Sampling of Photographer Leave Behinds © Jeanine Michna-Bales

Welcome to Beyond the Photograph, a new monthly series on Lenscratch dedicated to helping photographers grow their artistic practices beyond the camera. Capturing images is just one small part of a photographer’s journey. In this series, we’ll explore the tools, strategies, and best practices that support the broader aspects of a contemporary art career.

Self-promotion is a key, yet often overlooked, aspect of any artistic practice. It’s essential not only for building recognition but for sustaining your passion for photography. From business cards and postcards to your online presence and artist website, your personal brand should be reflected in all your visuals, design, and tone—both online and offline.

If you’re interested in learning more, join me for a 90-minute Webinar on Self-Promotion and Leave Behinds through LACP this Saturday, February 1, 2025 from 10am – 11:30am PST.

In this inaugural installment, we focus on one of the most powerful, yet sometimes neglected, promotional tools: Leave Behinds. These are physical promotional pieces—business cards, postcards, and other materials—that you give directly to industry professionals or send through the mail. When crafted carefully, leave behinds can make a lasting impression on curators, gallerists, photo editors, and even your peers.

Key Elements of a Successful Leave Behind

When creating a leave behind, certain components work together to form a compelling promotional piece. Think of these as the building blocks:

• Content, format, and purpose: Ensure they seamlessly work together while aligning with your goals and audience.
• A key visual: This should encapsulate your artistic style and vision.
• A concise message: Let your work speak for itself with clear, direct communication.
• A call to action: Define what you want your audience to do—whether it’s remembering your work, visiting your website, attending an event, considering an exhibition, or purchasing a book.
• A glimpse of you as an artist: Include elements that show who you are beyond the photograph.
• Simple, thoughtful design: Allow your aesthetics to come through in the overall layout and presentation.
• Delivery method: Whether in person or by mail, ensure you get your leave behind into the right hands.

Choosing the Right Format for Your Leave Behind

The format you choose for your leave behind depends on your goal and how you plan to distribute it. Are you introducing a new project, announcing an exhibition, or simply reminding someone of your work? The answer to this question will guide your format choice.

Sampling of Photographer Business Cards © Jeanine Michna-Bales

• Business cards are the simplest and most common leave behinds. They’re a great way to provide a quick visual reminder of your work and contact information. Keep in mind that your business card isn’t just a place to house your contact information and social media handles; it’s an extension of your personal brand and the design should reflect your artistic style.

For example, photographer Marcy Palmer chose to feature a selection of key images from her various projects on the front of her business cards, while keeping the back design consistent. This approach highlights the range of her work and signals to her audience that she organizes her projects into structured photo essays.

Business Cards for Different Projects Including Her Latest Series You Are Eternity © Marcy Palmer

For my own project, Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad (2002 – 2016), I printed a variety of images on the front, with the same project details on the back. This allowed people to engage with the imagery and pick their favorite image, sparking conversation about the work and even leading to sales of the monograph.

Project Postcards for Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad (2002 – 2016) © Jeanine Michna-Bales

• Postcards can be a simple contact tool, but they can also serve additional purposes. They’re perfect for announcing exhibitions and upcoming monographs, introducing new projects, or simply offering a space for a hand-written, personal note. A well-designed postcard can say a lot about your work and your artistic identity. Using simple, clean design principles and thoughtful typography can effectively communicate your brand’s personality.

Postcards and Business Card for The Collective Glitch © H. Jennings Sheffield

R.J. Kern printed postcards to introduce his new body of work, The Last Fair. He then handwrote a quick note on the back and either handed them out or mailed them to his target audience.

Postcard Introducing R.J. Kern’s New Body of Work The Last Fair © R.J. Kern

In this handwritten thank you card, Mary West Quin used a platinum palladium print that wasn’t perfect—a mistake where the chemistry dripped leaving an unpleasing pattern. She addresses this in her note, and in the process, creates a unique way to repurpose unusable prints. This not only personalizes her process but also nods to the mistakes we all can make in our craft.

