During my second year, we had the opportunity to curate our own nine-piece collective, following a theme of our choosing. Curating a collaborative exhibition is an exciting, challenging creative process that goes beyond showing prints on a wall. It’s about sharing and shaping an experience which communicates a specific theme, narrative or concept to an audience. Curating 1992 as a part of the exhibition “Eye of the Beholder’ was both a personal and professional journey. This project, which responded to the varying perceptions of beauty, explored beauty through decay and abandonment, presented to me a unique opportunity to not only engage with the theme of beauty but also the challenge of curating my personal collection alongside eight other talented photographers.

The curation process began with defining the concept of the collaborative exhibition, ensuring that everyone agreed with the theming. The concept of beauty served as the foundation for the entire exhibition, guiding the photographic process of each photographer, the selection of artwork further down the line and the narrative that tied everything together. Inviting photographers to respond to varying perceptions of beauty, with each photographer exploring in their own way. My work entitled ‘1992’ responded to this, examining the negativity of beauty found in the abandoned Storthed Hall Hospital grounds, the overarching theme helped shape how I approached my own work, focusing on the interplay between destruction and renewal. While ‘1992’ stood as a response to the theme of beauty through decay, I also had to be aware of how my work would interact with others’ pieces, the diversity in approach made the curation process dynamic and thought-provoking. 

For ‘1992’ I carefully chose photographs that would highlight the original beauty of the site but also showcase the tension between destruction and nature’s reclamation. The images of graffiti-covered ruins, scattered debris, and overgrown landscapes helped produce a narrative of beauty emerging from the unlikeliest places. Throughout the curation process, I continuously ensured that each image was connected both to the overall theme and to other photographs. When it came to the layout of the exhibition, it was crucial in ensuring how each of the photographer’s work would be perceived. Ensuring that we would carefully consider the space, arrangement of work before the exhibition to make sure that we allowed each photographer’s work to shine and didn’t clash with others. The photographs in ‘1992’ were placed in a room with other landscape imagery, highlighting a common thread of beauty, but differed in approach to finding beauty in unexpected places. 

The final stages of curation included organising the physical installation of the exhibition; each of the photographer’s works was carefully considered, with attention to how lighting, framing and proximity between each piece would impact or enhance the viewer’s experience. I believed it was important to be able to walk through the exhibition as a whole and engage with the works in meaningful ways. Personally, just as I had experienced at the site of Storthes Hall Hospital. At the end of curating this exhibition, we had an opening night which allowed each of us photographers to engage with visitors, explaining my approach to the collaborative theme and how I managed to capture beauty in this way. Allowing me to reflect opon the process and understand how someone looking in may interpret this work for the first time. It was a gratifying experience seeing how ‘1992’ resonated with my other photographers and the public, challenging them to rethink how beauty is perceived, especially in ways that are unconventional and marked by the label of abandonment and neglect. 

Curating ‘1992’ for the collaborative exhibition ‘Eye of the Beholder’ was not only about showcasing my personal work but also about participating in a larger group creative. The process of curating an exhibition required collaboration, creativity and a clear understanding of the theme and how to best present work. It was a meaningful way to reflect on the overall theme of beauty, both personally and in the shared place of an exhibition.