It is hard to be the photographer in a show or auction of mixed art forms. You just get treated differently. A lot of folks don’t think of photographs as art and would just as soon buy a crappy painting over a stunning photograph. I was in an auction once where they auctioned off all kind of stuff, from art to island vacations and wine tastings. The big seller was an evening riding around with the Seattle police. Went for $1000s of dollars. Poor smucks didn’t realize they could call the police department a get it for free. At least then they could. Now they would make you sign a waiver about being killed and make you wear a Kevlar vest. But I don’t donate much these days. Most don’t give the artists anything except for the standard line about being great exposure. I once asked the person soliciting my art for their auction why they didn’t at least give the artists 2 free admission tickets? She said artists don’t buy anything and drink all the wine and eat all the food…. Needless to say I didn’t donate to their cause.
