How do I prepare a new exhibtion? What does it take? What’s the process toward some kind of good presentation and how does it strengthen our social relations and friendship?
Not everyone, I assume, who visits a photo gallery – or any other gallery for that matter – has a firm idea about the work that goes into producing a good exhibition.
The process of planning and decision-making has many aspects – such as the artist choosing what to show and “killing a few darlings”, then comes processing the pictures, printing them, framing them, hanging them and producing a catalogue, discussing price setting etc. It’s quite a job with – as in this case – 62 pieces that make up my next show with photos by my friend Sören Sommelius.
After selection, he handed me the raw jpg files and we discussed picture by picture how I would process them because, as is always the case, 99% of all raw shots can be improved, if even just a tiny little bit, by being “photoshopped”. With a gentle care, most photos benefit from a little sharpening or cropping, burning here, dodging there, levelling here and perhaps a little cloning there.
I processed all 62 pictures and it was a great experience for me to work with somebody else’s photos. Sören of course would accept each and sign them – or ask me to redo a print. Then I printed all A3+ and the few A4 formats while my “master” printer Anders Jönsson did the 7 big A1 pieces.
Here is a picture from a working lunch – my wife Christina, Anders and Sören. Then one from the framer, Willy here in Lund.
We opened the exhibition on July 14 and 75-90 people came. So much fun, joy and appreciation – worth it all.
Now we are only hoping that a lot of people will turn up after the opening too.
PS This is my 7th exhibition. Se the earlier ones here.