Posted by Rob Haman on November 23, 2008 at 11:06 AM
I'm on a photo shoot with someone who belongs to this as a method of selling images. On the surface it sounds like a plausible way of selling work with minimal time investment. Simply upload your images and they take it from there and market, size and print the image to the clients request. The pay is low per image but he mentioned that many times the sale is for multiple copies of the image to one buyer.
Anyone had or heard of dealings with this sort of outlet?
Rob
Posted by Guy Tal on November 23, 2008 at 12:29 PM
It's interesting, I've been thinking about Internet marketing recently with some mixed emotions. I just bought 2 pieces of art in a small town, from local artists. The experience was so much more rewarding than anything I ever bought online. The subjects portrayed were local scenery, the artists were glad to describe the process of finding and making the images, etc. It made me wish for a Utopian world where all art is sold locally and represents a place, where you have to travel and experience where the artist works, their subjects and materials, before picking the one or two pieces that speak to you most, having a more intimate understanding of where they came from. For a moment I was almost tempted to take my own web site off line.
The art.com web site claims over 500,000 prints in their catalog. Personally I want my work to be more meaningful than just one of 500,000 random options. Sure, it's selfish, but I take some pride in it or I wouldn't be making it in the first place.
Guy
Posted by Robert Fisher on November 23, 2008 at 1:52 PM
I agree with Guy that personal interaction with buyers is nice. But if someone orders a print off a photographer's website, that personal interaction is lost too. That said, selling your own prints on your own website is still different from a place like art.com. Selling yourself you have absolute control of the quality. Having a quick look on the art.com site I couldn't find anything about what kind of print their standard 'fine art' prints are.
Might a place like art.com be considered sort of the internet version of department store art? Maybe a place for things that we, as the photographer, like but that don't necessarily fit in with our 'style'?
Discussion
2 repliesAnyone had or heard of dealings with this sort of outlet?
Rob
The art.com web site claims over 500,000 prints in their catalog. Personally I want my work to be more meaningful than just one of 500,000 random options. Sure, it's selfish, but I take some pride in it or I wouldn't be making it in the first place.
Guy
Might a place like art.com be considered sort of the internet version of department store art? Maybe a place for things that we, as the photographer, like but that don't necessarily fit in with our 'style'?