Printing in the round
Several years ago, Ivan Shaw (former Photography Director at American Vogue) commissioned Martin Klimas to reproduce his Exploding Flowers series on the plates that were to be served during dinner at the Met Gala.
These days, you can have your image printed on just about everything, from a coffee mug to a fleece blanket (I have a friend that makes a good living doing this).
Is there anything wrong with this?
Check out Artware. They have plates…and shower curtains, salt ‘n pepper shakers, coasters, rugs…all by some of the biggest names in contemporary art.
Having Klimas plates at the Met Gala was an exceptional opportunity…in theory. Were we paid? Yes…in plates. We were able to have signage at the gala, and I believe the placement was an excellent opportunity to have Martin’s work out there.
Should you consider monetizing some of your images in less conventional ways? Is this going to hurt your reputation as a serious artist?
That may depend on a few things…
Context
Quality
Position
Saturation
In short…
Where will the work be offered or seen? Artware and the Met Gala make for suitable placement. I saw some plates at the ICP bookstore with some of Gillian Laub’s images on them.
The plates at the Met Gala were real china with a gold etched edge.
Where are you in your career? If you are not that well known, does it make sense to offer your photographs for sale in limited editions while printing the same images on unlimited mouse pads?
Is the image your considering well known? Maybe even sold out? Martin’s series was very well known, and it already had sold well. The ballet image on Henry’s decks had already become iconic.
Consider experimenting with one image, see what the response is. Often this alternative presentation of an image is a good fit. Make sure it’s appropriate and not random. Think about it, the ballet feet on the skateboard decks not only made sense, but it really looks good, too. My friend who sells the fleece blanket only does it for one image: sheep (counting sheep).
Then again, if you want to maintain a traditional practice of offering your work as prints, that works, too.
I’m not going to be selling any Martin Klimas placemats anytime soon.
Michael Foley opened his gallery in the fall of 2004 after fourteen years of working with notable photography galleries, including Fraenkel Gallery, Howard Greenberg Gallery, and Yancey Richardson Gallery.
In 2002, Foley continued his interest in educating and working with artists by serving on the School of Visual Arts and International Center of Photography faculty. He currently teaches and lectures on contemporary photography issues at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
In 2020, he founded The Photo Community, which offers classes and commentary on contemporary photography.
Foley lives and works on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.