Exhibiting your work
Just before Christmas I had the opportunity to run a pop-up exhibition of my work on the Atacama in my local area. By pure chance a retail outlet happened to be sitting empty, and had been painted white by the owner - a perfect venue for a gallery! Coming back from my trip to South America, I was so buzzed by my new collection that I wanted to share it with as many people as I could so I couldn't let this opportunity pass.
Getting permission from the owner left me with about 2 weeks to prepare everything, and to keep the costs as low as possible I was doing as much of the work as I could myself - printing, building display frames and designing info boards, there was a surprising amount to do. But all the work was worth it.
I've become a great believer in the printed image; you take your time with a real print, unlike an image you see on your phone or computer. And I could see this as well in the people who came to see the exhibition. People put time and effort into viewing each image, and I would often find myself in long conversations with visitors about my work, travel, or photography, which is something that never happens with my work online.
Having your work displayed in a public place can be nerve wracking. You are opening yourself to criticism, and with anything we create it becomes personal. But generally people are good at heart, and even if they don't like your work they aren't going to insult you over it. And seeing people react positively to something we have created is a great moment.
So if you ever find yourself with an opportunity to show your work, take the chance and go for it, because this is what photography is about in the end - sharing something you have seen or created with others