I started out wanting to do the art festival route. But unfortunately, here in Germany, photography is not considered art so that door is closed, locked and the key hidden. So, I found myself doing exhibitions. It started out slow but picked up speed the last couple of years. I enjoy talking with people about what I see behind the viewfinder and how I achieved what I did through my post digital processing.
But, I found myself having to draw the line between exhibiting at an establishment and being used as a cheap (and uninsured) way to decorate an office. I exhibited – or should I say furnished – a heilpraktikerschule (an alternative medicine non-medical school) in Frankfurt for nine months. In those nine months, nothing was done by the school to publicize the exhibition…no sign in the lobby, no website mention…nothing. Since I had a large solo exhibition coming up the end of the year, I made my intent known to the head of the school – along with the group that I was exhibiting with – that I would be picking up my photographs to exhibit elsewhere. Since no one else came forward to fill the space, the hallway where my photos resided for nine months remained bare.
Six months later, it’s still being talked about. We explained my reasons for not wanting to exhibit there again – the frames were filthy dirty, the glass streaked and greasy. They clearly had not seen a dust rag in nine months and it took – no kidding – half a roll of paper towels to get them thoroughly clean. Not to mention the fact that they were the nicest frames that I have and had museums glass – alone, I paid upwards of 200 Euro each. That was around 1600 Euro worth of frames hanging there – uninsured. And, since I seemed to be the only one publicizing the fact that I have photos on exhibit there, I saw – and still see – no reason to return.
As I said, I do enjoy exhibiting my photos and will continue to do so. I currently have one exhibition running and have four more scheduled through the end of the year. But my office decoration days are over.
