Once again I am allowed to show my photos to the general public, in this case at a local hospital's cafeteria space. I thoroughly enjoy the process with exhibitions, from taking the photos, processing them, picking what photos to print, printing them, framing them and putting them on the walls. Actually...the only thing I don't enjoy that much is probably schlepping them to the place, because that usually involves carrying multiple frames for some distance!
First look at what prints I had available and what I needed to print for the exhibition.
This time I decided to show photos from my ongoing series "Old World" with black and white photos....a project I started last year when I began to play around with the Nik Collection and especially Silver Efex and Analog Efex. With these I can make my images seem either a lot older than they really are...or even better...nearly timeless. I enjoy playing with that idea for my pictures, and I've even managed to "fool" seasoned photo club members into thinking they were done through an older, alternative process. I'd call that one a win!
Mid-process...yes...there actually was a plan for what went where...
The photos in this exhibition are all taken in and around Malmö, Sweden, where the exhibition is held. My father wisely suggested I should keep the images local so that people could recognize places they know and perhaps think "Wow...I never saw it like that...that's cool!" Of course I hadn't thought of that at first, but it made total sense, so I went with it. That of course meant having to discard a few of my favorite prints from other locations, but that's okay...I can put them into another exhibition some other time, where they may fit in better with the rest of the collection.
So how did I get this opportunity? I got it through the photo club I am a a member of, something I've been part of for the last 11 years now. We've got several connections with venues around the city where we sometimes have access to exhibition spaces, and every so often it's my "turn" to take part and show off some of my work. I like to jump on that whenever I get the chance, and to my relief it's not that many of the photo club members who seem as interested in exhibiting stuff as I am. To each their own I suppose; if they're more interested in viewing other people's photos than showing off their own...great!
All done!
As much as I put price tags on the photos I put on the wall the other day I don't expect to sell anything through this exhibition, but that has never really been my goal when I show pictures to people...sure it'd be nice if/when it happens, but I am not going to sulk endlessly if I don't attract a buyer. What I enjoy about the process is the way a seemingly disparate group of images can come together and form some sort of story, or at least a mood when put together. That way the sum becomes greater than the parts put together...if that makes any sense to people.