dispatches: Palm Springs Photo Festival: The Outcome

“You're absolutely right,” said Kristi, the one Photo Review buddy I made here. “I've never been to a conference where it's so hard to make friends.” It was nice to know it's not me. Something about the tone of this event makes it really hard to connect. I spent five days here and ate every single meal alone.

I'm remembering why I stopped doing review events 6 years ago. These things are brutal. They are crucial events for a photographer, particularly fine art folks, but man are they grueling.

What I learned this week at the Palm Springs Photo Reviews.

I'm a mediocre printer. It affects how people respond to the work. Since I closed down my darkroom, photography has ceased to be about the artifact. It has affected my ability to create one when I need to.
It's about my marketing, not my work. Again and again I heard this—the work is there. My client base is not. My marketing doesn't work. It never has. A big part of me believes it never will. I suck at that part of it. I gotta pinpoint who I want my clients to be, to the person, and target them like a laser. I'm going to need a ton of outside consulting, and maybe therapy, to get through that block.
The first thing I say at a review determines where the next 20 minutes will go. If I say, well, I need more clients, I get a basic lecture on marketing. If I come across as confident about my stance toward my work, it sets the discussion at a higher level.
Video appears to be my strong suit. Somehow, I'm doing something unique. Big time, big agency art buyers were impressed.
There is no way to keep an emotional even keel at these things. I have been from my-career-is-hopeless to I'm-going-to-be-a-star and back, and then back, and then back again. Within 2 hours.
The friendliest, most helpful, able-to-connect people here have been the front line volunteers. They're working 8 hour days for the chance to get a leftover review at the end of it, and they somehow aren't resentful at us entitled, ambitious, self-centered photographers. They're amazing.
At this moment, I hope to never go to another review event, ever. Unless I'm a panelist.