How much?
How much would you pay for a piece of art? In particular, how do you judge the price of a printed photograph or a mounted and framed print? Twenty pounds? Fifty pounds? One hundred pounds? More? What thought process makes up your answer?
Buckle yourself in and read on to the end…
Judging the value of art
Let’s get into the detail of how we may judge the value of the art.
Our feelings of value and purchasing
Firstly, our minds immediately make reference to our own thoughts of value. This will be driven by several factors: How generous or frugal we are, how much money we’ve got, our sense of getting a good price or wanting something as cost effective as possible, the desire to grab a bargain.
The artist and any connection to the image
Our judgement on the ‘worth’ of a product is possibly based on knowledge or assumptions of production and cost. Our sense of quality and value of the artist.
Our connection with the image is a factor, it’s meaning or thoughts of current and future enjoyment and appreciation. Where the image may be displayed in our house, and whether it will look nice on the wall.
The impact of smartphones – everyone’s a photographer
Thanks to the advances in smartphones and their cameras, we may feel we could snap the image ourselves for free, so we question why would we pay for someone else’s?
On that latter point, which could be a dedicated blog post in itself, consider that currently smartphone cameras have small sensors and therefore small pixels or pixel pitch, with low (relative to today’s cameras) megapixel capacity and a fixed aperture more suited to close shots like portrait shots.
Landscape shots taken with a smartphone which have visible detail, and can be cropped and printed to a size for wall display are incredibly challenging if not unachievable in most cases especially for images intended for a larger size.
Smartphone cameras will of course get there, and some manufacturers are actively pursuing this technology. For a good image, it will still require some element of an eye for the composition, the scene, the post production editing, and the final output.
My experience in producing a mounted and framed print
Having been learning the art of printing, mounting and framing for a little while now, I’ve come to appreciate the work that goes into it and what the underlying costs are, so I’m going to run through a few things and for anyone reading, you might learn some things or have some perceptions changed.
Firstly, let’s deal with the costs which are usually not in the price of the product (which I appreciate some readers feel this is rightly so):
Indirect costs usually not within the price of art
Computer equipment: Desktop / mobile device with high quality screen, graphics capabilities
Software applications and configuration/operation: for example Adobe Lightroom and/or Photoshop
Calibration device: for ensuring monitor is displaying a correct level of brightness and colour tones
Time spent on colour profiles: for the specific printer and paper type to ensure the output looks like the image you’re seeing and refining on-screen.
If you thought that printing a photo is akin to printing a letter, that the photographer just loads the paper and clicks [Print] then think again! This misconception also feeds into our subconscious or otherwise opinions on value.
Printing; hardware and consumables: for example, cheaper printers use dye-based inks and more expensive printers use pigment-based inks which will last decades. Sure you can print a photo on any colour printer, but why do you think printers exist that cost a lot more money?
Camera gear: which is the camera itself, lenses, batteries, memory cards, accessories like bags and tripod
Time: the time photographer has spent travelling to and from the location, on the location and using their acquired skills to ensure a competent and attractive scene is captured.
Website costs: most likely to be a monthly subscription, to display the photos and offer a selling option, alongside the cost of one’s own domain name.
Every one of the costs above require the time of the photographer. As the saying goes…
“Time costs money…”
Now, let’s look at the costs of producing the product:
Direct costs which most definitely will be in the price of the art…
Frame: For a framed mounted print, there’s obviously the frame itself
On frames, I think this is where folks get a lot of their sense of value from. We all know we can buy frames in department stores or online from a few pounds to a lot. As humans, we like a bargain so purchasing a frame for a few pounds will be a natural target. Do we look at the materials or build quality? Maybe not. Do we consider how long we expect the frame to last? Maybe we don’t care.
From the frames I’ve bought, I perceive that a good quality wooden frame with glass or fade-resistant resin may well cost £25-£50+
Mount board: a border for the print – the mount is cut to size which will costs several pounds. There’s usually (best practice) an acid-free back board to the mount affixed with conservation tape.
Photo paper: this will hopefully be a professional quality good branded photographic paper which for A3/A3+ will run into several pounds per single sheet. We could easily see a £18-£25 cost for the print and mount.
So we can easily be approaching £43-£75 for the basic materials without any coverage of the underlying costs, the time to produce, construct, check, finish the end product, or any commission for the artist.
Companies which produce the products on behalf of the photographer will also need to add a margin for their production and staff costs/profit. And you need to take care that these companies are producing output for you using competent methods and quality materials.
If a company is offering you a photo print unbelievably cheaply, you must question whether or not the quality will be good. Maybe you’re not too bothered? Or maybe the cost / quality is acceptable to you.
