Portfolio Presentation

The other place that I really see art and fear overlapping is in the portfolio presentation.  If you hang your photos on a wall and you walk away, you aren’t there to watch other’s faces.  You don’t have to hang by a thread, by a breath, waiting for feedback.

With the portfolio presentation, you have to wait a moment, an eternity for a smile, a nod, or nothing at all.  Have you ever waited in an elevator with a stranger, for a minute, or two, uncomfortable.  Trying to appear normal.  Imagine they control your next week, month, project, paycheck. 

Even picking up the phone to make that first cold call to a possible new client is scary.  So scary.  So much so that a lot of great artists never make the phone call.  Their art is so personal they can’t stand the thought of rejection.

It’s no wonder that artists go from being like god to crawling like a worm in an hour.  First, convince yourself that you’re better than everyone else, that your vision is clearer. Second, have someone insult art that you love more than your children.  Repeat.

Pi anyone? -Troutman Photography

Clare Troutman

www.TroutmanPhoto.com

(503)871-5505