Getting selected is the celebration. What follows is logistics — and logistics decide whether your work looks like it belongs on that wall. After showing in London and Lagos (the full history is on my exhibitions page), this is the checklist I now run for every show.
Four weeks out
- Confirm specs in writing: maximum dimensions, framing rules, hanging system (D-rings vs wire vs cleats), delivery window.
- Order test prints. Paper choice changes a photograph's temperature and depth. My monochrome work needs a deep matte black that cheap stocks cannot hold.
- Book the framer. Good framers queue. Simple, gallery-neutral frames — let the work shout, not the moulding.
Two weeks out
- Labels and paperwork: title, medium, year, edition, price — consistent with your submission.
- Artist statement, printed. The stories behind my pieces (all readable in the Aworan collection) have sold more work than any sales pitch.
- Insurance and transport. Glass travels badly. Corner protectors, blankets, and a vehicle where nothing can slide.
Install day
Arrive early, bring a kit (tape measure, level, microfibre cloth, spare fixings, white gloves), and photograph your work on the wall before the room fills — installation shots are the most reusable marketing asset you will ever make. Mine became the backbone of my Boomer Gallery story.
The private view
The artwork hangs on the wall, but on opening night, you are the exhibition.
Stand near your work without guarding it. Answer the question every visitor is silently asking — what is this about? — warmly and briefly. Collect contacts. Follow up within 48 hours while the evening is still alive in people's minds.
After the show
Update your press and awards page, thank the curators publicly, and log what each show cost and returned. Exhibitions compound: my Boomer Gallery showing led to Lagos, Lagos led to a sale, and the whole chain led to an award — each link documented as it happened. If your work needs a professional print partner before its first show, the Camera Boss contact page can point you to the setup I use, or just get in touch.
Work with me. For fine-art prints and exhibition enquiries, contact me here. For weddings, editorial and lifestyle photography across the UK and Nigeria, visit CameraBoss.co.uk.