Private view

So my private view happened on Friday.

That really was the last significant event of my degree (other than getting my marks and the graduation ceremony I suppose!).

It was a hectic two weeks of setting up the show, but relatively stress and problem free to be honest. We managed to iron out most of the niggles and ignore most of the whingers and produced what I think is an excellent and rather profesional exhibition.

Friday night all the degree shows opened by way of a double ender or private views. 4 till 7pm was press and VIP's and 7 till 10pm was general admitance and friends and family.

I was relatively relaxed about the whole affair. My Mum came down Friday and we had lunch and chatted before heading home where I donned my suit and prepared myself for the show itself. I didn't go for the 4pm opening in all honesty, thought it was too eager and so headed there for a bit after 5. Thats when I started to feel the burn and got quite nervous as I walked the familiar steps to school, my swanky shoes clipping on the pavement behind me. I wasn't sure why I was so nervous, but I was!

The first few hours were really strange and I felt very unsettled! I didn't know any VIP's only my course mates and I am not the best at networking, idle chit chat or being the centre of attention, so it went rather uneventfully to be honest. I SHOULD have stayed by my work and chatted to anyone looking at it. Instead, I drunk lots of Red Stripe and shuffled sheepishly round the exhibiton.

However, 7pm soon arrived and I was really excited about my friends and family getting to see my work. To be truthfull I think thats what I was most nervous about too! Its a strange thing to present the culmination of three years work like that and your nearest and dearest going to see it for the first time. I guess I was aprehensive as to their reaction and if they would like it.

It was also dissapointing to have so few tickets to give to my gang! I wish I had had more so I could have taken everyone. Instead it was Hannah, my family and Phil and Matt as they have given me so much support over the years and I wanted to be able to thank them in this small way for helping.

Once they arrived though I had a great time. Everyone seemed to enjoy my work and were impressed with what I had done and drinking and making merry took place in between having a good gander at my and my colleagues images.

We then went for a slap up Italian meal and drank wine whilst putting the world to rights.

It was lovely and meant a lot to me that eveyone was so enthusiastic about coming down and checking my work out as well as being so full of praise.

I'm not sure where I would have been without my family and friends and most of all Hannah these last three years. There complete faith in me, support and encouragement justified what I was doing and gave me the belief that it was worth it and I could achieve something I would be happy with and most importantly they would like and appreciate.

That sounds cheasy, but I really mean it, I owe a lot to my family and a lot to all my friends who have done nothing but support and encourage me.

Going to Uni felt like a huge step for me 4 years ago. All I had done since doing busniness related A-levels was a variety of office jobs. Whilst I did quite well in these and could have forged a successfull career, it never felt right and I was never satisfied or content. When I moved to Brighton I grew increasingly agitated at where my life was going and what I was (not) achieving. My passion for photography had grown and thats when you lot all started hassling me to go to university! After a year or so of procrastination...I went!

Its been a hard three years in so many ways. I went to Uni not having done art since I was 13 and showed no promise at all. To then do a fine art degree was a shock to the system and opened up a whole world I never really knew existed. It also filled me with self doubt and confusion over whether I was justified in this new world and whether I could achieve or if I had bitten off more than I could chew. However, knowing you have an ever supporting and encouraging partner, family and friends means you can do anything and get through it that bit easier, so thank you all sincerely.

AND IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE SHOW YET...GO HAVE A LOOK:

Its open until Thursday 10am until 8pm, except Thursday when it closes for good at 4pm.

If you want a guided tour, let me know when your going to have a look and I will meet you there.

ALSO, I have a holding page for my website now:

www.johnhouse.co.uk

Kindly put up by Dave, who is working on the full site. There are five images up at the moment, which are the images on display in the exhibition. We also have a website for our whole year:

www.uobphotography.co.uk

Hope you get to check the show out and enjoy it as much as we all enjoyed making it!