Friday, February 13, 2009

Book Review: Exhibiting Photography

ExhibitingPhotography I started reading Exhibiting Photography back in November, but then misplaced it. I found it again a few days ago. I'm glad I did too. The book is an outstanding look at what it means to put together a photography show in a gallery or public space. It’s a mix of project management advice, marketing advice, artistic advice, and practical background knowledge. All of which the average photographer would never know.

I have aspirations. I’d love to put on a show build around some of the photography themes I’ve played with over the years. I’ve followed some of the advice already. I made a brief YouTube movie of some of my photos as an experiment. I don’t like the finished product, but it serves as a good starting point for my next effort, which will be better.

I found Chapter 4, Text, Printed, and Publicity Materials particularly helpful. I’ve never even considered this before. In fact, this is the main reason I liked the book. Its full of useful information that is completely unrelated to making a photograph. It is the stuff one needs to know if one intends to do anything besides posting pictures to a blog (that would be me).

Book Info

Exhibiting Photography: A Practical Guide to Choosing a Space, Displaying Your Work, and Everything in Between, by Shirley Read.

Shirley Read is an independent curator based in London. She teaches exhibition workshops at universities and writes for numerous magazines including Portfolio, Source, and Creative Camera.

Paperback, 272 pages, publication date: FEB-2008
ISBN-13: 978-0-240-80939-7
ISBN-10: 0-240-80939-4
Imprint: FOCAL PRESS

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