Photography Portfolios and Presentation
Good presentation is important because it puts your art in context and influences how it is perceived. Great images can stand alone as unique and appealing works of art but when displayed as part of a collection of images they can tell a bigger story. You and others will then form the impression that you were working to a plan and that you had given thought to your work and not just bundled your images together in a haphazard fashion
If you have tons of images lying unorganised in folders then you have a recipe for disaffection. Time spent sorting images into groups will reap huge rewards because it increases your self perception and gives you a solid foundation which will guide your future direction. No matter how ordinary you feel your work is, by thinking of your images in terms of which groups they might belong to you will begin to view your work more as a whole rather than lots of individial pieces that are hard to place. A good place to start is to acquire a simple image viewer which lets you view and collate your images into collections. The diagram below illustrates this idea clearly:
Having a birds eye view of your image collections means you can easily recognise patterns and recurring themes in your work. The viewing process often triggers possibilities you may never had previously considered. I never realised that local churches would make a great theme for a collection until one day I spotted that I had several nice images of churches in my archive. There are dozens of quaint looking churches around my local county but the thought of photographing them had never previously entered my head and then it suddenly made perfect sense for me to create a new collection under the theme "Sligo Churches". This theme becomes a new work in progress and by following this line of thinking I refine my archive over time and give it a better sense of cohesion. When I have 12 very good images of Sligo Churches I will create a new collection for them on my web site
Organising images not only unifies your work but also provides other information such as a sense of place and time and acts as a record of what phases you were going through both in your personal life and at what stage you were at in your creative development. Just as our favourite songs remind us of where we were in years gone by a portfolio of creative work also acts as a nice record of your life and brings a sense of order and discipline to your mind
A portfolio is not something you will want to create in a hurry and instead it should be created over time and given some love. Many of us take up photography or other forms of creative expression such as art or writing through sheer enthusiasm (or desperation) and then things slowly grind to a halt when the initial enthusiasm wears off. It is an old and familiar story but you need to keep going in the belief that your work can and will improve
Whether you are a beginner or a veteran you can greatly improve your work if you consider all the ways in which you could present it. I have seen many exhibitions where the individual images were no better than average but which were important because they were part of a larger body of work which told a story and told it well. If a collection of images relates a great story then no one is going to be too fussy about the technical merits and give you a hard time. This is another point which reinforces my belief that equipment is not as important as imagination
Lack of confidence prevents many people from creating a portfolio and lack of confidence comes from not having a clear goal. There are many technically brilliant photographers and artists out there who often let themselves down by focusing on technical details while being sloppy in the presentation. So learn how to avoid that trap by imagining the day when you have plucked up the courage to hold your first public exhibition and begin preparing early. You just never know how much you will have improved by then
Here are some tips which I have picked up over the years which might be helpful:
Portfolio Structure
Your medium - photographs, sketches, paintings, digital art, animations, films etc
Portfolio Theme (Title) and Number of Images
Context - Theme, Location, Place, Time, Event. It's completely up to you
Description - a short write up to introduce the reader to the work and pique their curiosity
Extra Information
Technical Details - Camera, Film, Paper, Inks, Printer
Refinements
Cover image
Thumbnails
List of image titles
Artist's Statement
Music
Printed Portfolios
Mounted prints stored in a box are portable and allow you to show your work to anyone in person
They are also ready for mounting and framing
Portfolio Websites
Clean, simple and easy to navigate
Talk about your work, your influences and motivations
Share your knowledge and build your reputation
Sell and license your work
Best of luck