By Dr Greg McMillan GMAPS EFIAP EPSA BPSA

Photography as a Serious Hobby

I remember the day I started at the Gold Coast Photographic Society (GCPS) as a new member in late 2015.  F/Stop, what’s that? Aperture and why is the bigger number the smaller hole and how on earth do you ‘judge’ a photograph in a competition. These were just a few of the typical new photographer challenges I faced in my early ‘photography as a hobby’ days. So my journey began and over time I have developed a few skills, entered some Exhibitions with enough success to gain a few Honours and more recently I expanded my interest into multiple images, story-telling and portfolio activities.

Over the last few years I have had a few close to me who have suggested that an Exhibition would be a good idea. I had always participated in Club Exhibitions if I could and this includes my new Clubs at Bendigo Camera Club (BCC) and Macedon Ranges Photographic Society (MRPS).  Participating in a Club Exhibition is a terrific way to overcome some of those internal demons that can play with self-confidence and your own sense of worth as an artist (some may call this Imposter Syndrome).  The thought of presenting a body of my own work, well that was a mountain to climb, but in many ways it was just another challenge to ask myself: could I do that?

As an active member of the Australian Photographic Society (APS) since 2016, I also became more and more aware of the number of APS members who had displayed images in their own right or in a collaborative Exhibition.  In many ways it helped me understand that participating in an Exhibition is a fairly natural pathway in my development as a photographer, and dare I say it, as an artist.  So in early 2025 I put any reservations to one side and I decided to commit to an Exhibition in 2026.

I was not overly concerned about the work required to set-up the Exhibition as I am very comfortable in using a project management approach to any activity I was involved in that included tasks, resources and time as the major elements.  However, I knew that I wanted my first Exhibition to be a collaborative event and without hesitation I knew who to ask: I would ask Collen Mahoney if she would be interested. Colleen and I are members of MRPS and whilst our images do overlap in some areas, Colleen’s work is different to mine. I have admired Colleen’s images and have great respect for her approach to her photography. Colleen’s willingness to go out at any hour to seek that special moment in time and her ability to present the final image is something that I find very impressive.  I was confident that collaborating with Colleen would be a wonderful experience. While we have a broad common base of loving what we do, we bring different perspectives, thoughts and ideas to our photography. 

I was fortunate that Colleen was also considering the same challenge as we both wanted to stretch ourselves by putting our images on display for others to see.  Colleen and I also have an individual commitment to education and life-long learning and we are both story-tellers. 

With this in mind, providing learning opportunities was a natural part of what we did at the Exhibition.  Many images displayed a QR code to provide easy access to a short story on the image. We developed a series of  Mini Workshops covering Auroa, Aerial and Travel photography as well as Hints and Tips on Creating a Photobook.  While we took every reasonable opportunity to sell a framed print or canvas image, the primary purpose was to show and share our work and love of photography and while any sale was appreciated, sales were not the primary reason for the Exhibition.

One of my key learnings in the process has been the understanding and appreciation of the difference between presenting a photograph and presenting the same image as a piece of art and in doing so, it contributes to that shift from seeing yourself as a photographer to someone who is an artist (thank you Damian Caniglia!!). 

For those potentially interested in doing their own, or a collaborative exhibition, here are some key benefits that I can see:

• Whether sales is a primary intent or not, there is undoubted benefit in sharing overhead costs.
• A collaborative show can present a broader story or theme through multiple styles, subjects, and approaches. In our case we had four sub-themes: Travel and Monochrome images from me and Aerial Abstract and Aurora images from Colleen. These were presented under an overarching theme for the Exhibition titled ‘Near and Far‘. 
• There is a stronger audience reach as each photographer can bring their own networks and appeal to those who attend. It was very satisfying that in our case the attendance over the four days exceeded any initial expectations and we estimated that over 50% of people did not have a direct connection with ourselves (ie: family, friends colleagues, fellow club members etc).
• There is the learning and skill development opportunities that come from collaborators sharing knowledge on curation, printing, lighting, installation, and marketing.  Each of us brought skills and time to the Exhibition in different ways. This provided a great balance between the way it was managed from a project perspective through to the fine finishing details that supported the Exhibition itself (seating, signage etc).