How beautiful to arrange an exhibition of photographs. We are organizing a photo exhibition. Packing and delivery of paintings

". Today we will talk about what materials are used for high-quality photo design, how they differ from each other.

Before us is the basic scheme for the design of works visual arts. There are more complex design schemes, but we will not consider them in this article, because. they are rarely used in real practice, especially in relation to photography, and in any case go beyond the museum and gallery level.

The design scheme is based on the so-called basic “sandwich”, consisting of four layers. Top down:

1) Cardboard with a passe-partout window cut out
2) The photo itself
3) Adhesive base or mounting tape
4) Rear (fake) cardboard

Such a "sandwich" in itself can be a finished work of art if it is made using special technologies from special materials for long-term print storage. The design in the form of a "sandwich" is often used for a photographer's portfolio, storage of photographs in private collections and museum storerooms. It is in the form of such a sandwich that prints are often sold at auctions, in galleries and even in ordinary tourist and book stores.

At the same time, the author's signature and information about the print (circulation, copy number, date of shooting of the negative, date of printing), as well as darkroom/gallery certification stamps (sometimes stamps and autographs of the printer and master designer) are placed on its back.

As a rule, the decorated “sandwich” receives the frame and glass already when it is required to put the photo on display - in a museum, gallery, at an exhibition, for private viewing or for interior decoration. In this case, most often the buyer of the photo, and not the author, selects the frame according to his taste and tasks.

Thus, in different cases, different layers of the presented design scheme may be absent or present. AT general view any layer is optional. Even a basic “sandwich” may lack, say, a passe-partout.

It was this design that was preferred, for example, by the famous photographer Ansel Adams. Moreover, he believed that the author did not finish his work if he did not mount the photographic print on cardboard, and he signed the cardboard with the rolled print, and not the print. At the same time, he rarely used Passepartout.

Looking ahead a little, I want to note that, contrary to the prevailing opinion about the high cost of registration in high-quality acid-free materials, with a competent approach, the cost of such services is not prohibitive. For example, in the SREDA Film Lab, the above products sized 30x30 cm cost customers only 1216 rubles (with a passe-partout) and 601 rubles (without a passe-partout).

Design on cardboard without a passe-partout, also suitable for works that contain a signature on a technical white imprint field. However, for such a case it is not difficult to add a passe-partout in such a way that the white frame with the signature is not covered by it. This is why experienced photographers put the caption closer to the edge of the image and leave a white space below the caption.

If we talk about the quality design of a photograph that is supposed to be saved for the future or sold, cardboard and an adhesive base, from which the basic “sandwich” is made, are of fundamental importance. Let's start with his description.

Cardboard for passe-partout

Design professionals distinguish three categories of quality cardboard for passe-partout: standard, conservation and museum cotton.

Conservation and museum cardboard are used to decorate works of art that should be preserved for the future. Standard cardboard is suitable for designing images that are not of artistic value, as well as for decorating works that do not require long-term storage (for example, for one-time exhibitions).

For high-quality design of photographic prints, instead of cardboard, materials such as standard foam board, MDF, fiberboard, recycled, bookboard, aluminum-graphite composite “dibond”, etc. are never used.

Standard carton

Usually made from unrefined wood pulp. Even though some types of standard paperboard are cleaned to a certain extent, they still do not meet conservation standards. Wood pulp contains lignin, which over time contributes to an increase in the acidity of the material. The acid appears as brown spots on the surface of the cardboard, which over time can migrate to the painting itself, especially in the corners of the passe-partout windows.

The biggest threat to a work of art is the use of standard cardboard as the main mat and backing. Even cardboard treated with calcium carbonate to a pH level of more than 7 is not suitable for conservation design, since such treatment only delays the release of acid in time.

Conservation cardboard

Conservation board is made from wood pulp that has undergone a process chemical cleaning, after which only a small amount of lignin remains in it. Conservation board must not contain recycled waste and may include elements of cotton fibers. It is available in both single and triple layers. If this is a three-layer cardboard, then both the paper that is used in it and the core must be of conservation quality.

