Longtimeman Gallery (1764) January 2006 | Another

It's a cold Sunday afternoon at the end of January 2006. I'm walking around Camden Market with Douglas (photoshed) looking for a pitch to sell some cards and prints.
Selling anything is hard work. Most of the stall-holders in the market had been here since early morning, many of them stand outside in cold spaces for most of the day. I wondered if I could do it again. I'd been a weekend stall-holder for a couple of years, in my 20s. I'd sold some of my pictures then, but it was easier to make money from selling antiques than photographs. Selling photographs was more fun though, people would stop by and talk about the photographs and that would lead onto other stuff .. a bit like moblogging in a way.

I come across a stall in one of the main buildings selling photographs by Tina Maas - a photographer creating some space for herself in the fine art market. The person running the stall had only sold 4 prints by mid-afternoon. It was cold, people were looking and then heading for the food and drink stalls to spend their money - need overcomes desire.

It's late afternoon and the sun has settled below the surrounding buildings. We walk up a cobbled slope towards a spot I'd photographed last year, and put on TA. In a little gallery of photographs I meet Rob Wells and we talk about the prints on display, some are his but he also has other photographers' prints for sale. I show him the cards I want to sell and he says he'll take some on, and some of my prints. Great! Next week I'll take some prints down and a few more cards. Maybe I'll become an artist this year

Posted to TA on 1/31/2006 7:44:50 PM | Comments

1. Posted by stewart on 2/1/2006 10:33:48 AM
Is selling prints a good choice,is there enough people interested to buy them,wouldn't most people have their own digital camera to manage their own pictures?Maybe if you have a stall on a regular basis people will get to know you and then things might start moving.Personally I think selling food is the best option as everyone eats.

2. Posted by tony on 2/1/2006 11:10:55 AM
Excellent points Stewart. Selling is about adding value to something and I'm not sure how much value I want to add to the cards and prints. If I chose to go along the fine art route this would be a way of adding value, the other way is to go into mass production and sell lots of cards. I like the idea of meeting up with people, and also selling a few cards and prints. This little gallery of photographs is right next to a cafe, so I'll probably be hanging out here on Sunday afternoons!

3. Posted by francis on 2/10/2006 3:19:24 AM
you already are an artist. when you place the prints, include their stories.that's a very differentiating value add and you're gifted at description and inquiry.

4. Posted by angie on 2/12/2006 2:37:07 PM
Sounds like a good plan to me Tony!! I hope it goes well, no doubt it will ;)

5. Posted by tony on 2/12/2006 3:29:21 PM
Hi Francis, as you may have gathered I have a problem with the notion of 'artist' - in a way that is why I am trying to play this idea out this year. The story part I would very much like to develop and try and make this into something more substantial - maybe explore the idea of 'documentary slideshows'!?

6. Posted by tony on 2/12/2006 3:33:42 PM
Angie, thank you. I took my first bunch of cards and prints down the market this weekend (Feb 11). I'll probably find ways to show how this develops through the year.

7. Posted by francis on 2/12/2006 3:54:59 PM
that's a good idea, tony. lifting the idea of provenance directly into the work.

8. Posted by tony on 2/12/2006 4:09:49 PM
Francis, yes, I'm attempting to develop some threads, they are tenuous, and may be that way for some time, but they begin close to my heart.