How to curate a standout photography online art show

Getting the right show. That perfect light source. A subject that captures your eye. Training your view to recognize those frames in daily life. From analog to digital, photography is an art form on its own that captures our attention and renews itself constantly.

Bringing your photographic work online is not limited to just sharing an image. There are several tools for artists that can help them create an experience and narrative around what they have seen through the lens of their camera.

Keep reading to get insider tips on how to curate, create and promote an online photography exhibition that engages your audience.

Select the images for your online photography exhibition

No matter how big or small your body of work is, all curatorial processes for an exhibition start with a pre-selection of pieces. This selection should be based on goal and theme.

For example, what do you want to achieve with this online photography show? Maybe it’s sharing your latest work, maybe it’s promoting your prints for sale or simply creating an experience people interested in your work can engage with. 

With this goal in mind, it is easier to define a theme. Take notes about what’s the defining subject that connects the photography pieces you want to showcase. It helps to also think about your audience: how would you speak about this subject to someone that’s only having first contact with it?

Once you have defined what is the connecting theme between your pieces and how you want to communicate your story to achieve your goal: your curatorial process is about to start.

Select and customize a gallery for an online photography exhibition

Online gallery spaces give you a myriad of customization options brick-and-mortar galleries can’t offer. First of all, they are open 24/7 and available to anyone in the world. But if we go into detail you’ll see other benefits such as the possibility of creating a particular atmosphere that enhances your photography art with just a few clicks.

The first step in this process is selecting the right virtual gallery space for your exhibition. Take into account the overall space design, the number of works you are exhibiting, and their format and size, there are galleries designed to showcase even smaller pieces. Remember that all galleries offer you the opportunity to customize floors, walls, and ceilings to portray the right aesthetic.

Showcase of Chase Teron’s wildlife photography work.

How to curate a photography online art show

Now is the time to get into work and start curating your virtual gallery. This goes beyond just placing your photos on a gallery wall. Think about how each piece connects to the other, what they say as a group, and how you can take the visitor on a special journey around the virtual gallery where each piece has the chance to tell the story you captured with your camera.

Take your time and play around with the pieces on the walls. Aim for creative layouts and juxtaposition of sizes and formats that can attract the visitor’s attention. To find the right display also take into consideration the type of framing you’ll be using, make it cohesive and yet interesting to look at. The main goal is to present your photography work as the centerpiece of this exhibition.

Open up your mind to new possibilities. What could enrich your exhibition and narrative? Now you can add 3D-like objects to highlight this storytelling: cameras, tools, objects related to your subject, and anything you can think of. These gallery spaces also support different formats like NFTs and videos. Your exhibition could open with a little video introduction on your behalf!

Here you can find more ideas and assets to give your online art exhibition an extra oomph.

How to create a curatorial statement for a photography online art show

Your curatorial statement should answer the following questions: what do you do? how do you do it? and why do you do it? It should give the visitor a closer look into your creative process, the backstage of your photography work, etc.

Your statement should provide a deeper look into what you have captured on camera, including techniques, mediums, and subjects. You can upload this as a PDF file when creating your exhibition and you can also highlight these details by sharing fragments of it and placing them on your virtual gallery walls as seen below.

You can also:

-Create a catalog of all your pieces to give visitors extra information about the collection.

-Prepare a press release to communicate your upcoming photography show and expand its reach.

Creating the right art photography description for an exhibition

An online photography exhibition can be a great way to promote the sale of original pieces and prints. But in order to reach that sale you need to provide the visitor with important information about the photography that goes beyond the technical aspects.

A photo is worth a thousand words, right? This statement is true but in order to capture potential collector’s attention, you need to tell a bit of the story of what they are seeing. You can talk about the subject, how you worked with it, what it means to you, etc. And there is no need to fear the blank page, today there are several digital tools for artists like AI technology chats and ready-to-paste prompts that can help you create a great description in minutes.

Promote your photography online exhibition

Once your online photography gallery is ready, it is time to promote and turn it into an event that can help you achieve your art marketing and sales goals. Follow these steps to make sure your exhibition will create a buzz:

–Build a strategy to get visitors coming: from the announcement to the day of the inauguration keep a steady communication with your audience through different channels.

-Use email marketing: this is useful for all types of announcements and also a good way to give exclusive access to the gallery to certain users via link.

–Create a variety of social media posts: from sneak peeks to actual views of the gallery and the pieces in it.

-Embed the new gallery on your professional artist page: make sure to tweak your website design to make the exhibition more visible and attractive to visitors.

–Share your art virtual exhibition: get the link to post it on all your social channels.

Sign up for free and start working on your online photography exhibition today. And of course, share your work with #ArtPlacer to get featured on our social media channels.