Spring Fling 2011

Spring Fling is an annual event in SW Scotland where, over the last weekend in May, artists across the region open their doors to the public.

My wife, Maggie, has been in it for the past 3 years, but this coming May I will be too.

Maggie recently took on a her new studio space in Kirkcudbright, so her previous workspace, the front room of our house, has been freed up for me to develop a wee photographic studio of my own, so I started thinking about whether it might be possible for me to get involved in Spring Fling myself.

Getting into Spring Fling is not a given - there is a selection process. But following the success of my exhibition earlier this year (see Staring Back), I thought it had to be worth a go.

However, rather than just have another exhibition layout, I thought it would be fun to create a sort of art installation event.

The idea then, is across the Spring Fling weekend, anyone who comes in will be invited to have their photo taken, which will be printed out and pinned to the wall. Over the course of the three days the walls will steadily fill with a wide variety of faces and expressions, as the visitors become the exhibition.

I’ve worked out how to connect the camera to the laptop so the screen effectively becomes the viewfinder and the computer becomes the memory card. This should mean that if I connect a printer as well, it will be a relatively fast turnaround time to go from camera click to printed photo. If people want, I can always print 2 copies – one to stick on the wall and one for them to buy and take away with them.

At the end of the weekend, I will put the best images into a book, similar to the one I did for the Staring Back exhibition, which will be available for anyone involved or interested.

If the visitor numbers even vaguely approach the levels Maggie’s had over the past few years then I could have several hundred people through over the weekend, although I’m assuming only a percentage of them will actually want their photo taken.

So if you're about in SW Scotland next May, make sure you come along and become a part of the exhibition.