29.11.09
23.11.09
Exhibition Program
This is my exhibition program. I uploaded a PDF version of the document to Issuu (I website I think is great and has a lot of potential). We are selling the 30-page booklet at the exhibition for a nominal fee and it is doing well. With a combination of print sales and the program, hopefully I can at least break even.
I'm now planning a closing party-an idea that I got from a Wimba Arms discussion. I'm going to keep it a lot simpler and more casual than the opening, and am asking one of my subjects (a capoeira group) to perform there. Of course, I plan on paying them. Yesterday, I did another interview in Portuguese. This time it was for television. It went okay, but they just popped in without any warning yesterday morning when I was looking pretty ragged in jeans and a t-shirt. It ran yesterday evening on a weekend cultural show. I guess my whirlwind visit to press offices last month worked.
22.11.09
21.11.09
EXHIBIT OPEN
Tonight I finally had my opening. It was an incredibly long day starting with my framers who took it to the last minutes to finally get things right. I had to finally be the agressive American and went in full of attitude and amazingly it worked and the shop closed with all of the front desk people helping to complete the matting and framing of my pictures. It was much more stressful and energy-draining than it should've been, but it got done leaving enough time to hang the show for the evening opening reception.
My handymen did a great job of getting the frames put up. Melissa (my assistant) and my wife helped me arrange all of the photos in linear order for them to be hung. We then put up all of the caption information that I printed on glossy photo paper and used double-sided tape to stick to the wall--it looked good. For every region of the Marginal, I posted a summary of the area, its characteristics and problems. I also put my 3-dimensional map, a miniature replica of the Marginal made by a Mozambican folk artist, on display on the gallery floor. And finally, I had my recorded sound which I mixed into 30-minutes of various songs, prayers and music playing through my iPod on to portable speakers.
The attendance was good with a steady flow of people through the night. The staff I hired (two handymen, bartender, gallerista, waitress, and security guard) worked wonderfully. My worst problems were the Portuguese Consul General and her friend knocking down a barrier which they were leaning against and a small group of gate crashers who were filling coke cans full of wine and wrapping food in napkins and sticking them into their bags.
It went well. The experience was new to me. It was fulfulling having people compliment me and then be eager to talk about my experiences photographing various groups, about my project or substantive topics which seemed more sincere than someone just superficially saying they liked my pretty pictures. I appreciated that a number of people actually saw the purpose of my project and came out actually saying they learned about Maputo's coastal erosion. Another was about captions. Although I liked seeing people studying and reacting to my photographs but also reading my captions.
All in all it was a huge relief to get this thing off the ground and up and running. It took way more work than I would ever have imagined. I'll be stopping by the exhibit daily over the next couple of weeks to make sure all's well and chat with my gallerista. There was plenty of left over wine, so now I have to plan a closing party.
One sad note is that my Canon G10 –which I loved– is MIA and a casualty of a day when there were lots of bodies in the gallery who could have casually picked it up and I was a bit dazed and confused. Maybe I'll find someone selling it on the street.
My handymen did a great job of getting the frames put up. Melissa (my assistant) and my wife helped me arrange all of the photos in linear order for them to be hung. We then put up all of the caption information that I printed on glossy photo paper and used double-sided tape to stick to the wall--it looked good. For every region of the Marginal, I posted a summary of the area, its characteristics and problems. I also put my 3-dimensional map, a miniature replica of the Marginal made by a Mozambican folk artist, on display on the gallery floor. And finally, I had my recorded sound which I mixed into 30-minutes of various songs, prayers and music playing through my iPod on to portable speakers.
The attendance was good with a steady flow of people through the night. The staff I hired (two handymen, bartender, gallerista, waitress, and security guard) worked wonderfully. My worst problems were the Portuguese Consul General and her friend knocking down a barrier which they were leaning against and a small group of gate crashers who were filling coke cans full of wine and wrapping food in napkins and sticking them into their bags.
It went well. The experience was new to me. It was fulfulling having people compliment me and then be eager to talk about my experiences photographing various groups, about my project or substantive topics which seemed more sincere than someone just superficially saying they liked my pretty pictures. I appreciated that a number of people actually saw the purpose of my project and came out actually saying they learned about Maputo's coastal erosion. Another was about captions. Although I liked seeing people studying and reacting to my photographs but also reading my captions.
All in all it was a huge relief to get this thing off the ground and up and running. It took way more work than I would ever have imagined. I'll be stopping by the exhibit daily over the next couple of weeks to make sure all's well and chat with my gallerista. There was plenty of left over wine, so now I have to plan a closing party.
One sad note is that my Canon G10 –which I loved– is MIA and a casualty of a day when there were lots of bodies in the gallery who could have casually picked it up and I was a bit dazed and confused. Maybe I'll find someone selling it on the street.
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