Photography Portfolio: The Art of Selection
Last week we considered self-critiques: why it’s important to be able to objectively evaluate our own work. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to showcase their best images, so this is clearly an important skill to develop.
Inevitably, the next question has to do with portfolio size. How large – or small – should it be?
Determining the Ideal Photography Portfolio Size
If you’re seeking representation, applying to an art program, or submitting directly to a gallery, your portfolio should be limited to 20 images (or less). Depending on the context, a printed presentation may be expected, but for now, let’s focus on websites since most photographers maintain an electronic presence.
You have more flexibility with the size of a digital portfolio; what you’re trying to achieve will have some bearing on how many of your images you choose to showcase, as well as which specific photographs are selected. For example, are you trying to build your brand? Expand your reach? Establish credibility with potential students? Demonstrate comprehensive familiarity with specific locations? Sell your work directly to customers?
Assuming you’ve carefully considered your objectives and have organized your galleries by themes or styles, now comes the difficult part: selecting the images. This can be challenging for a variety of reasons, but often boils down to one of two things. You haven’t yet mastered the skill of objective, aggressive editing – or maybe you’ve lost sight of what you want to achieve with your website.
Whatever the rationale, it can be hard to say no, which is why you’ll find some photography websites with overflowing galleries: ninety images each, or three hundred. Six hundred. (That may sound crazy but I’ve seen it!)
The Professional Impact of a Curated Gallery
I don’t care how good the work is: nobody is going to wade even a fraction of the way through massively oversized galleries. That means many of the images are essentially invisible, so there is no reason to put them there in the first place. Even your closest family members will lose interest in that kind of volume.
Furthermore, it is common to find online galleries containing multiple images that were obviously made during the same session. Featuring the same subject and the same conditions, they’re all just a little bit different (maybe one is oriented vertically, another horizontally, and the third and fourth show some movement in the fog). Even if each of the images is strong for different reasons, it certainly doesn’t make for compelling viewing. Choose the single best shot for a better user experience and a more professional presentation.
Along the same lines, a gallery might include a handful of photographs featuring the same subject captured from the same vantage point and composed in a nearly identical way. Unless it’s a purposeful concept—think Monet’s series paintings like Haystacks or Houses of Parliament—redundant images will be perceived as clutter. Each one may be a good photograph, but in terms of a website, it’s too many. Winnow it down.
Strategies for Streamlining Your Portfolio
Develop an Objective Eye for Photo Editing
It’s not easy to detach from your own work, but learning to be dispassionate is critical. Be completely honest with yourself; separate the wheat from the chaff when reviewing your photographs.
Apply the Elevator Pitch Concept
We’re all familiar with this, right? The idea is to develop a clear, concise, memorable summary of yourself and your business – one that can be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator – which will spark interest with potential business contacts.
It’s not a seamless analogy, but the idea of capturing the essence of who you are and what kind of work you produce in an abridged format DOES translate. Especially if you’ve been photographing for many years, you have no doubt produced a lot of good images. It’s not practical, nor is it productive, to display all of it on your website. Choosing only a select number of photographs for digital display is not an indictment of your other images.
Utilize Ongoing Portfolio Culling
When you add a new image to a gallery, remove something older. This ensures you’re always displaying the cream of the crop while keeping the gallery fresh and its size in check. Another way to avoid overwhelming viewers is to curate galleries that are more narrowly focused thematically. It’s important to know when to say when. Leave your visitors wanting more rather than abandoning your website out of boredom.
Remember, your website isn’t the only game in town. There can be many other uses for images you choose not to include in online galleries.
Ultimately, effective gallery curation is about presenting yourself in the most favorable light appropriate to your specific goals. When you refine your selection to only your best work, you demonstrate a level of discernment that defines an accomplished photographer. This disciplined approach ensures that your audience encounters a focused and authoritative representation of your artistic vision.
Set a high bar and your portfolio will reflect the true caliber of your vision.
In Local News
Though the weather patterns have finally changed, bringing much-needed snow and colder temperatures to the region, Grand Teton National Park is reminding visitors that grizzly bears could be roaming about since - for the most part - it has been a relatively mild winter.
Because bears hibernate in a unique way (with warmer body temperatures), they're able to wake up more easily than other hibernating animals. If they're disturbed, or if the weather is moderate, they might leave the den.
Be bear aware.