When is a work "Completed"?

[PhotoGalJan]

When is a work completed? I do photography and
sometimes to not print a negative for years. So
when would a work like that be considered completed? When the negative is taken and processed, when the work is printed, or when the whole thing is matted and framed? I think it is when a print is matted and framed. But then, lets say I do another print of the same negative, matted and framed ect. Should I go with the date of the original print, or the date of the second
print?! This is so confussing to me. I want to enter competitions but I am hesitant because I don't know when to consider a work "completed". Thanks a bunch
:confused:

[Totem]

Well a lot of artists, other than photographers, do a limited series of a certain print or piece. Depending on the market in which you hope to sell or show, you can adjust the total amount of prints you can release.

Say you want only ten copies of a print ever to be released, than the first one is 1 of 10 and the others in order of printing. When you are done with 10 of 10, then you are telling the public that there will not be any more printed of that piece again. A guarantee if you might say. But the date you put on the piece is the date the photo was taken, not when the piece was printed.

So in sense, if yo do not issue a series, then you could release as many prints as you want of a photo, and it would never be finished.

Totem