Conservation board is always treated with calcium carbonate to restore its alkaline level. Initially, the pH should be around 8.2. As with museum cotton board, the pH tends to drop slightly (according to 100 year artificial aging tests). Conservation board comes in a wider range of colors than museum cotton board.

Conservation board has a significantly lower impact on the artwork and is suitable for photo framing with a long shelf life (25-50+ years according to synthetic tests).

Museum Cotton Cardboard

Produced from 100% cotton fibers and does not contain waste. Cotton fibers are a pure type of cellulose that do not contain lignin. This is the main advantage of museum cardboard, which allows you to save photographs for 100-200 years or more according to synthetic tests.

The process of converting cotton fibers into paper pulp is very simple, and since they are originally white, they require little to no bleaching, unlike wood pulp. In most cases, museum cotton board is treated with calcium carbonate to increase its alkaline level. This is a necessary safeguard against harmful effects environment in addition, it helps to slow down the natural aging process.

In the production of museum cotton cardboard, the purest materials are used - organic dyes, alkaline binders, adhesives from natural starch and water, free of alum and other contaminants.

Initially, the pH level of museum cardboard is between 7.5 and 8.5, and over time, these indicators decrease very slightly (according to tests carried out on artificial "aging" for 100 years).

Museum cotton cardboard is available in single-ply and three-ply, but is presented in a limited edition. color scheme. The choice of colors of conservation cardboard is more.

Cardboard made from cotton fibers with a conservation quality facing is considered conservation, as museum cardboard must be composed entirely of cotton fibers and not contain wood pulp.

The highest level of conservation design involves working with museum cardboard. However, synthetic aging tests have shown that its properties are slightly better than those of conservation board, and the price is much higher. Therefore, many professionals have been using and trusting conservation cardboard for many years.

Back cardboard

All popular materials for backboard and reinforcing backs (MDF, fibreboard, recycled paperboard, bookbinding, standard foam board, aluminum-graphite dibond composite, etc.) contain acid and impurities that threaten the work of art. Therefore, for conservation design, which implies preservation for a long time, it is very important that a substrate made of special acid-free materials adjoins the back of the painting. These materials include acid-free cardboard and acid-free foam board.

Standard (non-acid) backdrops are not desirable, but can be used to enhance the overall rigidity of the design structure (for example, in the case of big works). However, in this case, between them and the image must be a substrate of acid-free backdrop. For most medium to small size work, an acid-free backdrop without additional reinforcement will suffice.

Usually 2mm thick cardboard is used for the backdrop, but for large jobs 2.5-6mm thick cardboard may be required.

The special acid-free backboard is available in the most popular thicknesses of 2 and 2.5 mm. It is made from special raw materials, additionally buffered to an acid-free level, has good rigidity and does not shrink in a heat press. This option is a solution for decorating valuable works of art.

For works of small and medium size, the same acid-free cardboard can be used as an acid-free backdrop as for the passe-partout.

Adhesive bases

There are several ways to mount a photo print between the passe-partout and the backing board. The most popular is using T-shaped hangers made of adhesive paper with a water-soluble adhesive layer or self-adhesive water-reversible tape. The use of any adhesive tape, camouflage, parcel or construction tape is unacceptable even for registration in standard cardboard, since the adhesive bases of such materials are extremely aggressive with respect to photographic prints.

In the case of conservation design in acid-free cardboard for T-shaped pendants, only conservation tape is used High Quality acid-free. In this case, the work is attached to the substrate (back), and not to the passe-partout. Also, for high-quality design, special acid-free mounting corners, plates, sometimes natural (usually hand-welded) adhesives and special acid-free hot-melt adhesive bases are used.

It is rolling in a thermal press that is considered today the most high-quality way to mount a photo in a “sandwich”. This method allows you to get a snug fit of the image over the entire surface of the cardboard without disturbing the structure of the print. At the same time, if acid-free hot-melt adhesive bases and acid-free cardboard are used, the print will be preserved for many years according to the conservation or museum level of design (depending on the type of cardboard used).

