Exhibition Drama

I met with a friend of mine from AMF (Mozambican Photography Association) to protest my being bumped. After presenting my case, it was obvious that it was some funny business going on that more than likely involves money and payoffs. While in the scheme of things, it's small potatoes, it was a big deal to me. Despite having all of the evidence, saved e-mails, text messages and other documentation that showed that my gallery booking was agreed upon, I was stuck. The other venues that I was interested in as alternates were booked, and I would not want to stoop to one of the smaller galleries.

In the end, I was only able to negotiate 2 extra days. My new exhibition dates are 21 November – 2 December. We're working on the poster and the program. Melissa is a wonderful designer and has been great to work with. We've spent the last few days trying to finish it and send them out to print. I'm finishing my summary and biography. A draft of the poster can be seen above.

This has been much more of an adventure than I anticipated: more work, pressure and stress than I imagined. I gave a lecture this evening about picture stories and photo essays, and showed my project. It was nice to simply talk about the pictures while seeing them projected big without thinking about the events of the past week.

Post-Tutorial Major Project Blues

Vanishing Coast - Images by Michael Barrientos

After our group tutorial with Mr. Easterby, I took his very simple advice in my editing dilemma: "make prints." It was a simple idea that I practiced daily for years, but one that somehow forgot all this time in computerland. I made small prints of my project and have been laying them out in various layouts or in my gallery set-up. I've been able to eliminate quite a few and clarify what I want to say.

Two aspect of this process that have been difficult beyond the several pending deadlines I have (printing, catalogue printing, and our final deadlines for the major project) are editing with individuals getting different verdicts and the absence of many people to work with in making a final decision. In my newspaper years, when I was presenting my own work or projects as a photographer, I ran it by several people in both group editing sessions or intimate one-on-one situations. As it went up the line different people got to hear the pitch and see the work. It sharpened you. As an editor, much the same type of situation existed with me as the advocate taking the work down the line.

This lack of layers of editors has been something in my process that has been a struggle. As I've noted before on several occassions, I'm not the greatest editor of my own work.

I'm still milling these picture over and 'living with them a while' even though I'm "sick of them" as John so rightly put it. I have to produce an exhibition catalogue and a poster for printing this week and start having my actual prints made by a printer in South Africa. I'm feeling more confident in what I've narrowed down to.

In my exhibition, I plan to display my photos in a linear fashion by going in geographical order in the areas of the 10 kilometer strip of coast it was taken. Last month, I hired folk artists to build a 3-dimensional map of the Marginal which I will display along with my photos in order to give viewers an idea of where various activities take place. I also plan to run a loop of recorded sound that I have recorded.

Budget

Click to Enlarge. It seems everyone was interested in how much I was paying for my show during our Wimba Arms meeting on Monday night (I'm still working on getting sponsors, so hopefully nothing), however, here's my budget. Melissa, the friend who is assisting me, actually formatted this pretty budget, and I've been sending out as part of my package to potential sponsors because they all want to know these details. As far as sponsors, I have one and two more seem like they're going to help: Standard Bank will pay for my prints and matting (if it goes through), and SAB Miller will provide beverages (beer) if that works out. As much as it is, it's still much cheaper than it would be in the UK or US, but in all it's a give and take.

Major Project Tutorial Update

My final project is titled "Vanishing Coast," and I will present it in an exhibition scheduled November 14 – 28 in Maputo, Mozambique. With the exhibit, I will have a 30-page catalogue printed up as well as promotional posters. The exhibit will include 40 prints and ambient sound that I have collected from various groups I have photographed.

This project is a continuation of one that I began at the start of the course examining the 10 kilometer strip of coast in Maputo called the Marginal. Working from the idea that coastal erosion, a major problem not only in Maputo but throughout Africa, may completely wash away the beaches here in what an expert estimated between 10 and 50 years. It is an ethnographical study of the people who use the beach: religious groups, fishermen, and those using it for recreation as one of the only green spaces in the city, whether for football, martial arts or sunbathing.

Ultimately, I'd like to have the work published in book form, using the exhibition and catalogue as a selling point in pursuing publishers.

Here's where I am. I have tight deadlines. My catalogue and posters must go out to print in two weeks time to make the show. Yet, I am still pushing for at least one more sponsor. At this point I only have one, Southern Sun Hotels, and have gone to several corporate entities such as Anadarko (an American oil company), Mozal (an aluminum corp), several banks, telecommunication companies, and a major beer company. This week, I should get the answers from the remaining groups I met with and did presentations.

Next, I actually have to have my work printed, which will be done in Nelspruit, South Africa-four hours away. However, I am working on my final edit, which has been very stressful. Then I will start doing promotion and publicity in the city. I have a friend, a photographer and former sports marketing expert, who has been assisting me. I also have a Mozambican photographer friend who will help me in publicizing and translating into Portuguese.

This has been an intense experience so far and has been underway really since February, but has picked up steam as the date approaches. It has been eye opening as far as the amount of work, planning and money it takes to do a credible exhibition that one can be proud of.

