some shit i learned with my last show

Truly, every experience is ripe for the learning, especially when it's me + photography.

When we were deciding on how we were going to hang the show, (there were 14 of us), it seemed like wall space was limited. It was a new venue for us, and as a group, we were encouraged to show just one piece. I took that advice to heart, thinking it would save money to not frame work that would just sit in storage, and that I could fill the one wall here at home where we needed something with one big image. And in the end, that's what I chose to do.

I went big, (24x36), and it's beautiful. I'm proud of the work, but felt insecure going into the show because I was the only person out of all the others with just one piece. 

Which should not matter, but ended up being a valuable learning lesson, and here's what I learned:

1. One photo does not do justice to a body of work. Given the opportunity to show more, I will always do so in the future because...
2. One photo does not inspire conversation, and people love to converse with the artist at openings about their work. 
3. One photo + an artist statement is more than enough to say, and imo, I felt like a tool having a statement with one photo. 
4. If the photo is strong enough, why all the words describing what it's about? That's what it felt like, having an artist statement with one image.
5. Had I shown more, the artist statement would have been more relevant because one would see the direction the work was flowing. 
6. One image + a statement feels like the artist is stretching to make more out of it. 
7. This obviously is not true if the entire group has just one image. Collectively, my work would have fit into the show better if I'd shown more than one piece.
8. All this would be one crazy lady's rants except for the fact that the only questions I was asked that evening pertained to me showing one image. 
9. Questions like: 'were you trying to save money?', 'do you have any other images or are you just starting this project?', 'why would you only show one when everyone else showed more?

Every instance is an opportunity to learn and I stand behind my work. Yes I wish I'd shown more in hindsight, but I am happy that the work looks beautiful, and that we have artwork for our wall. 

To be continued. 

I am a work in progress.