The Connection Project

The end of an exhibition - reflections and thoughts moving forward.

Hello, I’m Gill and I write a photography blog inspired by the landscapes of Suffolk and beyond. Please subscribe to read more of my writing and visit my website to view my images.

I have spent the last seven days sitting in an art gallery chatting to photographers and members of the public, watching their reactions and listening to their comments as they make their way around the ‘Connection Project’ exhibition.

The week long display was the culmination of a year long project to tell 8 personal stories of connection between photographers and the landscapes of Suffolk. It was an idea I came up with at the beginning of 2025 and it has brought together 8 very different photographers who all had a unique way of interpreting the ‘connections’ brief.

The project explored themes around landscape, rural traditions, climate change, and the interaction of man and nature. It also tackled more personal subjects around childhood memories and mental health. For the exhibition the work was displayed in 8 separate portfolios which were accompanied by artist statements and information about the photographers.

During the week we welcomed many visitors who all came to look at the images for different reasons. We saw fellow photographers, local residents and people who were in the town on holiday. The one thing that they all had in common was that they appeared to enjoy the idea of local work created by local photographers.

I have written a number of posts about the Connection project over the last few months and you can find them here:

The Connection Project - Introducing my portfolio and the ideas behind it.

Capturing feelings - storms, projects and dilemmas

Curiosity and Connection - a local mystery and project progress

The joy of Connection - finding new inspiration for a new year

Now that the project has finished I wanted to round off the series by talking about what worked and what didn’t. I hope you will find my insights interesting particularly if you are thinking about putting on your own exhibition.

What was the concept.

The original idea was to create a collection of work from 8 different photographers which explored personal themes around the idea of connection. The idea was to discuss, make and curate the images during an 8 month period, create a book of the work and then exhibit the collection in an art gallery in a high street environment.

What worked.

Over the year it has been a privilege to get to know the other photographers involved in the project. The regular meetings were always good and it was interesting to see the images and the panels take shape.

Working in a group was good for creativity and it was interesting to get feedback as the photography progressed. I think the collaborative input from everyone was really valuable and it definitely helped to discuss ideas and styles as the project went along. Often it can be hard to see your own work objectively so I felt the group input was definitely a positive part of the project.

Once all the photography had finished and the artist statements were written I put together a book showcasing all the 8 portfolios. This created one place where all the work could be seen in its entirety and the reasons behind each panel could be shared and fully absorbed. I feel this was a really important part of the project for reasons that I will discuss later.

Overall the project was really well received by the people that came through the door. I have sold most of the books that I printed and have had some really positive feedback about the content including the following comment which made me feel as if we had created something worthwhile.

I did not know quite what to expect but I certainly did not expect the wonderful and emotional journey it took me on. The combination of the heart felt text and beautiful photographs made it a very special experience. I am now buying a third copy of the book as a gift for another special person and I hope they will enjoy it as much as I have. I just wanted to say thank you for the thought provoking joy that Connections has bought me.

What didn’t work.

When I came up with the idea I don’t think I thought about the exhibition side of the project well enough. I would say that the biggest failure was how people interacted with the exhibition and maybe my choice of venue had something to do with this.

The project was all about personal stories of connection. Each panel was accompanied by an artist statement which explained the images and why they had been selected and this was hung next to each body of work. However because we were exhibiting in a retail environment visitors were coming in to shop and consequently rarely read the artist statements. This meant that the meaning of each body of work was lost for most people. I don’t think this fact impacted on whether the images sold or not but in my opinion it devalued the experience for the visitors. Viewed on their own some panels could seem disparate and unconnected but viewed with the words they made perfect sense.

I think this was the biggest learning curve for me. I have exhibited in the same gallery numerous times and have always found the experience really positive but I have always been showing local scenes that are unconnected by a story and I think that works better. When you have some work that is more experimental and the meaning is overlooked then I feel that the visitor experience is diminished.

Overall I felt that a gallery in a different environment might have worked better from this point of view, but then it might not have generated as many image sales so I guess it its a hard one to call.

This has made me rethink a couple of projects that I might pursue in the future and for that I am grateful for the extra experience the exhibition has brought me. At the end of the day these projects are all part of the learning experience and without them we wouldn’t grow as photographers and artists.

If you would like to read more about my portfolio I have an article published in On Landscape magazine which talks about my motivation and process.

I have a few copies of the Connection Project book which are still available and can be found on my new website here.

Finally I would just like to say thank you for all your support this year and to wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year. I hope to be back in 2026 with some new ideas and new projects.

Gill