Portfolio's!

[dawntwist]

I'm starting a course in Photography in September and after a lengthy talk with the tutor Ive found out that students keep a paper based portfolio for the duration of the course. Im not too keen on these types of portfolios, and would rather use something like this Its something you'd use for scrapbooking (which I do) but I think it would be a good idea for a photography portfolio too.

Question: If I used this for my course, would I: (a) Be cutting myself short for the overall grade in the assessment at the end of the course, and (b) Is it acceptable for presentating for a further course in Photography (and/or if I wanted to go down the freelance path)?

 

[Brains]

Type 1 looks more like the usual pro style of portfolio
Type 2 looks like a scrapbook

IMO - type 1 all the way

 

[minimeeze]

I've just done the first part of A Level photography. The tutor said we could use whatever we wanted for our portfolio. The majority of the class used something similar to your second example!

 

[Lady Pitstop]

I would be more inclined to go for the first one simply because it will withstand a lot more 'abuse' than the second one.

 

[Brains]

I think you need to consider the perceptions that people have too of what is a pro portfolio of a freelancer....I think the majority would go with type 1.

But hey, if you are happy with 2 then you go for it. At the end of the day it's your work and you should feel free to display it how you want.

 

[dawntwist]

Weird order of posts!

Anyway, thanks for the advice guys

 

[cjnicolai]

The style of the first one is more typically seen in terms of professional portfolios. That said, I hate them. LOL. The plastic covers on the pages make it really difficult to view the prints well. They reflect like crazy, and the ones that don't reflect mute the prints down into a soft grey mess.

Personally, my favorite way to view a portfolio is to see them individually mounted on matte board or foam core and kept in a clamshell box. No plastic, easy to update, very archival, much more professional looking, and no problems with the vertical-vs-horizontal issue.

- CJ

 

[mho]

individually mounted on matte board or foam core and kept in a clamshell box.
- CJ

Thats exactly the way I'm just putting one together, for submission.

As for your course, put it together the way its asked for, if they are not bothered how you do it, then its up to you.

 

[moomike]

Personally, my favorite way to view a portfolio is to see them individually mounted on matte board or foam core and kept in a clamshell box. No plastic, easy to update, very archival, much more professional looking, and no problems with the vertical-vs-horizontal issue.
- CJ

Do you make your own clamshell boxes CJ & MHO or do you buy them & also do you find that it is difficult accessing the prints if people need to look through?
Sounds like a really interesting idea but I'm just trying to work out whether it'd be feasible to carry around etc.
Cheers

 

[cjnicolai]

I buy the clamshell box. It's not a problem at all accessing the prints, provided the mattes don't fit TOO snugly into the box. When I teach, I typically have 20 portfolio's to thoroughly review in three days, and I find clamshells to be the easiest on me by far. Plastic covered pages really degrade the image quality, so I end up having to pull all the prints out of the sleeves, which is incredibly irritating. Grrrr.