Photography

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A place to politely discuss the tools, technique and culture of photography.

This is not a good place to simply share cool photos/videos or promote your own work and projects, but rather a place to discuss photography as an art and post things that would be of interest to other photographers.

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Art gallery scam or not? (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by magnuslar@alien.top to c/photography@viewfinder.pro

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Hi all, is it common practice for galleries to charge you a small fee for having your photos there? I was recently contacted (on istagram) by an art gallery on the other side of the world wanting to put my photos up, I say cool, let's see what it means and they send me terms and conditions. "We support up and coming artists bla Bala bla, we make money from entry fees and cafe and what not but we also want you to transfer 20usd to put 4 of your photos on digital display." They bragged about having exhibited photos from around 400 artists already this year and sold 14 original works??! Not great sales that is, but you managed to make 8000usd from he artists alone, way to support artists but also dont sound like a way to make the big bucks...

I figured it was a pure scam and told them to stop wasting my time but then also realised I don't know how the gallery world works at all so happy to get some insights :) what do you guys think? Scam, shitty business practice or a smart way to make money off both ends?

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[–] andrewbrocklesby@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

C'mon man, of course it is a scam. What part of that would ever be true?

[–] snipinganimals@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Confirmed scam and a common one

[–] akshayjamwal@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Yes, most likely a scam. Galleries do not charge you, they typically get commissions on any sales.

Also, why would you pay for putting up photos on a “digital display”? That’s literally what Instagram already is.

There are dozens of websites that sell artwork. Deviant Art, Artstation, Fine Art America etc.

None of them ask you for money to *display * your work.

[–] bobd60067@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Unless YOU reached out to them and you KNOW they are reputable (as in you've seen their gallery in person or someone you know personally and trust unequivocally can vouch for them), it's definitely a scam.

Put another way... Give me only $15 and I'll pretend to display your photos in a supposed gallery.

[–] Skvora@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Absolutely. For one, if you're not gonna be there in person, its not really a gallery showing. For two - all legitimate local spots have droves of people wanting to get in and people running the show have better things to do that find some nobody on IG, across the world, and have to deal with all that.

Lets pretend for a second this was real - you're gonna ship 10 or more large, nice, canvas prints across the world and then back? No you're not.

[–] nn666@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Some galleries do that. I was contacted about doing an exhibition, your photos are amazing etc. Then they told me how much it would cost me. No thanks. Don't pay someone to use your work for their benefit.

[–] nn666@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

[–] TravelWellTraveled@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

'digital display' means they will cycle through a tiny digital photo frame along with 1,000 other photos only pausing for 4 seconds per photo. It's a scam.

[–] Adventurous-Sell9358@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

At my local gallery in upstate NY, they charge $40+ to display photos, then they take a percentage off the photo. Free to go to gallery. Prints are rarely sold so it's how they can stay open. But that's local and people actively pursue an opportunity to share photos there. In your case, I would believe it's a scam.

[–] rockandrollwoman@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

scam or a vanity gallery probably