There are two types of hot melt bases - irreversible and reversible. The first ones involve non-separable mounting of a photograph into a “sandwich” of a print, passe-partout and backdrop, which becomes a work of art. The certifying stamp of the laboratory (workshop, gallery), information about the work, negative, limited edition, copy number and the author's signature of the photographer (sometimes also the master of manual printing) are put in this case on cardboard - sometimes on the front on the mat, but usually on the back.

A reversible hot melt base is used in cases where it is necessary to leave the theoretical possibility of disassembling the "sandwich" in the future (this is done by reheating it in a thermal press). Such adhesive bases are much more expensive and are rarely used in real practice.

frames

Since the frame does not come into direct contact with the photo print in the finished work, the requirements for its acidity level are much lower than for cardboard and adhesive bases. However, from an aesthetic point of view, there are so-called "museum" frame options, which are usually used in galleries, museums, when selling works at auctions and among art collectors.

Such frames almost always have a simple straight (not rounded) profile and are painted in simple colors - black, white.

Wooden frames also use treated but unpainted wood and sometimes (less commonly) variations of its natural tones. Metallic colors are used in aluminum frames - silver, platinum, rarely gold. Glossy coatings (lacquer) are usually not used, matte surfaces are preferred. Plastic frames for high-quality photo design are not used.

Museum collections of baguette frames, as a rule, offer a limited selection of 20-30 options. Frames vary in material (aluminum, wood), color (black, white, silver), thickness and depth. Thin frames are most in demand, because. they are usually the least distracting of the viewer's attention from the work of art itself.

Nested and multi-part frames, as well as frames made of a complex profile for conservation and museum photography, are almost never used.

Glass

There are three types of glass for decorating photographs - ordinary, non-reflective and museum. The key difference between museum glass and non-reflective glass is the presence of a protective UV layer (with an index of 70 or more) and, at the same time, increased optical transparency. For museum-level decoration, it is recommended to use glass that blocks 90% or more of UV rays, unless the painting will be hung in a museum where UV protection is already provided. Museum glass is cleaned with deionized water, technical ethyl alcohol is also allowed.

Glare-free glass does not have UV protection, so it cannot be used for conservation and museum levels. Ordinary glass is used only for domestic interior design.

The cost of museum glass is usually very high. Therefore, as an alternative, special types of organic glass, produced under the brands Plexiglass, Acrylite, etc., have been increasingly used lately. This is a specially processed plexiglass that has all the basic properties of a museum glass, while being 1.5-2 times cheaper. The only drawback of plexiglass is its susceptibility to scratching. At the same time, due to its flexible properties, plexiglass does not break and, in particular, is less sensitive to the thickness of the frame and the hanging of paintings from place to place. The absence of a battle of such glass in manufacturing process also has a beneficial effect on its relatively low cost.

In order to reduce the likelihood of scratches on plexiglass, it is wiped with special optical wipes, sometimes using special liquids. However, over time, the plexiglass may become cloudy to some extent, in which case it is recommended to replace it.

Actively uses plexiglass Plexiglass to decorate photos when they are sold, for example, the Magnum Photos agency.

The materials were prepared on the basis of darkroom, laboratory and design workshop SREDA Film Lab. In the following articles, we will talk about how to properly cut a passe-partout, wash barite prints, how a heat press works, what is the reversibility of installation, how to correctly certify and sign photos, and much more. Stay in touch!

Vera Khairutdinova

Artist, Member creative union artists of Russia, designer. For 6 years exhibition activities organized and held 29 solo exhibitions, 9 of which were in China.

Top tip for aspiring artists: don't be afraid to showcase your work. I am sure, following the further plan, you will fulfill your dream and hold the first exhibition.

How to tell about yourself

Write a resume

Include in it information about the place of study, about exhibitions indicating the time, place, name. You must have been involved in group activities. Constantly update your resume, add new art-related events, and delete less important ones. Also write about internships, master classes, prizes, awards, if any. Add your photo.

