I have always loved attending art festivals, and eagerly looked forward to them. But, this was as a potential customer and not as an exhibitor.

Fast forward to last year, when I found myself wanting to start exhibiting my photography in art festivals. But, being in Germany, there aren’t many guides available to help one just starting out. Then, I happened to learn about a self published book by Maria Arango entitled “Art Festival Guide“.  It sounded just like what I needed, so I quickly ordered it and waited for it to arrive on my doorstep. I was hoping that the book would fill in all the blanks for me.

I was not disappointed.

Maria has called upon all her years of knowledge as an art festival exhibitor in writing the book. She holds nothing back in sharing what has made her so successful in the industry. She often uses humor to guide you through some of the pitfalls and situations that she’s encountered over the years.

And how does it all translate to art festivals here? I wanted to come across as professional but demonstrating my own flair as a “foreigner”. And, using the Art Festival Guide, I believe I have accomplished just that.

As they say, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” And I think I’ve made a good one.

Maria’s book can be ordered at: www.artfestivalguide.com. Happy reading.

I recently exhibited at an art festival of the like I have never participated in. It was put on by an organization called “KunstRausch”, and boasted of 100 artists of various genre, hosted in seven villages. In many of the villages, older farmhouses were converted into makeshift galleries for the weekend. In some of the villages, there were several locations to peruse.

I found myself in a village called Ergeshausen in an old multi-building farmhouse. I picked out my location and set about making it “mine”. Actually, it was a large room, to which I claimed half. The other half was occupied by a talented painter by the name of Kai-Iris Martin.

Saturday morning, we packed the car as I went over my checklist to make sure I had everything. Since Ergeshausen is only about 20 minutes away, it was nice to know that, if I forgot something, I could drive home to get it. It took about an hour and a half to set up my “gallery” to my satisfaction.

And then the rain came.

It rained on and off during the weekend, naturally dampening the crowds enthusiasm to venture out. But, Stephanie, the chairwoman of KunstRausch and organizer extraordinaire, had acquired a bus to shuttle the public around the various villages. I daresay that, without Stephanie’s foresight to have the bus made available to us during the weekend, the crowd would have been much less.

It made for a fun weekend, all around. The crowd, although heavy at times, was a bit less than what Stephanie said there was with the first KunstRausch weekend. But I was not disappointed. I met a lot of wonderfully nice artists who made this “foreigner” feel welcome and one of them. My photography was featured (and favorably reviewed) in an article about the KunstRausch weekend in the Rhein Zeitung newspaper. Many of our friends, after receiving the brochure about the weekend, showed up to look at my latest work, chat for awhile and check out the other artists in the area. I had the opportunity to talk with many people about my photography, and I received many, many compliments on it. I also talked with a gentleman, a member of another local artists organization, who suggested that I visit them.

Oh and, yes, I did make some sales.

All in all, it was a great weekend.

A portion of my room.

I have to admit that translating my site to German (after all, I do live in Germany!) was not high on my list of priorities. But, after putting it off for so long, I have finally gotten it done. And, while my command of the German language is not perfect, I’ve given it my best.

Now, if I could only get the html side of the site up to date (and also bi-lingual)…

Last year, I authorized the use of a photo shot in my studio of one of my cats for a 2008 feline diabetes calendar. The proceeds were to go to maintaining the site, which contains some useful information regarding the treatment of cats with diabetes.

My participation on the site since the issuance of the calendar had declined due to professional commitments, so I had not had the time to visit the site in a while. I received an email from someone on the list telling me of a new book project that the same person who did the calendar was undertaking…and my cat’s photo was included. I visited the link I was sent and, sure enough, her photo was included. But where was the email to me asking my permission to use the photo on this new project?

I emailed the person and asked that her photo be removed. When it wasn’t, I visited the forum and repeated my request. I suggested that she might want to get permission from everyone since this was another use of the photo. Her response: “These were all submitted to me for use in the calendar already. Same pics, different format.” The response surprised me as the person runs an MSN group - and she has listed many links to photography copyright sites!

Does being a photographer - or just someone who enjoys taking photos - give us the right to ignore copyright law? I would say not!

I explained that, by not getting permission in using the photos for a totally different project, she places herself, the site and the site owner in danger of being sued for copyright infringement, should someone decide to do so. I mentioned that the chances are slim, but not altogether unheard of. After all, people have sued for a spilled hot cup of coffee…and won.

