Happiness with a Price Tag

Back in August, I submitted some images for a photo exhibition in California.  The deadline was set and the notification date was to be one week later.

Then.... an announcement came out that the submission deadline was extended by two weeks and the notification date was pushed back another week beyond that.

Now the difference between the notification date and the receipt date of framed artwork went from four weeks to nine days.  That's not a lot of time to get something professionally printed, framed, and shipped.  It meant, for me at least, that I was going to have to pay for some expedited services to get something cross country if one of my images was accepted.  

Hmmmm......

I didn't know the proper etiquette for the situation. Announcements hadn't been made yet, but should I call the gallery and let them know of my concerns?  Can I withdraw at this point because the expenses would be more than I had intended to spend?   What to do?

On the sage advice of Jane Davila, I called the gallery and spoke to one of the folks in charge.  I didn't come away with a promised solution -- mostly because the gallery hadn't yet received the list from the jurors -- but I did propose an extension of the receipt date, given my distance from the gallery and the shortened time table.  The idea wasn't approved, but it wasn't nixed either.

As it turned out, one of my images was accepted.  WOO HOO!  This is a very prestigious gallery and most of the accepted photographers are professionals.  I'm pretty psyched that one of my images was selected out of a pool of more than 500.  Very cool.

But now how to deal with the expense?

It turned out that the gallery was willing to make an exception on the receipt date, but only because I had reached out to them ahead of time.  Whew!  That means my happy dance doesn't come at too great a price tag.

Lessons learned:

1) If you have an issue that arises from new terms/constraints set by the gallery during the jurying process, be sure to call.  Voice your concerns, but try also to present a solution.  I think that's what worked for me in this case.

2) I know this isn't new, but send as many entries as possible.  The image that was selected was not one of my favorites, but it's the one that fit the jurors' needs for the exhibition. 

"Seagull before the Storm" -- an image NOT selected for the exhibition