My first exhibition

Nestled at the top of Hout Bay lies this most beautiful home with views spanning Chapman’s Peak and the shores of Hout Bay. Friends and owners of the property suggested I have an exhibition showing some of my wildlife and portraiture photography pieces together with a mutual friend who would show her fashion items. I um’d and ah’d and eventually agreed…..

But….after agreeing I had a trip to complete to Lake Turkana and the Turkana tribe…..procrastination…there will be enough time when I get back….

On my return, it always takes a week or two to settle down to City life again, I realised I had better get some images together as the process of, number one, choosing them and number two, putting the process of editing, sizing, printing and eventually framing into place takes some time and is also dependant on others ….. luckily I have a tremendous right-hand man who ensures that all the printing and framing is 100%. A little nerve wracking though as it can be a bit of a waiting game whilst each section of the process is finalised. Again, memo to self….don’t do this again…..what if the images don’t print well etc etc…..

Also another factor to bear in mind, we were discussing wildlife prints and not cultural photography. My hosts are wildlife lovers and visit their game farm regularly and I started as a wildlife photographer. Reluctantly I moved to include portraiture photography along the way which I now love…..my host did not seem too perturbed that the exhibition now had no wildlife and only culture and portraiture items to exhibit. This however blended well with the fashion side of things as the camels of Lake Turkana and desert feel to my images gave some inspiration to the autumn range of Sonja von Mellenthin designs

It all came together at the eleventh hour…..

The framed and bubble wrapped prints arrived a day before the Exhibition….with nerves and excitement we opened the packages one by one….there were 20 prints that had been prepared and I will never forget the oooohhh’s and ahhhhh’s as they sprang to life out of their wrappings. What a fine job had been done.

Then came the hanging of the framed items and tying in with the fashion items. It was an unforgettable experience and strong friendships and bonds were formed whilst we worked and bounced ideas around. Eventually the time came for our families, friends, fellow photographers, fashion fundis and acquaintances to join us….we did not advertise too widely and kept it invitation only for a private exhibition as we were showing these items in a private home.

Well, nerves kicked in and we giggled and said,”well, either no-one will arrive or hundreds will arrive and we will have under catered with the snacks” ….. what a turnout we had! An amazing amount of people had come to see the exhibition and purchase items. (In South Africa the rugby was on…..I didn’t hear one squeal or request to watch it…..that is quite something! ) The buzz of people was electric and fun. New friendships and contacts were formed and old friends connected up….the weather played ball and we had the most spectacular sunset over Hout Bay, a perfect ending to a perfect day. I did add a little wildlife….I had a presentation prepared on the big screen TV (there was a spare TV for rugby if requested 😉) showing a snatch of my wildlife photography. I hope it encourages others to go out and take beautiful photos and other “young” photographers to exhibit their work. It was an awesome experience and process and I am SO glad I did it.