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Les Slesnick
juror and consultant
former art show photographer |
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other art
show jury reviews |
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| The Booth Slide |
| I think that there’s more and more emphasis
being placed on the booth slide. The booth slide is a real good indicator
of what you’re going to see at the show if the artist is honest. |
| There are two types of BS; buy and sell and
bait and switch. Photographers are guilty of the bait and switch. There
are a fair number of photographers whose booth slides are terribly
misleading and not representative of the actual booth. When a photographer
juries with five framed pieces in the booth and no browse boxes and has at
least twenty five on the panels at the show plus the interior of the booth
is 50-60% taken up with browse boxes, that to me is misrepresentative. And
what I’ve done with those guys is I’ve given them a high score if they’ve
deserved it. I’ve also annotated that the booth shot was misrepresented
and is not what you’ll see at the show. I’m not saying that should rule
them out of the show. I am saying it should be in the booth slide. |
| One of the things I’m suggesting to shows I
communicate with is to change the booth slide rule so that everything that
is visible from the front of the booth at a show needs to be in the booth
slide. Whether it’s browse boxes or what. If you keep it behind the booth
and it’s not visible, you don’t have to show it in the booth slide. I have
no objection to browse bins because that’s where most of us are going to
make a decent living. If it’s visible from the street I want to see it in
the booth slide because that’s the biggest indicator of misrepresentation
to get into the show. |
| I’m also seeing a lot of booth slides only
showing two of the panels of a three-walled booth. I want to see all three
walls and enough of the canopy that I can identify the manufacturer so I
know if it’s a professional grade booth. I was
burned at a show I recently juried. I only saw two walls in a jeweler’s
booth in their booth shot, and those two walls were as represented at the
show. But in the part that I didn’t see, there was no third wall, only a
table of buy sell garbage from overseas. |
| If I see racks of note cards in the
front right and left corners, that’s strike one and two together. I also
prefer to see a booth of professional design, caliber, and strength for
two reasons: It gives the show an overall more professional appearance,
and such a booth is more likely to withstand higher winds and less likely
to damage neighboring booths and art work in the event of a "blow-over."
But it also depends on the show’s philosophy or vision. If it’s a South
Florida show in a community that only gets a crowd of about 2,500 or 3,000
its fine, but if it’s a Fort Worth or Cherry Creek it’s not fine. |
| I want to see the work from the art slides in
the booth shot. I do think the applicant should remove the glare and
reflection from the glass if there’s glass on the art. And I think it
should be crisp and sharp and not fuzzy. You’d be amazed at some of the
most horrible booth shots I’ve seen by artists who have been in the
business for a long time. I’ve actually spoken up at juries and explained
that this person is having trouble with their booth slide. I remember a
painter I made a comment about at the Fort Worth jury this past November.
He paints with oils and picked up a lot of reflections from specular
highlights in the oils and then on top of that he overexposed it and you
missed much of the detail. So I made a comment that I know the guy and I
think his work is well received and he puts on a professional appearance
but I have to tell the other members of the jury that these are not good
booth slides and told them why. |
| The latest thing with the booth slide is the
studio shot booth slide. I urge all professional artists who do this for a
living to take their booth into a studio with a photographer who knows
what he is doing. Do not shoot the booth slide out on the street anymore.
You take it into the studio. Set up the camera on a tripod dead center
with perfect lighting, no distractions, no lane markings in the street, no
trees behind it or sun streaks coming in at an angle. I don’t want to see
what’s on either side of the booth so do a nice tight front. And if it’s
framed art just change the images from year to year. Studio shot booths
stand out head and shoulders above even the best outside shot booth shots. |
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| On Cropping Square for ZAPP |
| What you see in the art shots but you don’t
see in the booth shot is a red flag to me. For example, if everything in
the art shots is in a square format but then you only see large
rectangular framed pieces (and not a single square) in the booth slide.
And then if you create panoramics, you’re at a clear disadvantage. I
suggest to the panoramic people to crop the ends off but only so far
because you’ve got to keep them looking panoramic so it doesn’t
misrepresent the work. |
| The Artist Statement |
| Painters may just say “done with oils” and photographers
may say “type c prints from negatives”. That's not enough.Tell the jury
panel what makes it unique. I suggest that photographers say something
like “shot totally on location” so the jury panel knows what makes it
unique. Use up all 100 characters and don’t just tell us what we already
know by seeing the work. Use common abbreviations whenever possible, like
“b+w” means black and white. Just be sure to use abbreviations that
everyone knows, as I’ve heard abbreviations read aloud without being
expanded so the words didn’t make any sense. There’s not much that you can
say in a hundred characters but it’s important enough that you should make
the best you can of it and assume it will be read. You should also use up
all 100 characters. That will help ensure your images stay on screen as
long as possible and you want as much screen time as you can get. |
| Apply Early |
| Artists applying to ZAPP shows should know that most
shows typically sort the applicants by medium in the order in which the
application is received, although they can also be sorted alphabetically.
If indeed the applicants are sorted by date and time of application, it
absolutely behooves the applicant to apply as early in the game as
possible. The reason is quite simple. In a show that receives a large
number of applicants, like the hundreds that typically apply to shows such
as Cherry Creek, Saint Louis or Fort Worth, etc., those who waited until
the last day or evening to apply are clearly at a disadvantage. They're at
the very end of the jurying procedure for their respective categories. And
unless the work is truly a stand-out success with a stand-out difference,
in many cases "it's already been seen before" by the jurors and the
applicants will quite possibly receive a lower score than he or she would
have received had he or she been seen at or near the beginning of the
category. |
| Les Slesnick |
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Les Slesnick is from the Orlando area and has been a well
respected photographer on the circuit for years. Though not doing art
shows anymore, he continues his unique series of photographic projects, as
can be seen on his
web site. |
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