# Advice on creating an artists' portfolio?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-creating-an-artists-portfolio/457549>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 23, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-creating-an-artists-portfolio/457549 "2008-07-23T22:26:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-creating-an-artists-portfolio/457549/1 "2008-07-23T22:26:16Z")

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My wife has been studying pottery and is about to start submitting some of her works for exhibitions. She has never created an artists’ portfolio before and is looking for some advice on putting one together. Any dos/don’t/Web sites? Just get a photo album and start pasting?

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-creating-an-artists-portfolio/457549/2 "2008-07-23T23:58:37Z")

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It can’t hurt to get professional photos. You really want to show the work in its best light, so to speak. Glare, poor lighting, etc…can all detract from the beauty of her work.

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**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-creating-an-artists-portfolio/457549/3 "2008-07-24T01:30:10Z")

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[QUOTE=Kalhoun]  
It can’t hurt to get professional photos. You really want to show the work in its best light, so to speak. Glare, poor lighting, etc…can all detract from the beauty of her work.  
[/QUOTE]

Second this. You can get a good session done for cheap from your local photo majors at the university. Insist on slides, and digital. Some places are still stuck in the past or don’t trust digital portfolios.