Write a biography

Briefly tell us about yourself. Literally half a page: write about who you are, where you were born, where you studied. Probably, some of your works are in private collections (even if you donated them) and, possibly, in different cities of Russia or abroad. Add this information as well.

Prepare a booklet

An optional item, but it allows you to brightly and colorfully present information about you. Post your photo, a photo of one or more paintings. Add brief information about yourself, what you write, contacts, mention your website or pages on social networks. A good option is a two-sided leaflet in A5 format. More informative than a business card, and also inexpensive.

Get social media pages

If there are, post photos of paintings more often. Very interesting shots in the process of writing, in the open air, pictures of paintings in the interior. Ask to be photographed at work. Shoot short videos.

Sign up for artist portals

Perhaps some of the other visitors will want to purchase your work. The main advantage of such sites is that when your name is entered in search engines, your pictures will be among the first links in the search results. You can use these sites to post your work:

How to prepare your work for an exhibition

Decorate the pictures

Paintings need to be framed in baguettes, for watercolors it is better to add a passe-partout. Don't forget fasteners. Recently, I switched to canvases with a gallery stretch, 4 cm thick.

With a gallery stretch, the edges of the image go to the ends of the stretcher and no baguette is required

I kill several birds with one stone: I save on decoration (baguettes are not cheap) and facilitate the transportation of paintings. The frames are heavy and fragile, they are easy to damage, it is necessary to protect the corners with special corners, and if, then we count every kilogram. And canvases with a gallery stretch are lighter and more convenient for transportation and packaging. In addition, in modern interiors, such works look stylish.

Put your signatures

Be sure to sign on the front of the work. On the back, indicate the last name, first name, title of the work, size of the picture (first the height is written, then the width), material (for example, “canvas / oil” or “watercolor / paper”), year. You can sign with charcoal, then be sure to fix it with a special spray or hairspray so that it does not crumble.

Take a picture of the paintings

The best thing to do is professional photography. Good quality photos can be used for catalogue, album, booklets, prints (creating copies) or when printing on clothes and accessories.

But such shooting is expensive, so at first you can take pictures yourself. For shooting, it is better to take the work outside and shoot in the shade. Then cut off the excess and process in a photo editor. Make sure the colors in the photo match the actual colors in the painting.

To store photos of paintings, create a separate folder on your desktop. Pictures can be pre-arranged into collections - so you can always quickly find the ones you need. For photographs of paintings in the interiors, also create a separate folder, as well as for pictures from the open air and your photos at the easel.

Make a list of jobs

Make a list of all your paintings in a table format. Can be sorted by collection or year. So you yourself will understand how many paintings you have, and put things in order. In the table, indicate the number, name of the painting, year, size, material, if necessary - cost, attach a photo. I add notes to paintings when they are sold or placed in the collection. Be sure to mark the paintings that you donate to an exhibition or somewhere else.

What else you need to consider when preparing for the exhibition

Name

Come up with a name for the exhibition in accordance with the style and theme of the paintings. Select works according to the concept so that together they look good and logical. Make a separate list according to the principle described above, only include in it those paintings that you want to show at this exhibition. Write about how the idea of ​​painting came about, a story about the collection.

Site selection

There are many opportunities to exhibit for free: exhibition halls, galleries, business centers, libraries. Ask questions by mail or phone, come in and meet in person, ask if the staff can post your work or recommend who to contact. Show your paintings.

If you are in Moscow, you can contact Valery Senkevich, the head of the Art in Nature project, or at the Izo Art Gallery in the Romanov Dvor business center - for a small amount of money you can participate in a group or personal exhibition.

Packing and delivery of paintings

Take care of the packaging in advance. Of course, it all depends on where and how you are going to transport the paintings.

• If the works are framed in a baguette, protect the corners - a small chip on the frame can ruin the whole look.
• If you are delivering by car and not very far away, a layer of plastic wrap and bubble wrap will suffice.
• If you are transporting long distances, transport companies suggest adding cardboard packaging or a rigid crate.
• When transporting paintings abroad, do not forget to issue an export permit. In Moscow, this is done by the Board of Experts on cultural property. The cost for artists is 500 rubles per painting, but sometimes there is an opportunity to cheat. Works from one series can be issued as a diptych or triptych and paid as for one painting.

