There really is no genre or medium that I stick with when I do art. But many of you known me as a photographer is because I’ve been doing a lot of photography recently. It’s not because that’s the only thing I know how to do, but it’s because that’s the only thing I can do at the moment.
Photography (digital photography specifically) takes very minimal space and very mobile. I can work on photography as I go since I can carry around my DSLR and computer. In a few years I might tackle a different type of art again. Once I stopped moving around from one place to another and settled on a house with more space, you’ll be seeing more fine arts from me.
Within the one year,my artistic career (photography focused) includes:
2 personal art shows (one at the Reese Library and one at the Hire Grounds Cafe).
2 Wet Paint Sale parties 2015 and 2016
2 Photography competitions (One for Phinizy Swamp and three for Trees for Augusta).
3 other collaborate art shows (two at the Municipal Buildings and one at Artist Local 1155).
4 juried art shows (three for the Community Gallery and one for Gertrude Hebert).
5 Charitable Silent Auctions (two photos donated to Savannah River Keeper Roast on the River, five photos sold at Gertrude Herbert Oyster on Telfair, two photos donated to CSRA Humane Society, two photos donated to Golden Harvest Foodbank Augusta Table Tennis Classic, and one photo donated to Goodwill ReNew & Brew).
Just a ball park estimate, I spent over $1,000 on camera equipment, frames, prints, and application fees.
Even though I’ve been fruitful in contributing to photography, my results were not ideal, now came to realize it………
1 Photography Award: 1st place adult scenic-Phinizy Swamp Photography Competition.
2 Sold Photography: $75 each (not including commission fee from a third person).
12 photography donated but only about 8 was auctioned off on site where I was present.
2 photography gifted to friends.
Keep in mind while I get recognition and maybe a free dinner with my photography donation, I do not receive any money from it. Unsurprisingly, my photography work is always a lot popular and sold a lot faster when the audience know that the money raised will go towards a non-profit organization instead of just my pocket.
To sum up my experience, I continued to do photography mainly is because of my passion, and second is because I can afford it since I’ve had a full time job. I hate to admit it, but my passion for photography is fading slowly as I see how little success I have brought home. In addition to the actual work in producing the art/ photo itself, the cost of application fees, camera gears, framing equipment, working time, and actually PR/ pitching yourself over your competitors is overwhelming.
Still I must be honest, without the help of the communities and those who supported me, I probably wouldn’t even have any success at all. Being a famous and successful artist doesn’t come in one year, that I know too. It’s just hard for me to keep pushing my limits to see how much I can endure before I decide to quit.
The hard work and financial stress I have been experiencing with participating in art shows and competitions prompted me the idea of bringing my art into a businesses directly. That’s precisely why I started doing green screen chrome key studio.
I tweaked my website, setup a Facebook page and printed businesses post cards. So far, I only started doing that for 4 mini events (two of them with Agamacon) and their success varies greatly depend on the demographics. Basically, my green screen chrome key will only make money on a specific type of (costume) event.
The Foxsilong Studio is still pretty much in the test phase. It brought in slightly more revenue and my brand recognition, but it’s actually just as time/ money consuming plus I must have a helper present. It’s an even trade off I guess. I am grateful that I have such a nice boyfriend and many other friends who are willing to help me for free. But more or less I’d always feel the obligation to buy them dinner or gift afterwards.
Then I started out doing personal service photographer- what I called photography on commission, demand, taking not necessarily artistic photos but photos for private parties, weddings, etc. Even with just the same amount of dedication on producing the work, being a
commissioned artist does not require me to have an application fee and the work I produced for a commission has a 100% sell rate, which means I won’t have to risk not selling my artwork at a jury show after putting just as equal amount of work on it. The problem with commission is that it happens so rarely. Most of the artists don’t get commissioned until after they already established a reputation, which I don’t have.
My love for photography is still there, but I can definitely say it’s not as strong as it used to be. Don’t worry because I still have passion in me, and it will take a lot for it to extinguish. Thank you for those who supported me, and I appreciated your help. I want to use this time to express my thanks, and also to remind those who think art is easy- it’s not. Don’t take it for granted.
Table Tennis Classic fundraiser for Golden Harvest Food Bank – Photo Auction
Foxsilong Studio 