky about it (overcuts are the work of the devil!).
I guess the first step is to have her look over a proof sheet (which took me an hour to create, damn Photoshop Elements) and determine what size she wants. I have a feeling, though, that she's going to ask for pricing for the various sizes and make her decision off that.
Guess I'll try to do some research and find out what the going rate is for the work of unknown photographers. I keep trying to convince M to be my business manager so I don't have to deal with stuff like this, but he doesn't show much interest. Guess that's what I get for trying to convert an engineer into an art dealer.
posted by Amy at 9:15 AM
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