Packaging and postage: it goes without saying that packaging (to prevent breakage of the product in transit) and postage all add to the cost/price. It’s unavoidable.
Observations from other photographers selling images
This post probably explains why many photographers just sell prints. Offering a framed product leads to less sales as many customers expect it on offer for only a few pounds. And the reality is that a print is the source product carrying the most rewarding or deserving element of commission for the artist.
If price is being judged within a few seconds of viewing, the customer may well find a print more favourable just based on cost, and the artist might just get more, or at least no less commission than a framed product. If you want to put a print in a cheaper frame, who am I or anyone to challenge you about it?
My experience
In producing a framed print myself recently, I bought a framed kit with all the parts I needed which cost £65. That’s before we add all the other costs in. Immediate costs not included are the paper, the acid-free tape and the time to put it all together.
“Have you thought about doing this professionally?”
Since improving and posting more of my photography online, I’ve had a few people ask me if I sell my images because they like them and think I could make a living. Whilst that is a compliment, making money from photography, and one that pays the bills requires a lot more than just selling prints.
There’s no get rich quick scheme!
It’s comforting that the UK tax man isn’t interested in anything below £1,000 income per annum from a hobby. That means if I were to make £15 commission on a framed print, I’d need to sell 67 of them to make that amount, and start registering and paying tax.
Let’s look at making a living… If we make reference to the average UK salary (courtesy of the Office for National Statistics ~ ONS) and you soon become enlightened that selling prints is not the money-spinner people perceive think it is.
The ONS tells us that the median average wage in the UK in 2021 was £611 per week which equates to £31,772 per annum. At a commission of £15 per framed print, I would need to sell 2,118 to generate that income, and that’s without any tax deductions etc. Even if I could manage something near that with a world famous photograph, how would I repeat the feat again?
Of course, if I were a professional photographer I would most likely be aiming for a much higher commission. However, since I’m new to this and experimenting and dabbling in the selling side, alongside my motivations largely of pride, I’m setting it low.
It’s interesting that the compliments I receive in suggesting I could make a good living from this hobby don’t actually result in any purchases or increase in sales. Having said that, I realise only too well that I’m too modest in any serious advertising of my art.
The value for me
It’s not about making money for me if I’m honest. Perhaps it’ll be nice to occasionally get a small additional income just to invest back into what is an expensive hobby.
For me, it’s the pride if someone buys one of my printed products, and if in future more money does trickle in, I’ll most likely spend it on more photography stuff!
I am not prepared to sell my art for zero pounds margin, or below the cost. Why would I? I could set my commission at zero and some folks would still take the view that printed items cost too much.
When a discussion turns from casual admiration to potential purchase, there’s a uncomfortable judgement coming, the customer isn’t thinking of buying themselves, and if they are, they already have a price range, a valuation in mind based on whatever misconceptions, assumptions and previous experiences they’re holding. And those thoughts totally fly in the face of their perception that you are making (or can make) a killing financially!
Summary
Pro photographers I follow on YouTube do not make a living from selling prints.
They do workshops, 121s, videos, books, calendars, exhibitions, competitions, vlogs and spend a lot of time marketing and promoting their work, as well as travelling. They need to do this, and can do it because they have mastered their art . They have a niche, an audience, a fanbase, a following, and have taken the plunge all in to do it full-time. That is their day job, and probably their night and weekend job too. They say that an income can be achieved and they are proof it can be done. But to get there requires multiple skill sets and repeated successes, and now with the volume of people doing it, most likely a niche in style or image taking.
Things are a lot different if you’ve a day job and this art is a hobby.
So, when you next browse photographic prints, and have an initial jaw drop at the asking price, please take into account that there are costs to producing the end product. And the photographer would be crazy not to add a commission to the price otherwise what’s the point of even bothering to offer something for sale?
If you want a £100 product for £25, please look elsewhere, and good luck.
If you want the print only, then expect to pay a decent sum for the printed image and some compensation to the effort that went in, and a contribution to hopefully a quality print on decent paper, then put it in a frame of your choice.
Assuming you don’t put the print up on a wall in direct sunlight, your printed product should not fade or curl up as it should’ve been produced on top quality photo paper and printed with good quality ink. It should be in a good quality frame that won’t fall apart, sealed from dust, and protected by a glass or fade-resistant resin material. All of this to enhance longevity and your enjoyment.
Be more appreciative of what goes into the final output, and see your product as something that will bring you joy for many years at a one-off cost.
If none of these aspects of assumptions and misconceptions apply to you, then I congratulate you on your understanding and appreciation of art and the work and cost that goes into it.
If much of this article has at least made you a little more appreciative of the value of art, I am pleased to have produced something of an informative article.
Remember the old adage:
“You get what you pay for…”
Onwards and upwards…