Debe Arlook and Eric T. Kunsman – Both Sides of the Table: Photography Portfolio Reviews Do’s and Don’ts

Review by Hans Hickerson ·

If you have never been to a portfolio review and are curious, Both Sides of the Table: Photography Portfolio Do’s and Don’ts will be your go-to resource for perspectives and information. It is chock full of useful ideas and advice.

The book is organized into three main parts. Reviewees are presented first, then organizers, and then reviewers, with a brief editors’ Q & A at the end.

Questions the reviewees answered include what they see as do’s and don’ts, what relationships have developed as a result of portfolio reviews, how you should present your portfolio, positive and negative experiences, costs involved, and virtual versus in-person reviews. Reviewers answered similar questions from their perspective as people looking and providing portfolio feedback.

Arlook and Kunsman queried 22 reviewees, 5 organizers, and 17 reviewers. The reviewees and reviewers answered 25 questions each and the organizers 22. If you do the math, the result is 1,085 separate responses. Given that quite a few answers are similar, this is not a book that you are going to read straight through. You will pick it up and refer to it multiple times, however, and perhaps (as I did) look up and read specific writers closely.

There was agreement among reviewees and reviewers that portfolio reviews are not about instant results but rather longer-term relationships. They are about building community, sharing, and connecting. Another theme is that reviewees should do their homework. They should research reviewers, prepare their portfolios thoughtfully and strategically, and rehearse. They should expect to engage in the give and take of conversation and be punctual and professional.

I was especially interested to see how reviewers’ approaches varied with their backgrounds as curators, gallerists, and editors. And the chapter where five portfolio review organizers related their experiences was especially enlightening, a behind-the-scenes look at specific events and their evolution.

Both Sides of the Table: Photography Portfolio Review Do’s and Don’ts is a good example of someone seeing an information gap needing to be filled and then filling it, and among aspiring photographers the book will no doubt find a receptive audience.

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Hans Hickerson, Assistant Editor of Photobook Journal, is a photographer and photobook artist from Portland, Oregon.

Debe Arlook and Eric T. Kunsman – Both Sides of the Table: Photography Portfolio Review Do’s and Don’ts

Design: Eric T. Kunsman

Language: English

Softbound cover, perfect bound, 378 pages, 7.25 X 9.5 inches, ISBN 978-1-956313-20-8

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