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Portfolio Presentation Advice
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Hi All,
I’m in the process of completing a brief to attend college. I have never done a portfolio before and wonder if you can offer any advice on how I should display my images to the college.
I’ve ordered the images, they are 12*8 in size.
Thanks in advance,
AlisonYou can’t go too far wrong with a leather-bound album. Hahnemuhle make some very nice ones – there’s a leather book style which includes sheets of fine quality rag paper or a spiral bound scrapbook style where you just stick your prints onto the pages. The come in A4 and A3 so you might be a bit caught with your sizes as 8×12 won’t fit on A4 so you need to either trim your prints you or go up to the A3 format which would give you a generous border around your print.
You should be able to pick something decent up from one of the Irish suppliers sponsoring this forum (Barker Photographic or Sheldon)
Alison,
Consider the idea of a simple folio also. An idea of Brooks Jensen (Lenswork editor), his post probably describes the idea best:
http://www.brooksjensenarts.com/foliodesc.html” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;Two key advantages of his approach are the viewer being able to handle the prints, as well as making presentation to a group easier. Also you won’t be as restricted by trying to fit your images into a standard format that may not suit them,
Damien
A good article here also, on some tips re: the actual presentation itself: http://www.myshutterspace.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1177697:BlogPost:91571″ onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;
Some great ideas there Damien and useful info. Thanks!
The portfolios that have the greatest impact on me are generally the folio-style where I can hold the prints in my hand where each photograph becomes an object. I was an portfolio exhibition recently and found the large, heavy books quite cumbersome and unattactive. However, If you go down the loose-print/folio route then the weight of the paper becomes of paramount importance and you should really start thinking in terms of 300 gsm-ish possible on a cotton rag paper as they feel so weighty and soft compared to resin-coated prints.
i have been working on being able to produce those brooksjeson things
My computer cutter should be able to make them and emboss text on the front etc
i would be tempted to use a nice rag paper as tonyt says too, BUT it kind of depends on the images as to wether a rag paper will suit as they dont always suit all images.
Indeed, Tony. The great thing, I think about the loose-print/ folio approach, is that you can control the angle at which you view the prints quite easily, whether you want to focus in on detail or draw back and take in the overall image. One of my favourite things when viewing a print is getting very close to the print to see the fine detail or tonality. The mounted print exhibition-style way of looking at images can feel a bit stuffy sometimes, and I find it interesting to look at the way others are presenting their work.
In any case, the best of luck with your portfolio review Alison, and the method you choose in which to present your work. Would you mind me asking what course you are considering ?
Damien
That is an interesting development, Steve. Look forward to potentially talking to you in the future, as the need to develop my own portfolio beckons,
Damien
Steve is right that the normal Photo Rag with it’s matte finish and more limited dynamic range doesn’t work for all images. It’s a bit unsuitable for images with deep shadows where you want to retain a lot of detail. By rag I actually meant the paper base – sorry for not being more clear.
I’ve been doing a good bit of portfolio printing on a paper called Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta. Unlike normal Photo Rag which is totally matte, the Baryta version as a satin/semi-gloss finish on top of a cotton base. The surface is to die-for … almost looks like ultra fine leather and because the paper base is pure cotton it has a weight a pliability that makes a delight to hold. The only catch is that it is a bit expensive but as portfolios prints are usually A4-ish it can work out ok.
the photrag byrata is nice and has the plus of being natural with no OBA but again depending on the image a natural paper may not look the best. the fine art byrata may look better as its more white
i wasnt just referring to rag ie photorag, most art papers have some cavets, ie dont suit all images. some images work better on some of the nicer rc papers
Very true Steve – whites matter! There’s a great choice materials on the market today so it’s a lot easier to find a good match for an image.
The message for Alison is that if you do go with a loose-print folio then the quality of your prints and the feel of the paper you use starts to make things more interesting. Quite ironically, an excellent print should hardly be noticed – it should just be there in the background quietly making your photograph look its best!
Tony, Steve and Damien thanks so much for the replies. It’s really helping.
I got the prints back and they were only ordered on Snapfish!!! I had a little white border put around them, was going to mount them and put them in some sort of a presentation book. I’m now thinking I should get them done the way you are saying i.e. cotton rag paper.
The deadline is Friday week. I absolutely love the Brooks Jensen portfolio style. How much would something like that cost? I wonder if I’d have enough time to get it done by next Friday.
Damien – the course is the NUI CERTIFICATE: Photography and Digital Imaging (P+DI) in NCAD.
Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice on this. I ended up presenting my images loose in a box (similar to Brooks Jensen style) and also in a presentation booklet.
I got onto the course!! I can’t wait to start :D
So thanks a million x
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