Image copyright VisitBritain

Photo exhibitions take a lot of time, cash, organization and hard work, but are an effective sales tool. You’ll also get a real buzz from displaying work in a public space.

Top galleries won’t take first-timers for photo exhibitions, but a smaller gallery may display one or two prints. Venues such as hotels, cafes, libraries and bars are also good places. Make sure you’re happy with any terms and conditions. Galleries usually demand a commission, sometimes up to 50%.

The next step is to decide on a theme – random subjects and styles will rarely succeed. Generic themes can work well, but specific ones like ‘autumn’ or ‘asylum seekers’ will attract more attention.

Print quality must be exceptional, so consider printing your images at a commercial lab. Mount, frame and caption images in exactly the same way using simple yet stylish frames.

The next step is to tell people about your photo exhibition. Send out formal invitations as well as press releases to the local media.

On the night your photo exhibition opens, keep the refreshments flowing, your business cards at the ready and employ a second pair of hands to handle sales or answer queries when you’re busy.

Tips for organising your first photo exhibition

• Print quality is paramount, but it’s also important to consider the print size. A3 will probably be the minimum for most venues, but for larger walls you may need to print at A2 or even A1.

• Ensure that all your prints are consistent in terms of size, mounts, frames and captions. A slick presentation could pay dividends in terms of sales.

• Sending out amateurish invitations and press releases is likely to do more harm than good. If in doubt, have them designed and written professionally.

• Offering limited edition prints is a good way to give your work a more exclusive, desirable feel. Consider charging between 15 and 20 percent extra for limited edition prints.

• On your opening night,employ a co-host who knows your work and can take orders / answer questions while you’re busy with any other guests.

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The London Festival of Photography 2012 will kick off on 1 June and run through the end of the month, according to organisers.

The second year of the festival will encompass documentary photography, street photography, as well as more conceptual work.

The festival will be comprised of 18 exhibitions and 40 events, including workshops, talks and screenings. Featured exhibitions include The Great British Public, which focuses largely on street photography and includes work by photographers Martin Parr, Simon Roberts and others.

The Gaddafi Archives – Libya Before the Arab Spring collates photos and artefacts illustrating the recent history of Libya, as well as photography’s role in documenting its recent period of change.

Beneath the Surface will showcase acclaimed wildlife photographer Steve Bloom’s images documenting the first cracks in South Africa’s apartheid regime. Other exhibitions will vary in style and theme from a number of photographic disciplines, showcasing work from both established and emerging photographers.

Featured workshops include a five-day masterclass with Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins, and a London to Paris Street Photography Weekend Workshop with Nick Turpin (read our street photography tips from Nick and other pro street photographers).

The festival exhibitions will be centred around the King’s Cross, Bloomsbury & Fitzrovia areas, in venues including the British Library, Guardian Gallery, British Museum, Museum of London, V&A and Tate Modern among others.

The festival expects approximately 50,000 visitors to festival exhibitions and events.

For a full list of events, visit the Festival’s website.

Over 40 new portraits, including shots of three-times world champion gymnast Beth Tweddle and sprinter Jodie Williams, will show at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the London 2012 Festival this summer.

Aiming High will form the third and final part of the three-year BT Road to 2012 project, including 100 portraits of the people who collectively will make the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games happen.

The free exhibition will be on display at the National Portrait Gallery from 19th July to 23rd September, and highlights will tour Cardiff, Edinburgh and Birmingham in following months.

The Gallery has also commissioned behind-the-scenes interviews with the photographers and sitters involved in the project, which can be viewed here.

Work on the new Soho gallery began in Autumn 2010 as organisers sought a new space that would “create a 21st Century home for photography.”

Highlights of the new building include a sculpted terrazzo entrance with an open-plan design will connect the ground-level café and lower-ground bookshop to the street, while extending over a further five floors, the original Victorian red-brick warehouse will be linked to a modern steel-framed extension through an “external sleeve of black render, terrazzo and sustainably sourced Angelim Pedra wood,” according to the gallery.

Situated at the heart of the building between the two main exhibition spaces is the Studio Floor. Placing an emphasis on the gallery’s education programme, this floor will feature a full schedule of talks, workshops and events. Introducing permanent elements to the programme, the Studio Floor will include a camera obscura and a Study Room where the public will be able to access an archive of material related to exhibitions and events which have taken place since The Photographers’ Gallery was established.

Also featured on this floor will be Touchstone, a quarterly display of a single, groundbreaking photograph. Opening with Jeff Wall’s famous photo, The Giant (1992), Touchstone will encourage audiences to closely examine the work and showcase their responses alongside comments from the artist and contributors from other disciplines.

Another highlight of the Gallery’s opening will be a new digital programme featuring projects which raise questions concerning the changing status and circulation of photography in today’s digital culture. A centrepiece of the programme will be a digital display on the ground floor which will present guest-curated projects, artist commissions and collaborative photographic work involving the public. Social media channels, mobile devices and The Photographers’ Gallery’s website will all be explored as alternative platforms for exhibitions.

The work cost £8.9 million and was supported by Arts Council England’s Lottery Fund, alongside a number of Trusts, Foundations, corporations and individual donors.

Originally launched in 1971 in London’s Great Newport Street, The Photographers’ Gallery was the UK’s first independent gallery dedicated to photography and was the first in the UK to exhibit work by famous photographers such as Sebastião Salgado and Robert Capa.

Coinciding with the re-opening will be an exhibition of photos by the renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. The exhibition of Edward Burtynsky photos will showcase over 30 large-scale images from his acclaimed series OIL. Shot over the span of 10 years, OIL highlights the rarely seen mechanics of the manufacture, distribution and use of one of the world’s most highly contested resources while exploring its impact on our lives, culture and the environment.

Visit The Photographers’ Gallery website for more details.