Further explaining my reasoning (the photo since being sold as exclusive use) was met with derision, name calling and general unpleasantness from many in the group, with the exception of one person who showed exceptional understanding and kindness.

It was, all in all, a very short-sighted reaction to what I thought was a reasonable request. Actually, a request and a suggestion made to protect the site that had helped me manage my own diabetic cat. And, it could have potentially cost me revenue.

It seems, to use the above as an example, that copyright is still not fully understood, or is generally ignored. It behooves us, as photographers, to educate people as to the law. This not only protects them, but also us.

I love photography. There is nothing more satisfying to me then spending the day either trekking into some of the older villages, camera in hand, or up in my studio with the window covered in a heavy black out cloth and my Dedolights doing heavy duty while I experiment with different lighting techniques.

After long thought, I decided to try the art festival circuit. I found a website that listed many of the markets in Germany. I started like I usually do - by making a list.

I proceeded to buy the supplies I thought I would need: an EZ Up tent (shipped from the Netherlands), tables, mesh walls to hang my photos on (which my husband made), display bins, deco articles (accumulated to make the booth pleasing to potential customers)…and on the list went. When everything was assembled and ready to go, I started looking into art shows (Kunsthandwerkmarkt) in the area. There weren’t many, I soon found. So, I looked further out and started applying. Rejections came in with one common theme. Photography was not accepted. Photography is not an art? Are they crazy?

It’s a sad wake up call for fine art photographers here who want a chance to display their work to the public at large.

So, where to go from there? There are local organizations who put on their own festivals. I have contacted several and the one festival that will be held in June, I will be exhibiting.

Until then, I will remain up in my studio with the dark curtain in place creating new photos and shaking my head at the shortsightedness of people.

I love photo magazines….REALLY love photo magazines. That’s why I have subscriptions to not only English language ones, but German also.  While having the U.S. based magazines shipping to Germany can be expensive, I have found them to be well worth the price. For years, regularly, the magazines have arrived in our mailbox.

Until, September of 2007. Something was missing. My Shutterbug magazine failed to arrive. I emailed their fulfillment department to report the missing magazine and ask that it be sent to me. Their answer? “The September issue was not available for replacement so we extended your subscription for one issue in compensation.” Okay, I am willing to overlook the occasional problem as mail gets misplaced and lost.

But then October came and went. No Shutterbug magazine. Again, I mailed their fulfillment department to report the missing magazine and ask that it be sent to me. Their answer? “The October issue was not available for replacement so we extended your subscription for one issue in compensation.”  Yes, this was getting irritating but, again, I was willing to overlook it.

Then November came.  Again, no Shutterbug magazine. Once again, I mailed their fulfillment department and told them that I was losing patience. They asked about my address. No, it hasn’t changed, it is correct. They extended my subscription for another issue.

This went on until I wrote the fulfillment department in February and copied the editor of Shutterbug magazine. I guess, being an optimist, I thought that they might want to be aware that there is a problem and want to take care of an unhappy subscriber. The editor’s answer? This was the fulfillment department’s problem.

This was the answer to my question of whether the little guy really matters. Regrettably, after many years of receiving Shutterbug magazine, I wrote the fulfillment department one last time. Subscription cancelled.

And for the twentieth time I’ve told Wolf that I’m not looking to sell anything, that I’m just going there for the experience and to have fun. I have no expectations as I’m taking my catalogs to read and pen and paper to make notes of what we can do differently in the future.

Unfortunately, the week before I caught a cold and wasn’t up to top form. But I still wanted to do it.

So, we packed the car – or I should say, Wolf packed the car – and at noon we left for the market.

Weather prediction: cold, wet and rainy.
Actual weather: cold, wet and rainy…and windy.

We knew where our space was and started to unload the car and get the tent set up. We realized that we were the only ones in the area and wondered if it would stay that way. So, Wolf tried the event coordinator’s cell phone but met with no answer. After getting the second wall on the tent, the coordinator showed up. He had had several no shows, so we were to move to a different location. So, we reloaded the car and Wolf carried the tent to the new location.

