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Archive 2013 · medical office wall decor

  
 
beanpkk
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · medical office wall decor


I'm posting this here because it gets far more traffic than the "miscellaneous" board.

I'm not talking about photography of things in a medical office, I'm talking about the wall decor found in medical offices, on the walls of hospitals, in dentist office waiting rooms, etc. It seems to be a specialized branch of photography. At the medical building I go to, I see the photos on the wall, signed and numbered all, and marvel at the fuzziness, lack of message, total abstractness of many of them. But there they are, in limited editions, making some photographers a lot of money.

In one example, there is a set of about 16 11x14 or 16x20 images all showing what appears to be a duck on a body of water from fairly high up. The duck is so far away and occupies such a small portion of the mostly monochromatic image that you have to walk up to the images and stare at them to even guess at what they show. It may not even be a duck on water, but that's my guess. The series doesn't progress in any way (e.g. higher/farther to lower/closer) and as a photographer it leaves me speechless with "what's the point of this?" But there it is. I would have hit the delete button on every last one of them! (silly me, I don't know such stuff was worth money!)

What's the deal with medical office wall decor photography, and how does one break into it? I've never seen any mention of it on FM or anywhere else but it definitely exists as a branch of our photographic field of endeavor and quite a lucrative one apparently.


Thanks,
Keith



Aug 14, 2013 at 08:20 PM
Paul Mo
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · medical office wall decor


When the quack isn't on the greens he's out with his D40.


Aug 14, 2013 at 08:25 PM
beanpkk
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · medical office wall decor


Paul, . These aren't quacks -- it's a pretty first-class hospital type place. Although I don't doubt at all that most of the medical staff could buy any number of 1DXs.




Aug 14, 2013 at 08:28 PM
rockant
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · medical office wall decor


Just because a Medical Facility is first-class it does not mean that their taste in art is first-class.




Aug 14, 2013 at 08:48 PM
UCSB
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · medical office wall decor


I've seen non-descript art in hospital settings. It does not surprise me. People are ill or under stress, easy to digest art is just something to tone down the environment. The same way that these environments are often a little on the quiet side. Remember, these are competitive businesses. It is probably a little harder to select appropriate material for these types of environments than you might think. What would you put up?


Aug 14, 2013 at 09:06 PM
Gochugogi
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · medical office wall decor


I have a great dentist but he hangs anything on his walls from fuzzy snaps he took to flea market knife paintings on velvet. I don't think it's a specialized market. Just stuff the tooth fairy left...

I was in Macy's today and marbled at the large matted monochrome prints of NY buildings. Many seemed like random tourists snaps with bald skies, funky composition, bad focus and skewed horizons and verticals. It seemed almost as if they picked extra poor and nondescript images so they'd blend into the background and not distract from shopping.



Aug 14, 2013 at 09:15 PM
Imagemaster
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · medical office wall decor


beanpkk wrote:
............. it definitely exists as a branch of our photographic field of endeavor and quite a lucrative one apparently.

Thanks,
Keith


No, it is not a lucrative field of photography. In most cases, it is a matter of the photographer(s) knowing someone in the hospital or clinic. Try selling some prints to various clinics in your area and see what happens.

Since your thread is not Canon-specific, it should be posted here: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/27

not on this forum.



Aug 14, 2013 at 09:19 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · medical office wall decor


Most "office" art is not selected on the basis of its outstanding and unique quality but instead for things such as fitting in with the decor, creating a soothing mood, and cost.

In all but a few special cases, you are not going to find great photography on doctors' office walls.

Sorry.

Dan

beanpkk wrote:
I'm posting this here because it gets far more traffic than the "miscellaneous" board.

I'm not talking about photography of things in a medical office, I'm talking about the wall decor found in medical offices, on the walls of hospitals, in dentist office waiting rooms, etc. It seems to be a specialized branch of photography. At the medical building I go to, I see the photos on the wall, signed and numbered all, and marvel at the fuzziness, lack of message, total abstractness of many of them. But there they are, in limited editions, making some photographers a lot of money.

In
...Show more



Aug 15, 2013 at 12:40 AM
RCicala
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · medical office wall decor


Having spent most of my life working in medical offices and hospitals, I'll simply say it's a lot simpler than that. You bid out the non-medical furniture (waiting room, offices, etc.) to a company who supplies "32 chairs, 6 tables, 5 wall art, 3 artificial plants, etc."

I've been around when it was done a dozen times. Never even saw the pictures until they were hung on the wall. Docs are a gear-heads. We might argue for 6 hours over which type of lab equipment will be in the back room, but the waiting room gets "and get some chairs and stuff"



Aug 15, 2013 at 05:39 AM
willis
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · medical office wall decor


Much more likely to see high quality artistic photography on the walls if one of the Doctors IS a keen photographer (even using a D40). Otherwise it will all be very neutral and un-challenging with colours to match the decor.
Same with most art in hospitals, most people don't really want to see Edvard Munchs 'the scream' on the walls of their ER whatever it's artistic merit may be.



Aug 15, 2013 at 05:46 AM
bipock
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · medical office wall decor


My wife's OB-GYN has a local photog that did all their work, probably 50 pics throughout the office on the walls. While the pics are outstanding in quality, the photog made them into B&W. Now I have nothing against B&W and think it works well with people. The problem in this case is that they are all colorless and it makes the office feel very drab and cold. She nows decorates the hospital, in color, with nothing more than pics of local people doing family/kid things.

I don't think it is a special genre, just someone who saw a need, got the business and grew - quickly.



Aug 15, 2013 at 08:28 AM
Jo Dilbeck
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · medical office wall decor


I happen to be lucky enough to work at my local medical center, and my CEO is quite fond of my work. That said, I have been commissioned to do ALL the work in virtually the entire hospital as well as the many outlying clinics we own. The one single requirement I have been given is it has to be "local" pictures. So, my outstanding ocean, mountain, Yosemite, Yellowstone, et.al shots cannot see the light of day here. It's frustrating because I live in an area where there is a limited source of good, soothing photography. But, he's the boss, so I try my best to find/take pictures that will fill the bill.

As Tony said above "In most cases, it is a matter of the photographer(s) knowing someone in the hospital or clinic".

Jo



Aug 15, 2013 at 11:23 AM





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