Has anybody in our group ever exhibited? Although I've contributed prints to shows over the years, I've never done one solely featuring my own work. It's one of those things that goes to the heart of how I view myself and photojournalism. There have been times over my career that I've had friends and colleagues try to push me into doing a show, but I rejected it. I've always had an internal debate about whether photojournalism or documentary photography is art. I'm sure it might seem ridiculous that I raised the question. Considering our previous class about Robert Frank, Gary Winnogrand, and Lee Friedlander, and their history of exhibiting and producing books, it seems a good vehicle to show our work. I've read articles where the case is strongly made that photojournalism becomes art with age. Some of the coolest exhibits that I've gone to have been of a documentary/photojournalistic nature such as a Magnum show in Paris, Alex Webb at the Leica Gallery, and more than a handful of wonderful photographers at the International Center for Photography. (One of the best employee perks at The New York Times was getting free admission into virtually all NYC museums. including the ICP which was a very short walk up W.43rd from the old NYT building and a place I frequented).
The flyer above is for a show by a local photo club of amateurs and photo enthusiasts that I've contributed to for their next show which will benefit a charity. I let them use one of my pictures for the flyer and cringed when I saw the type all over it: a carryover pet peeve from my newspaper years. A Mozambican photojournalist who's become a good friend, Carlos Litulo, thinks very little of the group's work and has been urging me to distance myself from them and thought it was bad for my reputation to be associated with these less than stellar photographers. (Carlos's thoughts have affected me somewhat: I haven't let them include me on their web site and did not want to be included in an upcoming South African magazine feature about the club. I told them I was too new and didn't want to step on toes-so hopefully I don't come across as an arrogant snob who thinks he's too good: I don't.)
I, however, have befriended several of the folks which is made up of diplomats, NGO workers, and other ex-pats. It's mostly a reason to get out, drink beer and talk about photography. I have to say I enjoy their enthusiasm and it can be sometimes inspiring, plus many have been in Maputo for quite some time and have good knowledge and contacts. Nevertheless, since I arrived they've been lobbying me to give them formal instruction. I finally made a deal with them last week that I would give them some instruction if they did grunt work for a show that I would like to do with some of my work from Portugal. I thought this was a good time to do it and have had a lot of friends pushing me, including Carlos. So, although I still have some of the hesitations that I mentioned with art and photojournalism, I'm going to exhibit.
I thought it would be a good exercise for this course, as well as an opportunity to introduce myself to NGOs, etc who I would like to have as clients. Now the plea, if you have any experiences or advice that you'd like to share about your exhibits, I would love to have them. Some things that are on my mind are about print size, frames, & matting; the number of photographs to exhibit; whether editing for a show should be different than for a story; promotion; and whether it would be odd to seek corporate support for expenses.
Any thoughts?
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