The location of the paintings

Think in advance how your work will hang. From the floor to the center of the picture should be 140-150 cm. Check the lighting. It is best to use spotlights. If you exhibit in the gallery, they will definitely help you with hanging.

Press release

The first press release was helped by specialists. The text should contain the name of the exhibition, short information about you, what will be presented, the address, duration, date of opening, telephone number for communication. Further press releases can be done independently on the example of the first.

invitations

Issue invitations to the opening of the exhibition. Include the name, address, time, phone number, what other events are planned (I often invite fellow singers to perform). And send out! It is very nice. I prepare in advance a list of those whom I want to invite, and note who agreed to come and who did not. So you can roughly calculate the number of guests in order to determine the number of drinks and snacks for the buffet.

Photographer

Be sure to invite professional photographer. Pictures from the exhibition can be posted on pages in social networks and sent to guests and friends. These photos will remind you of you and your event.

Shooting video

A nice addition to your portfolio, although not essential. If you still decide to make a film about the opening of the exhibition, discuss with the operator in advance what you want to see in it, what close-ups you are important, interviews with what people. In general, write the script for your evening and the movie. When you apply for the next exhibition, do not forget to attach a link to it.

Your image

Think over your appearance in accordance with the concept of the exhibition and its venue. If necessary, contact a stylist who will take care of the hair and. Such details will help you create an integral image that will definitely be remembered by guests and will delight you in photographs for a long time to come.

Opening speech and communication with guests

Greet the guests, briefly talk about the paintings. Don't forget to thank the people who came to you. Pay attention to each guest, walk around the hall, get acquainted, communicate, find out how the person learned about your event. And be sure to enjoy your evening!

buffet

Of course, you can do without it, but usually guests come to the event after work, and a glass of water or a glass of champagne will not hurt. It all depends on your budget, you can add pastries and snacks. Guests will appreciate such signs of attention.

closure

Conducted on request. You can invite those who did not get to the opening.

Of course, the organization of the first exhibition is an exciting and difficult event, but at the same time it is a new level of professional development. Think about where you would like to see your paintings, tell your friends about your plans, ask people related to art for advice, send resumes. In general, knock on all the doors and show your creativity. And then the first exhibition will be the beginning of a series of exciting events that will open up new facets of your talent and give you many amazing acquaintances and discoveries. Good luck to you!

Exhibitions of photographs differ in many ways from exhibitions of fine art. But any exhibition begins with the preparation of the material base: the choice of premises, its repair, lighting, wall color, ventilation, glass, and so on.

Its organizers need to think not only about today, but also about not repeating what has already been done next time.

room

It can be anything. The most unsuitable for photo exhibitions are specially designed halls with continuous glazing.

Where to hang work?

Lighting is out of control. During the day, the work is not visible due to light reflections. Such windows necessarily require blinds or curtains.50 sq.m is enough for the club showroom .

The city exhibition hall should be large - up to 200 sq.m. . In a room with high ceilings, and even with pipes, ventilation ducts, it is desirable to install a suspended ceiling with a built-in overhead general light. Walls should be painted a neutral gray, as light as possible.

Wood paneling looks bad. The warm textured tone of the walls will seem to bulge forward and interfere with the perception of black and white photography.

Lighting

The best is a combination of general overhead light (fluorescent lamps) and directional (incandescent lamps with a narrow beam of light). If the room is elongated, such as a corridor, in the middle of the ceiling it is desirable to make a continuous line of fluorescent lamps, cover them with reflectors from direct light entering the viewer's eyes. And then there will be a soft directional light in the room.

Is it worth it to arrange labyrinths in the exhibition halls?

If the room approaches a square, naturally, you need to divide it with partitions. There is no need to scare the viewer with “hopelessness”. There should always be a simple general line of sightseeing. For an overview of the work, the most convenient distance is about 2m, and between the stands - at least 4m.

For attaching the cord to the walls - near the ceiling along the entire length of the rod ( pipes with a diameter of 20mm). The room must be dry and well ventilated.

