Walked into a gallery last weekend with my phone in my hand. Do you bring a physical portfolio or just show them the camera roll?

So I finally worked up the nerve and walked into a small local gallery on a Saturday, one of those places with the good light and a woman at a desk who does not look up right away. I had maybe 8 decent photos on my phone and a half-finished thought.

She was nice actually. But I stood there scrolling while she waited and I could not stop thinking, this looks so unprofessional, I should have printed something.

What do you all do? Actual portfolio book, tablet, or just hand over your phone? I paint acrylics, mostly landscapes, and honestly my phone photos of them are not great either so that's a whole other problem. Someone tell me the phone thing is normal and I'll sleep tonight 🙂

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Sol Reyes·4w

phone scrolling in front of someone is the worst feeling, i've done it. but honestly the thing that got me over it was realizing nobody in that room cares about the format, they care whether the work stops them. i've brought a beat up sketchbook, i've handed over my phone with a crack in the screen, i've also printed things and watched them sit unopened on a desk. the phone wasn't the problem.

the real problem in your post is the second one though, "my photos are not great." that's the thing to fix. bad photos of good paintings read as bad paintings, and you can't explain that away in person. shoot them in daylight, flat against a wall, no flash, no filter, no weird angle. takes an afternoon and it changes everything.

also 8 pieces is plenty. i'd rather see 8 that are you than 30 that are safe. go back.

Mira Vey·4w

the format matters less than the photos, honestly. if your phone shots flatten the acrylics (they always do, glossy surfaces especially) then a printed book of bad photos just makes the bad photos official. i'd fix the photographing first. shoot them in shade or on an overcast day, no flash, no overhead light, get the surface reading right. then a cheap 5x7 book from a print shop does more than a tablet someone has to hold and tilt.

also walking in cold on a saturday with no email first is the harder path. most of these places will tell you what they want if you just ask before showing up. the scrolling is awkward but that's not the real problem, the real problem is eight so-so images of work nobody can actually see.