Friday, 15 February 2013

Professional Practice led by Holly Davey

Today's session was the creation of a Professional Portfolio and how it should look and feel. It should be a visual delight, simple, easy to read, clear and professional. Some examples were brought in to show us. The best ones in my opinion were the most simple examples. A thick card cover, a business card with only essential information, a CD of images and a short but concise Artist Statement. Some of the examples were too wordy, did not have a visual impact on the receiver, had too much information, or was not professional to look at.

We had been set a task last week to write our Artists Statements. I had written a short summary of my current work, but it was suggested that I should be more confident in my approach, be more bold with my font use, and write about my photographic background  and style. The best examples were artist statements that had good quality images, and explain in a concise manner what you and your work are about. Background information is useful for someone who is looking at your work, the concept is important, the development is also important, as is the way your portfolio looks to a curator of a gallery ,or a business client. Simple and concise was the message I think.

We were set into groups of 4 or 5 students, the artist statements were handed to the groups to give feedback. I felt this was a very useful exercise. We all knew after Holly had spoken to us about how an artist statement should look, that our own efforts could be improved. I had not typed my website on my artist statement, and to my dismay I realised after emailing Holly my amended and completed artist statement, that I had indeed forgotten once again to type my website at the top of the page.

The exercise was for the purpose of sending to the Curator of Mission Gallery in Swansea, and a spokesperson for Millennium Images who will be visiting the University on the 23rd Feb and 1st March 2013. They will lead seminars with groups of students and discuss their work and their ambitions.

I am scheduled to meet a visiting curator on March 1st. For this I need to get my Visual Journal up do date, choose and print 15 images for my portfolio to show the curator, and be ready to answer any questions about my work that are asked of me.

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