My First Photography Exhibition

As I said around a million times before, I am, sadly, leaving Tbilisi. Leaving a place you love is double edged sword, because it means the end of a lot of relationships, places, and events that have brought joy to you, but it also means a new chapter of life. One thing that is very nice is that fact that I can announce my very first photography exhibition. It is launching this week and is going on until the last hour before my flight.

The exhibition is called “I Love My Friends” and starts on Thursday December 7th, at 7pm. We are then going to Left Bank and TES for the after party.

I have to admit, it’s a bit wild that I’m having an exhibition, given that I’ve only really started taking photos seriously since my gap-year began. However, I think the fact that this is happening demonstrates several valuable points that everyone can learn from.

The only thing that makes a photographer (writer, musician, or whatever generative activity) is the fact that a person takes pictures and says that they are a photographer. There is no authority that can dictate if you can take pictures, you’re free to do whatever you want! Of course there are institutions and certificates but the act of creating is the most important criteria.

I have felt, many times in my life, afraid to display my work, be it writing, music, or photography. But, over the past few months, I’ve committed to pursing my artistic interests freely and without pressure of trying to profit from them. This is has been a liberating experience. Getting feedback on the blog, my photos, and music has made me a better creative person. It’s also been a way to connect with people. Creating t and then sharing the fruits of creativity has allowed me to meet dozens of interesting people of my time in Georgia.

On the topic of meeting people, this show happened totally randomly. I met the owner of the Gallery, David, at party during my first week in Tbilisi and we grew as friends over the proceeding months. I never applied to have my work shown, I just floated the idea to him while showing him some of my photos, he agreed, and the rest is history. I’ve said this before on the blog that the best things in life happen serendipitously. You probably won’t get the most exciting job by just applying for it, you won't find the best trip by googling what to do online, and you won’t make your friends by looking for them. The most exciting things happen randomly when you go out of your comfort zone, where you feel scared but a slightly in control. This is where you grow the most.

I would still not consider myself a photographer, but I have improved a lot since the beginning of my trip. For example:

Above is the first ever photo I took in Georgia. It means a lot to me. It means independence, the beginning of an adventure. It is the day I landed in my new life. But… it’s a terrible photo. Personally, I love it, and will print it out, but I expect no one to buy it. It was my first photo, and its one of my favourites, but it’s just not very good.

The photo above, however, is very good. This is a friend of a friend that I met a birthday party in Tbilisi. There is a lot to say about this photo and you can find more like it, if you come to the exhibition (or buy the book we might make). But in short, this photo is truly Georgian, or what I feel Georgia is. It’s hard to tell when this photo was taken. It could have been in the 1970s or in 2023. Everything in the photo looks very Georgian, from the facial expressions, to the setting, to the mood. Georgia for me is a country of dinners, a country of love, a country of wine. For me, this photo tells a story of dinner party, where people drank too much wine, eat too many Khinkali , and smoked too many cigarettes, a common story in Georgia.

By taking hundreds of photos, I got better at knowing when to take photos, who to take them of, and how I should try to frame them. Of course, I could have taken a photography class or maybe even done a degree, but in the end the best education is trying and failing a lot, being terrible for a long time, then finally, being proud of the work that you make.

So in the end, try, fail, try again, fail again, then make something wonderful.

I love a powerful photograph, just as much as I love an exciting song, or a engaging piece of writing. However, making your own good song, writing your own good piece, or taking your own good picture is so much more rewarding.

You can’t produce without consuming, but you can definitely consuming without producing. Much of our digital economy incentivises passive consumption. A few minutes of Tik-Tok here, and few hours of YouTube there. Most people don’t know the amazing feeling it is to create something brand new and to share it with the world.

Creation is scary and it is littered with failure. It’s stressful to try to put what you make out there. People are cruel sometimes and don’t criticise to put help you improve but criticise to bring you down. You should move past them and go forth and create, make, and tinker. While it requires infinitely more work than consuming, the rewards are also also uncapped.

So, these are the few things I learned from making this exhibition, taking pictures, and just trying new things. It’s an exciting project, and if you’re in Tbilisi, it would be wonderful to see you there. Also, be careful with hammers, I almost accidentally killed my curator 2 times by balancing one on top of the ladder (there is a hole in the top of ladders for a reason).

Enjoy the rest of your week. I hope to see you at I Love My Friends at Kostava 47, Thursday, December 7th at 7pm.

James Kettle