Thinking about a Professional Portfolio (Week 11)

As part of our coursework activity we have been asked to consider creating or improving and enhancing our professional portfolio. To date I have not had the time or the incentive to create a portfolio other than the galleries on my website. As you will have seen in Week 9 I am taking steps to improve my website over the holiday break and moving forward but, this exercise is a helpful prompt for me as I believe I will need to create a high quality print portfolio as an output from my Final Major Project and to support the launch of my business thereafter.

The interview with Francesca Genovese, Director of the Francesca Maffeo Gallery in Leigh-on-Sea was very helpful to me in understanding the context of how a professional portfolio might be used. Although she referred to the production of a pdf document of current work as a useful introduction tool to accompany an e-mail, given the focus of my work as fine art prints and accompanying high-quality books, there will be a need for me to be able to demonstrate the print and overall quality of my work.

As I develop my networks on the Isle of Skye I will need to show examples of my work and be able to demonstrate how my work might fit in with other photographers represented through the galleries and co-operatives. I will also need reasonable stock levels of my prints in my personal gallery in Broadford. To this end, I am pursuing a number of avenues in terms of the surfaces I will use for my work. I need to understand print papers much better and how different textures and tones of paper will affect and enhance my work. I am also keen to research the presentation of my images on Ilford Gallerie Silver Gelatin paper through the conversion of my digital files through laser scanning. I intend to have a test print produced to see the results of such a process and also understand the financial implications of that choice. This will be an important consideration for the production of my images for the Exhibition for my Final Major Project.

As well as understanding and researching paper surfaces, I also need to seek tutors and fellow students’ advice on the quality and level of service of printing houses. To date I have printed my own work on my Epson 2880 on Fotospeed paper but I do not believe this is a viable way to move forward. I will also need to consider what size images I wish to present in my portfolio.

I will also need to find out from tutors how I go about getting a portfolio produced – whether this is something I put together or whether there are companies who specialise in producing high-quality professional portfolios.

We were asked to consider carefully what images our customers might wish to see and thus what work might be included in our professional portfolio. Francesca Genovese was clear that galleries would wish to see current work in progress – first and foremost – but I think I would also like to show a small amount of previous work – and be able to discuss with examples future project ideas. However, rather than necessarily being the best of all my work, for me, it should provide a series of work with a unifying theme and style. I will need to seek advice and guidance and choose the images I include carefully – it is better to have a smaller number of perfectly-executed shots than more lesser quality images. The ordering of shots within my portfolio will also be important. I will need to revisit my Artists Statement and include it at the start of my portfolio.

I am not sure this is something I want to rush in order to produce something by the end of Sustainable Prospects but rather something for further consideration as part of my preparations for my Final Major Project and the launch of my business.