Week 9 Reflection
This week has been focused on preparing a body of work for my exhibition. This exhibition will form part of the Landings 2019 event.
Finding a venue for the exhibition was an interesting exercise. My preferred venue was the Ashdown Forest Conservation Centre. This is located close to me and, as my project deals with conservation issues, I felt it would be a good setting. Despite a conversation with a very helpful volunteer, I was unable to get a response from the administrators of the centre.
This is interesting as a lesson for possible future professional practice. I am experienced at running my own business (IT, not photography). Trying to get timely and useful responses from other parties is the most difficult part of the job. I guess this is no different in a photography business.
I have a friend who is the tourism officer for the town council who I ask for suggestions for venues. She replied very promptly with a list of possible venues. One of the suggestions was Martells department store in East Grinstead. I paid a visit, talked to the owner and reached an agreement to host the exhibition within 15 minutes. The pictures will be exhibited on the walls of the furniture department. This struck me as rather poignant, my pictures addressing the global climate crisis displayed in an approximation of a suburban living room.
The portfolio I selected contains work from the first two modules of the MA. I will present 12 pictures with an additional panel containing notes about the work. I will publicise the exhibition on social media and my friend at the town council will also provide publicity.
Never before have I put my work on display like this, so actually getting the whole thing together and on the wall will be a success for me. If people actually come to see it, I will regard that as a bonus.
The portfolio has been extensively reviewed; by family members, fellow students and my tutor. I believe the body of work is good and I have confidence in it. This helps, the whole business of printing pictures for the exhibition is totally new to me. If I was worried about the quality of the work, and the logistics of the exhibition, this could easily become a difficult combination. As it is, I just have twelve pictures to print and mount.
Years of working for other people and running my own business, have taught me that delivery is important. In fact, delivery is more important than perfection. It is so easy to obsess over minor details that consumers of the final product will almost certainly not notice. Deliver on time and people will respect you for it. My focus is now getting those pictures ready for 16th August.
Link to the exhibition online http://18.132.134.179/landings/