Window glass 50x60 cm in size is cut to decorate photos. Hardboard of the same size is cut under this glass. It is quite rigid, does not bend, photos do not fall out. If you do not find hardboard, you can use glass of the same thickness. Passe-partout can be made from white and black paper of the same size. Then hardboard, passe-partout, photograph and glass are fixed with clamps (cleats), which are sold in art salons. For each such “sandwich” you will need 3 clips. One on the bottom and 2 on the sides.


Is 50x60cm the optimal size?

Now prints 30x40cm and smaller are popular. Therefore, a 50x60cm passe-partout seems too big for them. It is possible to cut most of the glass and hardboard into 40x50 cm lengths. In general, glass should be ordered more than necessary - they often break.

Twine for hanging photos should be strong, light. Thick fishing line is not good - it is pulled out. You can do without a passport. Then the hardboard itself is painted with a foam roller in white, black or dark gray. Very little white is evenly sprayed onto black with an airbrush. An almost imperceptible texture appears. It is important to observe the measure here - too active texture will distract from the photo. Even black is recommended to be slightly grayish so that the deepest tone in the photo is blacker than the background. A lot depends on the passport. Dark gray textured paper is not suitable because of the somewhat bluish tint and the texture that distracts from the photograph.

You can not stick photos to the passe-partout. Both the work and the background will be spoiled. Two pieces of foam rubber 1 cm thick laid between them will securely strengthen the photo after clamping.

What background do you prefer? Black or white?

Of course, the exhibition will look better if all the mounts are the same, but still, white mounts are suitable for light photographs, and black ones for dark ones. You have completed all the photos. The most interesting and responsible work begins.

How to exhibit them?

Works should hang at the eye level of a person of average height. The distance between photographs should not be less than half the passe-partout if they are hung in one row. If in 2 rows - not less than the entire width of the mat.

The optimal number of works, in our opinion, is 80-100: the viewer manages to emotionally perceive and remember most of the photographs. It is desirable to compose the entire exhibition according to emotional, stylistic blocks.

It is necessary to avoid joining contrasting works in style.

Soft poetic photographs will be hindered by the neighborhood of formal, graphic, contrasting works, philosophical generalizations - funny scenes.

The series need to be hung in the same plane, closer to each other, and between them to do a discharge.

It is also impossible to turn the exhibition into picturesque pictures scattered on the wall.

Works hung over doors, on columns, in window openings look bad!

At the reporting club exhibition, it is advisable to form author's blocks. A retrospective exhibition naturally assumes a chronological sequence. It is advisable to divide the personal one by genre (landscape, still life, portrait).

When selecting works, one should be guided by one principle: less is better, but better. Have pity on the viewer - do not exhibit weak works! Their appearance at the exhibition disorients the author (especially the young one) and humiliates the viewer. But any exhibition is primarily done for him.

The exhibition is a feast for the viewer, an exciting event for the author, and its success largely depends on all the preliminary work.

Today we will talk about how you can organize your first photo exhibition. We do not undertake to talk about something distant, but let's talk about our personal experience. Firstly, we believe that, in principle, it is quite simple to organize a photo exhibition, the main thing, as in everything, is to have a desire. Thinking about our own photo exhibition, we decided to test our capabilities and tried to do everything on our own, from the design of the exhibition itself and the placement of works, to cutting sandwiches and holding a presentation. Our exhibition turned out to be as planned as it was spontaneous. Being, at first, in a long reflection about it, in the end, the preparations themselves took about three weeks. Next, we will try to talk about how, in principle, to organize a photo exhibition, considering options for outside assistance in organizing and the option of personal financial costs for organizing the first photo exhibition.

