Exhibit my work in a gallery

“For weeks, my exhibition was constantly on my mind, and I couldn’t stop planning it in my head. I was extremely excited and once the gallery became available I started setting it up immediately. It was a collection of analogue portraits, and I titled it Familiar Faces. I got most of it done on my own in a couple of days, and what I hadn’t anticipated was that the hardest part of the whole process would be the moment people came to see it. What I had not thought about until the opening was the fact that once you exhibit your art in such an official way, it means you think that it is valuable enough for the public to appreciate it. Posting you work on social media means you like it, but setting up an entire exhibition makes you nervous about people not liking your art and thinking you are giving yourself too much credit, and that is something that gave me a lot of anxiety throughout the entire process.”

“I constantly answered questions like, "Why did you make this?" or, "Where did the inspiration for this come from?" It was the first time I had to actually explain these things and be totally honest in person and be vulnerable, discussing painful memories or joyous triumphs in my life- the things that were the lifeblood behind many of my photos in the gallery. I got more validation and meaningful conversation during the four-hour gallery than during my two years on Instagram.”

“It is a very different experience to selling prints online or by special request (which is my preferred way to do business), as you can more easily show a potential customer exactly what they’re buying, sign it in front of them, talk in depth about the specific piece and answer questions in person. It makes it a very intimate and engaging experience.”