Was It Worth It?

So, My Photography Exhibit Opened, and Here Are Some Thoughts

Well, the exhibit officially opened Tuesday, and I was there. Late, because I had another engagement (I was playing music at a location a few blocks away), but I was there.

First, this was not a major event in the world of Fine Art Photography. It was part of Hillsboro, Oregon’s monthly First Tuesday Art Walk, where downtown businesses (Hillsboro has a population of over 100,000, but downtown is still very much like a small town) host musical events and art exhibits. The music events are only on the Tuesday of the Art Walk, but the art exhibits stay up for the month. My exhibit is in a real estate office, which had enough wall space to hang twenty-one images in 16”x20” frames. The nice thing about this space is that many of the images can be seen through the front window, so perhaps people who weren’t there Tuesday night will come in throughout the month. As far as art exhibits go, this is, IMO, one of the better spaces in the Art Walk.

Of course, I got a lot of compliments, but those are often obligatory. What was most gratifying to me was to watch people walk around the room and stand in front of each photograph for a period of time, and then get close enough to read the descriptive tag below, much like they would do in a museum. Those people took the time and made the effort to actually see the work. That, I could tell, was genuine.

Was it all worth it? I may or may not sell a print or two, and that would be nice, and somewhat validating, if I did. I suspect I likely will not, but who knows? I expected to spend a few hundred dollars on mat board, frames, and paper, but I did not expect to have to buy a new printer in the process. So, if I measure this financially, it will be a big loss, especially considering the amount of time involved printing, mat cutting, framing and everything else.

But, yes, it was worth it. Even if it’s just in a little real estate office in little Downtown Hillsboro, a place out-of-towners rarely go to unless they have jury duty or a court appearance (Hillsboro is the County Seat and the county courthouse is just a block away from my exhibit). At least I and a few others got to see a reasonably-large body of my work printed and hanging on walls, instead of on a computer or phone screen. And now that everything is printed and framed, I might try to find another venue for it.

If you do find yourself in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon during the month of December, please stop by the Weichert Realty office at 230 E Main Street. If that’s not possible, here is a link to the electronic version, only without the commentary that’s on the description cards: https://phcorrigan.myportfolio.com/art-walk-gallery