The Art of Marketing Fine Art Photography

“As an artist, I see what the camera captures as a point of departure, not as an end in itself. The image is complete only after I have modified what the camera captured so that it shows what I experienced,” Briot explains in his book.

When you have come to grips with this initial and important step, he then tells you that you should treat your images (and do not call them photographs!) as art pieces, sign your name, and sell them with quality in mind—not quantity.

As the work is fine art, it must not be sold in quantity.

Alain Briot, successful landscape photographer, tells in his recent book, Marketing Fine Art Photography, his personal preferences for marketing his art.

Though his words are in print, when you read them, you feel he is talking to you. Patiently, step by step, he unveils his hands-on knowledge gained through personal trial and error.

Briot tells you right at the outset that making a living off your art requires marketing your art. He then says you will have to do more marketing than art. In fact, he guides you toward developing your marketing skills so they become an art!

As he discusses the marketing choices you would need to make, you feel how much time, effort, research, and deep thinking went into his career planning, which has brought him to where he is today.

In a meticulous but not flowery way, Briot gives you a real view, and you can ask yourself the questions you need to ask before launching your own career. “To sell or not to sell, that is the question,” he writes in his book.

Briot’s work not only addresses readers who want to know the details of marketing fine art photography but also people who are curious about a famous photographer’s success or people who just generally search for inspiration for their own projects.

Briot’s Experience

Briot was born in Paris, France. He studied fine art and photography there and moved to the United States to continue his studies. But then he spent a great deal of his mature life capturing images of Arizona landscapes. It is no wonder that his French-like rationality is now mixed in with soulful Native American wisdom.

Even though his images are for the most part of the American West and national parks and as such are directly related to his personal success, you could apply his findings to similar landscape photography. In addition, his marketing and selling methods can be applied to fine art painters, sculptors, and craftsmen.

He promotes the direct-to-customer, do-it-yourself approach, which helps the artist work more efficiently, have fewer expenses, become exclusive, and stay in control.

Eventually, if we have a plan and if we set specific goals and deadlines, perseverance—not giving up—will make us successful.

—Alain Briot

He first assists you in understanding what fine art photography is and how to respect your art and yourself as an artist. Working on the images is not only encouraged but is an absolute must to achieve the photographer-artist vision—which is more than what the camera recorded.

For example, Briot may use Photoshop CS4 Photomerge to stitch several photographs together or modify the tonality, contrast, color palette, and image format. He says that not controlling the images means having no responsibility toward them and that a fine art image is the complete opposite of a photograph taken for documentation purposes.

Briot gets very specific about what to sell, how to sell, where to sell, how to price, fundamentals of marketing and salesmanship, and the like.

Pearls of Wisdom

The chapter titled “Personal Skills” inspired me the most as it goes far beyond marketing fine art photography. In alphabetical order, Briot gives you words of advice on how to improve your personal skills.

When it comes to dealing with your customers, Briot suggests to stay open-minded and not to insist on having your way: ”The goal is to be helpful, not to be right.”

Competition is a challenge to every career. Briot advises the reader: “Love your competition; it makes you better and it makes you work harder. Without it you would not be where you are now. … You need to look forward, not backwards, or sideways. Do not worry how well, or how poorly, your competition is doing.”

He tells you to “aim high” and reminds you that “believing you can do something is half the battle.”

Briot came to understand that basically, over time, we become what we think about. Positive thoughts therefore bring positive results.

Besides talking about competition, Briot touches on criticism: “Do not accept criticism blindly. Always ask yourself why someone criticizes your work. Criticism falls into different categories and criticism is made for various motives. Some of these motives are valid and you need to pay attention to them. Others are invalid and should be of no concern to you.”

And he concludes, “Only let criticism improve what you do. Do not let criticism change who you are.”

Fears can become an obstacle to success. “I learned to not let fear paralyze me, because when fear paralyzes you it prevents you from making rational decisions. … Learn to control fear or fear will control you.”

Briot mentions perseverance as one of the main keys to success: “Perseverance is something that we can control because it is we who decide that we will persevere until we reach our goals. … Eventually, if we have a plan and if we set specific goals and deadlines, perseverance—not giving up—will make us successful.”

Some people think that they have to be constantly active in order to be productive. Briot doesn’t think so: “Eliminate everything that gets in the way of productivity, including unnecessary activity.”

Reading Briot’s book, you can almost taste the work you will have to do in order to make such success your own. I find Briot’s book to be truly helpful because—you get the picture!

For more information, visit www.beautiful-landscape.com