Building a Photography Print Shop: The Journey Begins

I've wanted to offer my photography prints for sale for a long time. I want to build a shop where my work is displayed in small collections, available in different sizes, framed or unframed. I've sold pieces over the years — mostly to people I know, friends of friends, through my greeting card line, or through group exhibitions. Now I want to make something more formal, where I can offer my work to more people.

I did some research and made a list of things I need to do to get the shop up and running. There are so many moving parts, especially the logistics and decisions involved. Do I print everything in T&T and mail pieces out from here to buyers around the world? The benefit is I'll get to see the work printed and sign each one myself — but what about shipping costs overseas, especially with faster mail services? Based on my experience mailing calendars, I also know the local postal service, TTPOST, doesn't deliver everywhere internationally. Do I do a limited drop first, just to test the waters?

I've decided to document this journey here — partly for accountability, and partly as a record to show myself how much I've actually done, making a "done list." We rarely give ourselves credit for what we've accomplished, focusing only on to-do lists. The "done list" flips that — it's a simple way to shift your mindset and build motivation by looking back at progress, not just what's left. I'm hoping this documentation might also help someone else working on something similar.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I'll add a couple of updates in this post — a thought, a dilemma, a decision made — as I move toward the goal. My aim is to have the shop up and ready by the end of October. Check back on this post for updates, and if you have any tips, let me know!

Day 1 | 21st September 2026

I already have a store live on the site — a small selection of t-shirts — but today's task was adding clear categories, so clicking "Shop" gives visitors the option to browse art prints or apparel separately.

Done today:

• Built the landing page and linked it to the Wix store showcasing the products

• Realized the art print section didn't need to work the same way as apparel — prints won't be dropship fulfilled, they'll be ordered, printed locally, and mailed directly to the customer

• Decided to build a simple catalog page for the photograph selection instead, where people can choose and pay separately

Tomorrow: Designing that catalog page