I have been pretty fortunate as an artist. I have been able to have an exhibit featuring my artwork each of the past four years. I had an exhibit featuring my photography of shelter dogs at the Chemung County SPCA hosted at the Chemung County Historical Society. I had a joint exhibit with my father showcasing our wildlife art hosted by the Community Arts Of Elmira. Last year I had an exhibit featuring my photography from my running adventures hosted by the Tioga Arts Council. Currently I have an exhibit that I recently installed at the Hinkle Library at Alfred State College. This exhibit showcases a variety of the subject matter I have photographed in the last several years. The exhibit will be on display through April 2019 and possibly longer.

I love creating photography, but having an actual exhibit does not come natural for me. From the contacting venues to the planning, to the setup it is all as challenge for me. One of the biggest challenges of having an exhibit is choosing what artwork to showcase. Past exhibits I have done have had some sort of theme so that helps to narrow down the selection process. But, for this exhibit I wanted to display a variety of my past works of all types so that left the gate wide open for possibilities. I had some images that I knew I wanted to display such as my shelter dog photography and two images that to me have become representative of my work, a peregrine falcon and an Eurasian eagle owl other than that I didn’t so much as choose the images as just let my natural tendencies dictate what work I put on display.

The space at the Hinkle Library is nice and big. It is able to accommodate quite a few of my images. I was very happy with the amount of space I had. There were also glass display cases and a table that I could use to display smaller pieces that are on stands and photography books. I was really happy with those options because that is not something that is often available at other venues where I have had exhibits. With the large space and the number and variety of photographs I was able to bring for display I was very happy that my father, a talented artist in his own right, join me to set up my exhibit. My father has a much better eye for layout and formatting than I do. He is great at making sure my images are hung in a way that they are easier to see and have good spacing as well as arrangement. During the set up process I spread out the photographs along the wall with a rough idea of how I think I would like to arrange them and then we look at it and think over the arrangement and he makes recommendations to me for adjustments. My dad is great at getting the fine tuning and details correct for the exhibit, those are not my strong suit. He sees things that I do not see including ways to display pieces that I didn’t even see.

The way I ended up setting up the exhibit essentially had feature walls. Each wall of the exhibit featured a different subject matter. One wall was all of my larger 20 x 30 inch shelter dog photography. The opposing wall features my small woodland creatures with a transition into nature photography that continues on the adjoining wall as it transitions into scenic views of nature. On the wall that is directly across from you as you enter is a series of avian photography. In the center is a table and two glass display cases. The table features several of my photography books I have created as well as photo album to flip through and a large framed set of three images standing on the table. The display cases each feature some of my small metal print photographs that have stands for displaying on a desk or table as well as a larger framed photograph in the bottom that can be hung on a wall.

I am very happy with the way this exhibit turned out. I really did not know what to expect or have a good vision for what I was going to do with the space. It really came together in the process with the help of my dad. The photograph featuring shelter photography has always been and continues to be in service of supporting the Chemung County SPCA. For any purchase of those dog photography I will continue to donate 50% of the cost directly to the Chemung County SPCA as I have always done. Please stop in and check out this exhibit in this very nice space if you can. You will have an opportunity to see some things you may not have seen a other exhibits I have had.

If you want to see more opportunities like this please support my work through my Patreon page: KRNaturalPhoto.

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