after 1212 exhibition: pictures and afterthoughts

I just came home from our exhibition and it was simply amazing. We had the work of some twenty photographers exhibited (including our own) and we sold about 40 prints with the proceedings going to Operation Peace. When William Frank Fox and I came up with the idea for such an event we simply did not imagine the scale and how well it would be received. Given that we also did a rather poor job with the marketing, this is even more surprising. All in all, the event was a huge success so that we could not resist already thinking of a follow-up.

The setup was just great. So many great photographers mingling with each other as well as talking about their work with prospective buyers. Especially the latter, I think, was very special, because people did not just buy a print, but they could interact with the photographer to learn more about the photo and its context.

The event went very smooth and by around 8pm all the prints were on the wall. Unfortunately, I took much fewer shots of the event that I had initially planned, because once the event took off I had other responsibilities. Here are a few pictures of the event from the beginning.

The event was in a loft on Ralph McGill Boulevard providing enough space to put all the prints up on the wall, as well as enough space for people to interact. I estimate that at the peak there were around 50-70 people at the event. The location was great – simply checkout the sunset and skyline from above as seen from one of the two main halls.

The place has a lot of stylish analog stuff such as records and industrial style light switches and the ceiling were crazily tall – about 5 meters I guess, as one of the main halls contains a second level with bedroom etc.

The crazy height of the ceiling forced us to come up with a creative lighting concept and so we used any light we could get to light up the walls.

We also had a Photo Booth in the kitchen set up. In fact there was not so much setup involved. As Will and I are in love with the work of Wolfgang Tillmans at the moment (I am in particular obsessed with “Julia”), we thought of the kitchen.

Check out the pictures from the booth below – a must-see. There are a lot of very cool and amazing shots in there. Note, the wall clock showing the time, when the shot was taken. The best way to view Photo Booth gallery is to click on one photo and then use the arrows or the arrow keys for browsing. If you want some of them in larger, just drop me a line.

Related articles

• 1212 exhibition: Black and White.
• Update on our December exhibition (1212 exhibition: Black and White)