PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES

Mary Virginia Swanson: Getting Your Work Out

BY THOMAS GEARTY
Published WINTER 2004

Page 2

TP: Is it helpful to you to have an artist statement to read while looking at the work?
MVS: I think it's great to have an artist's statement, because it's a tremendous exercise for a photographer to go through. But as a reviewer, my personal opinion is that I'd rather read it later than take time to read it when you're in front of me. I'd rather take those 2 or 3 minutes—because artist statements are way too long—and talk to you, and hear from you, when I have that rare opportunity.

An artist statement is something you can leave in a follow-up packet. During the review, it's really about the work and having that chance to talk to somebody, ask questions and get feedback. And have them make suggestions on venues that might be appropriate for the work or curators that they know happen to be working on a thematic exhibition that your work is relevant to.

I hate to be distracted by being required by the artist to stop before I look at any pictures to read a statement. It's not as important as looking at the work, in my opinion.

TP: Do you mind if the artist asks you specific questions during the interview?
MVS: Not a bit. Generally, as a reviewer, I start by asking the person where they are from, so that I immediately know if there are things in their area that I can refer them to, nonprofit organizations or magazines or curators. And then I ask them, "How would you best like to use these 20 minutes? Is there something in particular that you want to go over with me?"

TP: And it's okay from your point of view if the artist comes in with his or her own agenda?
MVS: Absolutely. If you come in with an agenda, that shows me you've done your homework.

To that end, also, if you are accepted to one of these events, on that event's Web site will be posted every reviewer who's coming and their Web sites, be it their personal Web site, their magazine's Web site, their museum's website—you name it. So do your homework and have an agenda for who you want to see.

TP: In that scenario, if someone has two bodies of work that are both fairly well developed, do you recommend picking one?
MVS: It's a really good question. I think that some people choose what to show based on the homework they've done on that reviewer. Frankly, I always like to know that there is a second body of work. I like to know if they're both completed or if they're both on-going. Because it's a different marketing effort, really.

Let's say you sit down and you've got a body of work that you feel is completed. That's a discussion we might have about publishers or about museums that may be interested in that content or that subject matter.

If you have a body of work that's in progress, we might have a completely different kind of discussion, and talk about the work, such as if the printing interpretation that you've selected is best enhancing what you're trying to say. There might be something I might suggest technically. Or, there might be a workshop I could suggest that would be right up your alley, if you are doing a certain kind of work that someone like Eugene Richards might be the perfect teacher to invest in a week with to help move that body of work forward.

To me, they are completely different discussions. And if someone came to me with a body of work that was completely done, I would encourage the photographer to really work on getting it out there, so then you can focus on making your pictures.

I see too many photographers having four, five, six bodies of on-going work—and, frankly, without that marketing mindset, none of them get done. It helps to build your reputation and move you forward in the field.

TP: What are other major portfolio review events?
MVS: Review Santa Fe is the first of the juried portfolio review events. And it's something that really should be a goal for photographers—to get in review Santa Fe some year, because the slate of reviewers is a much higher caliber across the board. Museum curators or book publishers come to Santa Fe that don't tend to do Fotofest and others where entry is on a first-come, first-serve basis, not based on a portfolio level. These people come to Review Santa Fe, because they know the bar will be a little bit higher.

TP: And so it's not simply that you are going to an event like Review Santa Fe just to get advice and feedback on where to go next. The portfolio review itself is potentially the next step: You talk to the people who show work.
MVS: You talk to the people who really should be able to move your career forward. In 2003, there were seven or eight publishers and book packagers. They invited the head art director who selects the cover art for Knopf Books in New York, a great art director from Sony Music, the photo editor from The New Yorker, who handles the illustration for fiction.

Review Santa Fe mixes it up a little more. I am very interested for people who use pictures well to have the opportunity to see great photography and be able to utilize it in a second market scenario that can help photographers support their personal work. And to have the work exposed to a really sophisticated audience.

TP: Such as the one photograph that precedes the short story in each issue of The New Yorker?
MVS: Exactly. When I had my agency, we would land that slot every now and then. And people would call up and buy prints after seeing the image in the magazine. It's a sophisticated audience. It's where you want your work seen.

Let me also jump back and say that at the Society for Photographic Education national events, March 2004 being Newport, RI, and March 2005 being Portland, OR. There is a portfolio review component at the SPE conferences as well, and it's a terrific way for students to begin to get comfortable.

The next big one that's coming up on the calendar in the US after Review Santa Fe of 2004 would be March of 2005, which is every other odd-numbered year is something call Photo Americas. And Photo Americas '05 is going to be held in conjunction with SPE '05 in Portland. It's going to be a very exciting 10-day event.

TP: What happens after you attend these events?
MVS: Be sure to have something to give to the reviewer to remind them of your body of work. I'm always stunned when somebody gives me what we call a "leave-behind" that doesn't have an image that I just saw. And I feel like it's so easy now to do your own printing on a digital printer, there's really no excuse not to have a relevant and current leave-behind. Don't cross out the e-mail address right in front of me because you didn't have time to make a new business card.

The other thing is, don't assume a reviewer wants to keep everything that you want to give them. You might ask them if they'd like a packet or not. Another courtesy I appreciate as a reviewer is if I am interested in the work and they say, "Would you like me to mail it to you later when you get back to your office?"

I love that. Not only do I not have to lug it home—and perhaps damage or ding it because I am stuffing 100 of these in a suitcase—it may land on my desk when not too many others do the same day. Instead of my unpacking 100 promo pieces, you may get a little more attention.

TP: What makes a successful leave-behind?
MVS: The bottom line is that a successful leave-behind—be it a business card with a photograph on it, or a promo card that you make, or a little booklet that you make—should bring me right back to that experience of looking at your work. And many, many do for me. But many more don't.

I also appreciate it when photographers make business cards with several different images on it that I just saw or a promo card with several images, so I can pick the one I will remember most, the one that I responded to the most. And that's really what you want. You want me to be able to immediately recall that experience.

Give people an option of which one they can take. Sometimes artists will say, "Well, take both of them if you like." All that sort of stuff helps. Remember that business cards, if they are oversized, they sometimes go in a box on the corner of the desk, instead of in a business card file. People file things in their desk drawers in 8 1/2" x 11"; anything larger isn't going to make it to the desk file.

Be aware of those kinds of things, and just be smart about making your promotional pieces easy for your target audience to retain and have access to. Be really thoughtful about how you want something to look when it arrives where it's actually going.

TP: It sounds like artists should put as much care into the leave-behind as they do into the work.
MVS: Without question. Because that's going to live on in the reviwer's office. You're not going to be standing in front of them always.

TP: Are these events a good place to get feedback on a new project?
MVS: Unless an event is specifically promoted as a critique situation, you really should have a body of work that's ready to be shown. In advance of that, many, many regional organizations do a great job with critiques—specific critiques that are really about talking about the work, where it's at, what can move the work forward. Not so much what can move your career forward.