Thank You Card Made from a Mistake Print from the Project 100 Butterflies: Prayer for Peace © Mary West Quin

Humanizing Your Work: Images That Capture You in Action

Images of you in the field, holding prints or framed works, or engaging with your audience at an artist talk or exhibition, provide a great sense of who you are as an artist, how your work is experienced, and even the scale of your pieces.

A Publication Announcement Postcard Featuring an Image of Krista Elrick Photographing for Her Series Retracing Audubon: A Confluence of Histories © Krista Elrick

When creating this project-specific piece for ICE: A Fragile Force, An Elegy in Three Parts, Patricia Carr Morgan intentionally chose a tri-fold to emphasize that the project was produced in three distinct parts. On the back, she included an image of herself giving an artist talk, signaling that speaking about her work is an important aspect of her artistic practice.

Inside Spread of a Tri-fold Brochure created for ICE: A Fragile Force, An Elegy in Three Parts © Patricia Carr Morgan

The Back of a Tri-Fold Project Brochure Featuring an Image of Morgan Giving an Artist Talk for ICE: A Fragile Force, An Elegy in Three Parts © Patricia Carr Morgan

The Power of Personalization

While business cards and postcards are simple and effective, you can go a step further with more unique, leave behinds that can be printed or hand-made. These personalized promotional pieces are great for making an impact during events like photo reviews or portfolio walks. But remember—more isn’t always better. Not every reviewer will want a stack of promotional materials, especially when traveling. Always ask first if they’d like a leave behind, and hand it to them at the beginning of the conversation. That way, you ensure they remember to take it, and you have an opportunity to engage them right away.

A Printed Accordion-Fold Project Introduction for Heat © Linda Alterwitz

A Hand-made Leave Behind and Thank You Card for the Project Descendants © JP Terlizzi

The Importance of a Call to Action

No matter the format, every leave behind should have a clear call to action. What do you want the recipient to do after seeing your work? Whether it’s visiting your website, attending an event, or purchasing a monograph, make it easy for them to take the next step. This not only increases the likelihood of engagement, but it also helps you track the effectiveness of your promotional efforts.

Show Card Announcing the Exhibition, Opening Reception, and Artist Talk for #InHonor: Monoliths © Ervin A. Johnson and Arnika Dawkins Gallery

Building Your Network, One Leave Behind at a Time

By creating personalized leave behinds that target the correct audience and include a clear call to action, you can build stronger connections within the art and photography community. These simple yet powerful promotional pieces are essential tools for growing your network and, ultimately, advancing your artistic practice.

Stay tuned for future installments of Beyond the Photograph, where we’ll dive deeper into promotional strategies like project proposals, exhibition updates, and publishing opportunities, as well as other behind-the-scenes tasks that we photographers handle to keep our practices thriving.

If you’re interested in learning more about self-promotion and creating impactful leave behinds, join me for a 90-minute webinar this Saturday, February 1, 2025, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am PST, hosted by LACP. In this session, I’ll guide you through the creative process of promoting both yourself and your work in a way that resonates with industry professionals, helping them truly understand your artistic practice. We’ll explore the purpose, types, and formats of various leave behinds, other strategies for self-promotion, and how to assess the effectiveness of your efforts. There will also be time for a Q&A session at the end, and I’ll send a follow-up email with additional resources and links to further explore the topics discussed.

After a successful 20-year career as a creative in advertising, Jeanine Michna-Bales transitioned to become a full-time artist. A visual storyteller working primarily in photography, Michna-Bales (American, b. 1971) explores the profound impact of cornerstone relationships on contemporary society—the connections between individuals, communities, and the land we inhabit. Her work sits at the crossroads of curiosity and knowledge, blending documentary and fine art, past and present, and disciplines like anthropology, sociology, environmentalism, and activism.

Michna-Bales’ artistic practice is rooted in thorough, often primary-source research, which allows her to explore multiple perspectives, grasp the complexities of cause and effect, and understand the socio-political context surrounding the subjects she examines.

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