As a co-op student with Sudbury.com, I constantly have photos I've taken being seen by all sorts of people, but there are many images I've captured that I never thought to share with anyone else. Pictures that aren't taken because its my job, but because my inner artist yelled at me to take them.
At the end of March my art teacher approached me about subbmitting some of my photographs for the Emergence art exhibition. I had never put my art on display to be seen by the public before and the thought gave me butterflies in my stomach.
The Emergence exhibition showcases artistic development through painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and mixed media, and has been hosted annually at the Art Gallery of Sudbury since the 1970s.
Out of the thousands of pictures I've taken over the years, how would I ever choose just a few to submit? I spent hours analyzing (and over-analyzing) every detail I believed a judge would, except I was so hard on myself that I almost didn't submit anything. With the help of my best friend and my dad though, I was able to choose three images to submit for the exhibition.
The first picture I chose is a shot of a line of papillionaire bicycles because I like the pop of colour on an otherwise bland background. The second image is an up-close shot of a flower on a blossoming almond tree and I chose it because I like the detail in the flowers and branches.
The third picture is a black and white shot of a flock of pigeons that appear to be flying around the viewer. You can check out all the images in the photo gallery at the top of the page.
I liked how they showed everyday things in a perspective that one would not normally see them, which is something I do very often with my photography.
The photograph of the birds is actually one of my favourite pictures I've ever taken. I love the movement shown in the image and the emotion it evokes when looking at it. By removing the saturation and playing with the contrast, hilights, and shadows, I fell more in love with the eerie feeling it gave off.
It also happens to be the photo that was picked to hang as part of the Emergence exhibition.
About a week after submitting the work, on April 2, my art teacher told me that my picture was chosen to be displayed in the gallery. Out of the 12 pieces of art that my school submitted, mine was one of two that got accepted. I was in complete shock — mine had got choosen over a multitude of others.
The days leading up to the show I was very anxious about the fact that hundreds of people would be looking at a my art. I'm not sure why I felt so nervous because on any given day, hundreds of people could be looking at my photographs that are posted on Sudbury.com. For some reason though this photograph was different. It felt as if I was putting myself, and not the photograph, on display for everyone to judge.
Walking into the gallery took my breath away. There were so many beautiful pieces of work in various styles and mediums that I didn't know what to look at first. Walking around the gallery my eyes fell upon my photograph and it wasnt joy that filled me, but self-doubt.
I stood staring at my art and comparing it to all the other pieces of work in the room, feeling like it didn't live up to everyone elses.
After conversing with my dad about my doubts, he was able to remind me that art is subjective and the very fact that my art was in the gallery meant that someone was able to resonate with my art, seeing the very beauty that I saw when taking the photo.
The Emergence art exhibition will be on display at the Art Gallery of Sudbury until June 2.
Admission is by donation.
The gallery is located at 251 John St. and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Visit artsudbury.org or phone 705-675-4871 for more info.
Annie Duncan, a.k.a. Intern Annie, is a co-op student from Confederation Secondary who is spending the next few months in the Sudbury.com newsroom.
Follow her exploits on Instagram @Intern_Annie and on Twitter @InternAnnie.
