I have participated in many trade shows before but this was clearly different. Previously, I was representing products/services that weren't mine and I was an employee with a group of co-workers. At art3f in Milan, I was representing my own work as an owner and I was doing so alone. That made it a completely new and different experience.

Before I arrive at my conclusions, it is important to provide some context for you about the art world. According the the Art Basel Report 2024, Photography represents just 12% of the art sold in 6th place behind Paintings (74%), Works on Paper (51%), Prints, multiples (29%), Sculptures (24%) and Installations (13%). So it shouldn't come as a surprise that I was one of only 3 photographers at the show out of 86 exhibitors. For me, I viewed that as positive because I was different than most everyone else.

Regrettably, I have found that there is scarcely any specific information available online about how to meet real buyers and how to market and sell your artwork. Furthermore, the information that is available is often very general and incomplete. So I decided to get creative and looked at photos of art fair stands online to see what I could discover. From this, I learned that I should have professionally printed cards below each image including the title, location, price including tax, medium, email address, dimensions plus I included a QR code to the respective gallery on my website. At art fairs, people take mobile phone images of things they like so they can go back and digest everything that they saw when they get home. These fairs can be a totally overwhelming sensory experience with all the different shapes, sizes, colors, mediums etc so it is a good idea to look professional with your cards. One of the mistakes that I made was not having the card information in Italian. I will translate everything to French for my Paris show but will keep it in English for my Munich show on the advice of my German gallerist friends.

Furthermore, on the wall of my stand I displayed a sheet with three QR codes: one for my collectors list sign up form, my WhatsApp number and the last for my website in case someone stopped by when I was away getting one of the world class expressos they served at the show.

Without question, the ultimate goal of exhibiting at a show is to sell your work. Since this was my first show, I felt it was best to manage my own expectations which meant that I probably wasn't going to sell anything. And I didn't sell anything but I viewed this show as an investment in my future. One of the biggest and best takeaways were the artist and gallerist contacts and the information that I received from them. Always try to meet people and ask them questions at art fairs.

In addition to English, I am also reasonably fluent in Spanish after living in Spain for nearly 5 years. This show was in Milan and I can say ciao, grazie, una birra per favore - that's it. By chance, my stand was located near two different German art galleries which meant we could speak English and they were both helpful, intelligent and friendly. Again, it pays to ask a lot of questions. I also invited them to my stand and asked them what they honestly thought of my work and they told me.

I received some positive and constructive feedback but not everyone is going to like your work so be ready for that. Another photographer at the show with a clear style and enormous booth was an experienced and known French photographer. One morning before things got going, I introduced myself to him and asked him a few questions. I began with: How long did it take you to find your style? He told me that he is who he is as a photographer and that's his style. I walk the way I walk because that's who I am. The most important question that I asked him was: Should I try and specialize in one specific aspect of nature photography so as to appeal to galleries or should I continue on my current path of capturing the images that appeal to me? His answer: Are people visiting your stand and do they like your pictures? I answered - yes. Are you happy doing what you are doing? Again I answered - yes. He then told me that I should continue as I am as long as people are interested in my work. He added: That's who you are so you should go with that.

Another takeaway from the show was that I did have significant traffic at my stand and people showed interest in my work. Your friends and family will support you and encourage you and your work but the real test is seeing if total strangers appreciate your work. Lesson learned - I DO have some good work and that is very reassuring. Another discovery I made is that I created one-line descriptions of each image in Italian so that I could read from my phone and explain an image if someone was lingering for more than a few seconds. This was genuinely appreciated by the visitors and elicited understanding ooohs and aahhs from some of them.

I brought my laptop to play a looping keynote presentation of 60 images at 3 second intervals in order to try and attract visitors to my booth. It sounded like a good idea but it wasn't very effective. What was surprisingly effective was the book that I printed with those same 60 images. People occasionally looked at the book and 2 people even wanted to buy it! I told them that I could send them a copy after the show but that I needed to use this copy.

I highly recommend to have business cards or some specific brochure so that visitors can remember you when they get home after all the people they visited and all the art they saw. One of my neighbors told me that it is normal that visitors will reach out after the show with questions or expressing interest in a piece which is another good reason to do this.

On Friday, the opening day, the hours of the show were from 4-10pm. I set up everything on that morning from 9-11:30am and while doing so discovered that my anchor piece - Reflecting on Technology - had been damaged during transport and was unsellable. Normally, one might expect a tsunami of anger, frustration and panic to sweep over me when this 1 meter by 1.5 meter anchor piece was not as it should be but I managed to remain calm. Trying to make the best of crappy situation, I bent back the aluminum so that it was presentable and hung it up because the show must go on! Thankfully, my production partner in Europe agreed to give me a credit for the piece after I sent them photos of the damage. The traffic on this first day was light and were were told by the organizer of the show that this was normal and to expect the best crowd on the final day.

Saturday was a long day - 10am to 8pm - and again with light traffic. I found myself questioning my decision to exhibit, blaming the good weather for the lackluster attendance, then at the end of the day reminding myself that it was my first show and that I need to chill out and remain positive which I did. This is a very important point. One of the German gallerists returned to her stand after getting a coffee and then commented to me about the negative facial and body expressions on some of the other artists during her walk. She then reminded me that you always need to stay positive and smile, displaying a good attitude because people can sense these emotions. Nobody wants to interact with someone who is grumpy and that reassured me because I already knew this. Having a good attitude in whatever you do is always very important.

One of the questions that I asked my neighboring gallerist was: How do you know when to talk to someone and when to leave them alone? She confidently answered: You need to use your intuition because there's no formula. I smiled and thanked her. I also smiled because this is something that I already learned during open houses when I sold residential real estate back in New York. Sometimes it is best to leave them alone and let them look if they don't want to engage. I returned a few steps to my stand and made a note on my phone about the question and the response. It is extremely important to take notes because our memory is never perfect so I wrote down everything!

Sunday was the final day and the hours were from 10am to 7pm. I arrived upbeat and ready for "more" visitors as I had been told to expect. As I had done throughout the show, I always had a smile on my face and a good attitude. Here's a note on what I did when someone would enter my stand. I would slowly stand up and move just outside of the stand to give them room to look because no one likes to have their personal space invaded and feel pressured. After careful observation, I would then decide whether or not to interact and offer up my Italian one-liners. This was a successful strategy and I will use it again in Paris in September. The peak traffic of the day came between 3 and 5pm where there were often more than one group in my stand. Again, I had flashbacks to working a real estate open house so I knew how to juggle visitors and engaged with those who I felt wanted engagement.

My final and likely most important conclusion from the show was that my prices were too high. As a result, I have since reduced my pricing by 50% across the board. Even though no one said anything about it during the show, I saw the pricing of other images and concluded that if I had enough traffic in my stand and people showed interest but they didn't buy anything then that must mean that my pricing was too high. Another lesson learned.

What took two and a half hours to setup was taken down in just 20 minutes with the help of an ice cold Sardinian beer - Ichnusa. I bid farewell to the German gallerists and artists who assured me that I would see them in Munich in October at the ARTMUC fair. Carefully, I packed everything up into my wheeled suitcase, put the hotel's stool on my hand cart, and wheeled it all out of the Parco Esposizioni Novegro making my way back to the hotel for a nice pizza. On the way out, I ended up giving the slightly damaged anchor piece to the security guard who was nice to me during the show. After all, art is for everyone.

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