Finally, I intend to do a multimedia piece aside from my exhibition for the final which will include interviews and ambient sound. I don't intend to shoot anymore for the project but am planning a number of interviews with several of my sources in researching. Editing, again, I expect to be toughest.

www.vanishingcoast.info

Exhibit Momentum

I've been spending a lot of time working on my final project exhibit. The good news is that I have a date and location secured: the Mozambican Photography Association, or Associação Moçambicano de Fotografia (AMF). This week, I've dealt with rejection for corporate sponsorship from Mcel, the national cellular company and Rezidor Hotel group, but as much as I despise doing this, I'm going to others with my hat out. I've been pricing printers-not that there's a lot of choice here, but I'm going with a person that I've dealt with in Nelspruit, South Africa where I went earlier this week and met with to work out a deal which comes out to almost half of the price the big printer here estimated.

I have a check list that I'm working on now planning things like posters and post cards for advertising, a catalogue, information cards for the exhibit, framing and presentation, and my opening reception including food and beverages. More than anything, I need to do a final edit to get my prints and catalogue rolling. The time is going to go by really quickly, and deadlines are already looming.

I created an informational blog which I am going to register a domain name for and use on my promotional items.

Back in Mozambique

Last week, I finally came back to Mozambique after being abruptly plucked out of the country and my life with my crazy heart situation. It was strange not being allowed to return home and in limbo for a while wondering whether or not I would get medical clearance to come back.

It's taken some time and stress to get back into the swing of daily life again particularly with my little boys going to different schools on different schedule which means I have also begun a life as a taxi driver. But more than anything, I have been consumed with getting my final project exhibition up and going. It's been somewhat stressful.

First, the initial venue that I had planned to show at, the Franco Mozambican Cultural Center, and went to back in February with my proposal gave me the Mozambican eye gouge. They had given me a letter accepting my proposal, but wanted me to do the exhibit in June, the national environmental month. I had to turn it down because they notified me three weeks before. It wasn't enough time to get my project together, printed, framed and do adequate promotion and all the other things that go into a show. They initially were a bit annoyed, but I met with the point person in charge of exhibits just before I was sent away, and she assured me that everything was fine and that I would get a space in late October or early November. She lied.

When I got back, I immediately contacted her but the board there had wanted me to show with another photographer or hold off until March, 2010. I turned it down. I spent the time since then trying to secure another space, the Mozambican Photographer Association gallery which I was succeeded in getting. I had to give them my proposal last week and last night I was given the dates of Saturday November 14 – Monday, November 30. It's a tremendous relief.

What I'm doing now is trying to get in gear for this show which involves a bit of money. I've put a chunk of personal cash aside to cover cost but hopefully can get funding. I'm working on sponsorship and have an incredibly organized friend, Melissa, assisting me. I hate going to people to ask for money. It's humbling. So far, I've been in talks with Anadarko, an American oil company with a big presence in Maputo, mcel, the national cellular company, and am aiming at getting one of the two big hotels on the Marginal. It's a new experience. I've applied for and gotten academic grants and fellowships before, but perhaps, this experience will help me sharpen that skill.

I have a list of things to do: edit; plan my presentation; have prints made; mount and matte; prepare all the written information; plan an opening along with food and drink; make promotional items and do the promotion; and hire an attendant and handyman for physically hanging the work. This morning, I'm meeting with artisans I'm hiring to make a 3-D map of the Maputo's coast.

Oddly enough, I've only gone out photographing once since I've been back.

Final Project Exhibition Preparation: Looking Ahead

This afternoon I met with the artistic director at the Franco-Mozambican Center in the baixa, downtown, which is the best location in Maputo for exhibitions. They have art exhibitions, concerts, and dance performances there, so the space is somewhat big and popular. I knew that the major spaces here fill up quickly (they’re already booked for the next six months), so I had wanted to book something as soon as I could.

I prepared an iView slide presentation and made the same pitch I made when I first talked to her over the telephone and went into detail about what I planned to do: exhibit 60 pictures, have ambient sound recorded loop through in one room, and show a short multi-media piece to introduce the issue. As promising as it looks, I’m still not fully in the door and must prepare a press package with a short biography, a synopsis describing the project I’ll be exhibiting, and 5 sample photographs.

Considering the reality of a looming exhibition, my first, I suddenly feel a bit overwhelmed although the date is somewhat far off—I requested 10 days at the end of November. This gives me deadlines to look forward to. Incidentally, when we were first getting under way in the course, I expressed interest in doing an exhibition, and Antrim encouraged me to look into the French cultural center where she once exhibited (not here). Good suggestion.

I met with John Easterby and Lizzie in our group tutorial this afternoon. He had some interesting suggestions about the ways I could print my photographs, pointing out that you can print high quality photographs on almost anything today. He also made me think about framing, matting and actually hanging my pictures. John also suggested a former student's book business called Bob's Books for a self-publishing book printer as an alternative to Blurb. He mentioned that they gave LCC students a discount last year that he would look into getting for us again. There will be a lot of work and thinking to do.