The theme of the first photo exhibition

And that's all, if you constantly work in the same genre, the subject and selection of photographs will certainly be understandable for you. Moreover, having decided on the genre once, you can always logically and confidently convince everyone of your choice. If you work in different directions, then in order to organize your first photo exhibition, you answer yourself the question - what exactly do you want to show the world from your work. In our case, it was the choice of all, in our opinion, worthy works. These were landscapes, and street photography, and macro, and architectural landscape, and still life. There are 40 photos in total. What is most remarkable is that the more you select photos from your work, the less you will like them. You can involve several of your friends in the selection of works by giving them a choice of photos, so that everyone would mark the ones they like the most. That way you at least get an idea of ​​what other people will go to see.

How to find money for the first photo exhibition

The simplest and the right way is to decide and invest your own money. In this case, you will not depend on anyone and you will not owe anything to anyone.

The cost of holding the exhibition itself can be divided into several stages and you can also prepare for it in stages. The first thing that everything revolves around is actually the photographs themselves. Photo printing work can be started as soon as you decide to hold the first photo exhibition. If this is a spontaneous decision, then you will have to immediately spend Nth sum money to print photos. You can save on printing photos if you print the photos themselves not in a photo studio, but in a printing house. Today, many printers offer good photo printing on paper of different weights and weights. And the price for printing in a printing house is about two times less than on photographic paper in a photo studio. And such works are denser in weight and do not need additional mats, frames, etc.

In our case, these were more than 40 works printed in a printing house. The weight of the works and the density of the paper were two times greater than that of a regular photograph. And, nevertheless, the quality of the photographs themselves had little effect on their printing outside the studio. Printing approximately 50 photographs in a printing house can cost up to one thousand hryvnias.

Space for the first photo exhibition

After you have printed all the photographs planned for the exhibition, you need to find a place for it.

For starters, you can find out how many galleries and museums are in your city. We believe that in all searches and negotiations, the human factor is paramount. And if you, kindly, call back to each of the galleries, telling in detail about what you would like to do, some of them will still agree to place your work. With an agreement, you can say that you yourself do not claim money, and the money collected in the exposition goes in favor of the gallery, so that you yourself will not pay anything. Another option for organizing your exhibition space is to send an official letter to your municipal government culture, tell about yourself and offer your work as a completed exhibition. So one of the options may be to hold a city day in your city, and your first photo exhibition may well become one of the city's festive events.

Another option for finding space, without having to personally call all the museums and galleries, is the "acquaintance" option. Most likely, you have a friend of a friend who will be able to help in this matter.

In our case, it was the last of the listed options. And the organization of the space for our exhibition turned out thanks to an acquaintance.

Design of works and space of the first photo exhibition

While looking for the optimal design of works, we got acquainted with a number of possible designs. Naturally, the design of work is associated with material opportunities.

The most expensive type of artwork is prints on canvas. Many printing houses today offer the service of interior printing on canvas. The prices of such printing start from 200 UAH. ($15) per unit. Such works can hardly be called photographic classics, because in terms of their quality indicators they approach painting and resemble an installation. This option for designing works will be appropriate, firstly, if finances allow you to do this, and, secondly, if your works are conceptual enough and you see that they can only be placed on canvas.

The most common option for designing works for an exhibition is photographs framed in frames. For the exhibition, as it seems to us, the minimum size of the photo should be A3. Even if you print photos in a printing house, the price of one such photo will be approximately 20 UAH (1.5 USD). The price of a frame for such a photo is approximately UAH 80 ($6). So the design of one full-fledged work will cost 100 UAH (7.5 USD). From the number of works declared for the exhibition, you can determine total amount costs.

Another option is to print on a new material called foam board. In general, this material is used in the construction industry, but a number of printing houses and photo studios have already picked up the idea of ​​interior photo printing on foam board. The name of the material speaks for itself. This is pressed cardboard, the thickness of which varies up to one centimeter. Using this material, you do not have to spend money on frames, because the print itself can be ordered with a passe-partout and the work will look finished. The price of printing per unit, depending on the size, starts from one hundred hryvnias (7.5 USD).

In our case, we used typographic printing. The weight and density of the works allowed us to place them without frames, using decorative tape.