We ended up next to a neighbor who lives down the way from us, a bee keeper and his wife who make the best flavored honeys and liquors. They watched (I’m sure in amusement) as we got everything out of the car as quickly as we could and get set up. My your tent is nice and white - it looks new, they said. That’s because it is, we replied. This is the first time we’ve done a market - we’re planning on doing art festivals but wanted to have the first experience.

All in all, it took us around 2 ½ hours to set up completely. By the time we finished, the market was officially open and the Glühwein stand across the way provided a nice hot beverage as our reward.

The stand on the other side provided us with a bit of amusement as we watched them secure their tent with spring clamps and tarp against the wind that blew in strong gusts. The woman was amazed at our tent and remarked that she had never seen one like it. Upon learning the price, she nodded and went back to her spring clamps and tarp.

The rain did let up once so I could pop out quickly and take a few shots of the finished product.

Take down time was around 1 ½ hours. By the time we got home, it was past midnight and we decided to leave much of our equipment in the car and unload it in the morning. We celebrated our first experience with a Pina Colada liquor, then called it an evening. We were cold, wet and tired but happy that everything went so smoothly.

I had several photographers come by and remark on my photographic eye. The lady at the local flower shop stopped by and we agreed to meet with her in the beginning of the new year to provide her with some photos for her shop. Another lady who heads a local artists association came by to meet me (she had checked out my website but wanted to see my photos in person) and talked to me about joining their association.

And, yes, I did actually sell something, which was enough to make my booth fee and make a profit for the evening.

And now to finish and mail the first application for an art festival in 2008…

Germany is a beautiful country. Unfortunately, around November, it can be truly ugly weather-wise. And so this was no exception. It rained…and rained…and rained. Our garden area was too wet and soaked to try to put the tent up. So, we decided to go under the bridge in the neighboring village.

We packed everything we thought we would need (and then some) into the car and drove the few kilometers. We found the water high but had enough of a dry spot to put the tent up. After about five minutes of positioning it, it went up relatively smooth (sometimes it does help to read the directions!). Next came the moment of truth and Wolf’s homemade beams. They slid in with no problems and fit perfectly. On down the road, we will paint the wood in between so that it’s not as noticeable.

The grid walls attached to the beams with no problems and we even worked out a way so that one person could put them up.

Next, came hanging some of my photographs to see how they would look.

By hanging the photos, we realized that the grids would need to be secured together. While the company that we bought these from had small devices to secure two together, they weren’t made for the white grids that we had bought. So, for now, we use white plastic ties.

But, all in all, it was a success. Notes were made of what additional things were needed. Then, as the water was continuing to rise – and we were starting to get some strange looks from passersby, we took everything down, stored it back into the car and left for home.

“Do you think we can get it done in time?” was my first question to Wolf when we talked about trying out set up at the Christmas market in the nearby village. Not that I want to do Christmas markets – somehow I don’t believe that people will want to give fine art photos as Christmas presents - but it seemed the best place to do our first trial run.

So, we decided to register as a vendor. Our friends seemed quite taken aback that we would be displaying at the Christmas market. Their comments were met with our reply of “We had to start somewhere and this is the perfect place to fine tune our display.”

Did we really expect to sell anything? No. But we thought that we would experience everything as we would if we were setting up at an art festival.

So, come December 6^th at 11:30 am, we start assembling our tent and paraphernalia for the Katzenelnbogen Christmas market.

Now, if I only had stock to show…

They certainly would have made things easier. But, you have what you have. Finding grid panels was the first one the list. The internet can be a wonderful time saver. Within five minutes, suitable panels were found and ordered. One down.

Next was how to secure them. As I said, supplies are at a premium, so not everything is always available. But, after many forays to hardware stores, and a lot of back and forth between Wolf and myself (mostly me saying “no, I don’t want it to look like that”), we came to a suitable solution to the beams. Wolf took two brackets used for shelves, put a strip of wood in between to strengthen it, and fastened them together, making one long beam. Adding another bracket on both ends ensures that they don’t decide to shift and come tumbling down (with framed photographs!).

Like he said, they aren’t the prettiest, but they work.

Next up was how to hang the grids onto the bracket. He suggested hooks, but what we found was not going to be used. So, when we located white chain, we decided that that was going to be our only solution. So, he spent some time cutting and forming hooks on each piece.

Then he decided it was time to try it all out to see if the brackets fit the tent.