Upcoming Print Sale Plans

I've been a-workin' hard the past few days and have some good news to report.

• I've reached an agreement in principle with TOP reader Chester Williams to offer a fine print of his remarkable example of pareidolia* called "The Goodbye Kiss" that he submitted to the "It Must Be Color" Baker's Dozen.

Chester Williams, The Goodbye Kiss

It's a straight photograph of...well, concrete. But of course it seems to be something entirely different, and therein lies its charm. And the subtle color promises to be lovely in an archival pigment print.**

• We will have a Peter Turnley Holiday TOP Print Sale for the Christmas Season this year, offering three beautiful B&W silver gelatin prints from new work. The sale is called "Peter Turnley, Paris, Venice, Havana," and will start on "Cyber Monday," the first Monday after Thanksgiving, a day that was invented in 2005 by Shop.org to emphasize online shopping and as "a way for smaller retail websites to compete with larger chains." ("Smaller websites"—that would be us.) Peter will offer the three prints at the standard European collector paper size of 30x40cm (~12x16") and at an unprecedentedly good price. They'll be delivered in time for Christmas (but, unfortunately, not in time for Hanukkah, which starts very close to Thanksgiving this year), and I can testify from personal experience that they make highly appreciated gifts***.

• Somewhere in the next few months I'll be having a TOP fundraiser and offering a print of one of my pictures for sale. I'm leaning toward either this one or the second picture from this post. Either would be modestly sized and modest in cost.

• I'm also thinking of one other print sale—it might better be called a "reproduction" than a print—of a classic image from the Library of Congress, a personal favorite of mine.

• Finally, I'm also working on a possible sale for March of next year.

That's all that's in the pipeline for now. We haven't had a print sale yet in 2018, so I thought I'd let you know we haven't abandoned the idea. It's certainly a lot of fun to do them, and it's highly benign—everybody involved "wins," even those who merely look on to be entertained.

I particularly like the idea of having reader print sales from the Baker's Dozens. That's a trend that should continue, I b'lieve.

Mike
(Thanks to everyone mentioned)

*Pareidolia: the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern; the tendency to perceive pictures in random shapes, as when seeing faces in whorls of wood grain or figurative objects in cloud formations. (In case you aren’t familiar with that term!)

**If you are personally interested in buying a print of this picture, I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts about what size you would prefer.

***A framed print of Peter's was one of the few things my now-ex-girlfriend didn't return to me when she bolted (TMI? Sorry). But ah well, no regrets. All's fair in love and war.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Ramón Acosta: "I used to live in a house with lots of marble, the floors, the whole bathrooms, and always saw something in 'the marbling' (not sure if that’s the right word). Never took a picture of any, and I lived there for years. Thank you for telling me the name of that."

Ernest Zarate: "And it was just today I cast my eye (and mind) on this print on my wall and thought, 'Hmm...it’s been awhile....' Good to hear you’re rectifying that, Mike."

Mike replies: That one is great to live with, isn't it? I still love it. I love their other one, too.

William Lewis: "I would be interested in a print of the Williams photo if it is not too big for my space and not too expensive. That's not quite as impossible a standard to meet as in the past though as I do have a real job now.  ;-)  An 8x10 (or equivalent for the aspect ratio) would be perfect to me."

Lee: "Apparently pareidolia isn't just a strictly human thing anymore. I was shooting an image of Fall colors across a lake today and my Sony A7 'saw' a human face in the tree shapes, switching into face recognition focusing mode. I couldn't see it myself."

Jnny: "Called it! I knew this was print-sale worthy the moment I saw it. 8x10 or 10x12 for me, please."

Comments

[Peter Popp]

Migrant Mother perhaps?

[Richard Parkin]

Oddly, my eye was drawn to a ‘face’ in your snow picture at ... well I won’t say where because either it’s obvious or just me. Maybe it’s a result of having first seen the Chester Williams photo.

[Rob Campbell]

All being fair in love and war is not a reasonable concept, because it makes no moral distinction between the sexes.

What is good for the gander is decidedly not always good for the goose, whatever swamp pop rock singers may have to declare on that topic.

I think I'd try to get that picture back. You may or may not really want or need it, but if you consider how Dr House used to operate (and the Stones sing), you may not get what you want, but you may get what you need instead. Either way, you should get something, which unless luck is against you, is mostly better than nothing.

[Ned Bunnell]

Mike, look on the bright side. Your ex-girlfriend obviously appreciates fine art. And thank goodness you weren’t married to her. She would get at least half your assets in that case.

[Good point, Ned. There's always a bright side.... --Mike]

[Gaspar Heurtley]

I don’t think I’ve ever bought prints, all I have hanging from walls around the house are either mine or gifts from long time photographers/friends.
Having said that, I’d like to buy the Williams picture, but considering the exchange rate [1 Argentinian peso = 2.7 U.S. cents], I’m not sure I could at current market prices.
Maybe a small size print, with the added benefit of being easy to hide from my wife until it’s on the wall.

[Walter Glover]

**** Related to 'Paradeolia' is 'Apophenia' which is the spontaneous perception of connections and meaningfulness of unrelated phenomena. The term was coined by German neurologist and psychiatrist Klaus Conrad (1905-1961). Conrad focused on the finding of abnormal meaning or significance in random experiences by psychotic people. Could that be a clue as to why we photographers are as we are?

[Andy]

Mike, I am still interested in getting a print of Chester Williams' image. You mentioned in the notes about the Peter Turnley sale that 30x40cm was a standard European size and that size would suit me (and hopefully my wallet).

[Phil]

I would consider the Williams print, but I would want it about 9 x 16, almost a 2:1 ratio. I would like permission to copy, and the copy I would slice down at the vertical line at the tip of the nose, so that I could place in the corner of the room. I might also fold the print on that line, and place in the corner of the room. I wouldn't do that with the original.

[Jnny]

Called it! I knew this was print-sale worthy the moment I saw it. 8x10 or 10x12 for me, please.

[Inkphot]

I am interested in the Williams print in any size from 5" to 17" along the top edge( side length determined by image aspect ratio) depending on cost.

[Zave Shapiro]

I bought a copy of that shot of someone with an umbrella on a sidewalk. I'd like the William the same size. Ummm, you know the one I mean that's waiting until I finish my move and get it out of the closet?

[Jack Stivers]

I spotted (and snapped) something in the same general genre while walking in the Red River Gorge in KY.

Cheers

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaxbadsnaps/45565437182/in/dateposted-public/

[Duke Groover]

That is a wonderful photograph. I wish I had taken it. I would be interested in a print, at least 16" by 20".

[Rob Griffin]

Mike, I would be interested in a print of Chester Williams' wonderful photograph. My preference is size would be in the 6x9, 7x10 or even 8x12 range. However, in my opinion the image is strong enough to be presented well in about any size.

[Chester Williams]

Phil...I will gladly grant you permission to enable you to fulfill your vision! Great idea...

[Jerzy]

Great picture especially that many people would just walk by without seeing anything. Congratulations to Chester Williams. Mike, thank you for posting.
The picture aspect ratio is 2/3. I'd likely be interested in 16/24 or 12/18.

[Chris Pisarra]

my now-ex-girlfriend didn't return to me when she bolted (TMI? Sorry)

Hardly TMI. I read you every day, I get invested in your life. First there was "S", then there wasn't. You know damned well I want a few details--don't need the entire grisly, painful episode, but a few highlights and a bit of overview would be fulfilling.