Opening of the first photo exhibition. buffet

You have been preparing for this important event in your life for a long time. Naturally, your relatives and friends will come to share your personal joy. And it is quite natural that you will need to treat them with something at the grand opening. The buffet, in itself, is an integral part of any presentation, and even more so the opening of a photo exhibition. Combining your capabilities, you need to roughly estimate the number of guests and the possible filling of the buffet itself. The standard set of drinks are: champagne or dry white wine, juice and mineral water. For snacks, you can use canapes, small sandwiches, sweets. You can limit yourself to small fruits (grapes) and sweets. If you don't have a lot glass goblets You can either buy or rent them. When organizing an exhibition in a gallery or museum, you can check with the administrators, most likely they either know where you can rent dishes, or they will have such dishes in stock.

Conclusion

In general, nothing is impossible in life, and the organization of the first photo exhibition is no exception. Having caught fire with the idea of ​​holding your first personal photo exhibition, you will notice how exactly “those” necessary people suddenly come into your life, exactly “those” necessary events will occur. Also, do not forget to prepare a beautiful notebook so that your guests can write something pleasant to you after viewing your work. These sweet wishes and a little praise will help you continue to feel your own need for creativity in the future. We would really like everything to work out for you, and we will be happy to write about you and your first personal photo exhibition. Good luck.

So, you have prints of your photos and you want to exhibit them, that is, show them, it can be either an exhibition or just a home wall. What design to choose for your photos is, of course, a matter of taste and, of course, financial possibilities, since there are a lot of design options, and there are no special rules, with the exception of the design of a photograph for a museum, there may be quite strict requirements for cardboard and other materials to ensure maximum security of the print.

So, you have your prints and you want to exhibit them, that is, show them, it can be either an exhibition or just a home wall.

Which design to choose for yours is, of course, a matter of taste and of course, financial possibilities, since there are a lot of design options, and there are no special rules, with the exception of design for a museum, there may be quite strict requirements for cardboard and other materials to ensure maximum safety of the print .

Probably, the more seriously you take the design of photos, the more seriously the viewer will take your photo, and the correct design will make your good photo even better, it is.

Passepartout for photography.

Passepartout

(Pass-partout)- a piece of cardboard or paper with a rectangular, oval or round hole cut out in its middle, a kind of frame into which a drawing or engraving is inserted so that it is easy to replace them with others. This name is also used to designate a print printed from engraved in depth on copper or from a woodcut board with another board of the same type attached to it, which can be changed to others. Thus, P. is called, for example. polytype ornamentation of curly letters in a book, when, when printing several such letters, the same board serves as an ornament, and only the letters themselves change. P. naz. also common in the XVIII table. frames engraved with a needle or etching, which, remaining the same, surround various images, engraved separately from them, on special boards.

It is best when the photo is framed in a passe-partout, a passe-partout is a piece of cardboard of a rectangular or square shape with a window in the middle.

and although a passe-partout can be made from any sheet material, the best passe-partout is a passe-partout from cardboard for a passe-partout. This is a very high-quality and beautiful material, and to be honest, not even masterpieces in a mat made of such cardboard will look like masterpieces.

There are a great many types and options for cardboard for a passe-partout, and therefore you can easily choose necessary clearance for photography.

How to cut a passe-partout out of cardboard?

Despite the fact that you can do it yourself, it is best to turn to a framing workshop, so the cardboard must be cut at 45 degrees, which is almost impossible to do manually, unless of course you have a special machine for cutting the passe-partout.

If you cut a passe-partout very often and a lot, then it makes sense to buy a professional tool for cutting a passe-partout. Machine or knife.

Where to buy in St. Petersburg and how much it costs, the same as on the video instrument, a set with a large ruler costs 3900 rubles on Nevsky Prospekt 3, the artist's salon, unfortunately they will not have a link to the site.

Call them at 8 812 312-44-34 and ask Logan 545: Deluxe Mat Cutting Kit or Logan 525: Mat Cutting Kit, in my opinion a large set costs 3,900 rubles, but it’s better to specify everything.

How to mount on walls?

It is most convenient to mount on the walls using command fasteners, and for the exhibition you can use hooks for garlands in a package of about 20 pieces at a cost of about 120 rubles