I seriously doubt that I should classify it as an exhibition, but failing to find another name for it, that’s what it was in essence. There are a series of events held under the patronage of the local tobacco company, the Demerara Tobacco Company, where they associate their premium brand of cigarettes, Dunhill, with various forms of art, featuring local artists. I understand that prior to the event at which I was involved, there was one where they showcased a local painter, some of his finished work as well as one he was working on at the event itself.
The event planners had shortlisted a few up-coming local photographers, you know, the ones who aren’t famous locally as yet, and we were invited to a meeting to discuss the event. At the end of the meeting they had decided that this would most likely be the first photographic exhibition event they were doing and since both Nikhil and I had a “portfolio” each to choose from, they would like it if we did the event. Our portfolios were originally sent to the event planners by another photographer (he’s the Professional one) Dwayne Hackett, so a big thanks to him.
At first we were flattered, and then we were panicked, as we had to choose (together with a representative from the sponsors) and print the images by the next day.
Amazingly we managed to do it all, and even helped to mount the images, with LOTS of help from the guys who work with me at the sign company (DD Signs), without their help it would not have come off, definitely not!
The event itself was…. not too bad. It was held in the Blue Lagoon Bar at the Hotel Tower, we had to contend with lots of music from a separate event outside, the portable AC units were not doing the job of cooling the room, and we were asked to wear formal attire (I think the last time I wore a suit before that was to my sister’s wedding). The attendance was poor, but that might have been a good thing for two very nervous photographers, we had less chance of embarrassing ourselves 🙂
We had our cameras, but they were mostly there to identify us as “The Photographers”, and I don’t think either of us took much more than a few token photographs.
For our regular readers, we decided that since we didn’t bother to actually take photographs of our photographs on display, we’d link a few here on the blog post 🙂
Nikhil’s Set
My Set
And here’s one taken by another up-and-coming photographer on the scene, Troy Parboo, in it we are graced by the presence of Ms. Shannon de Haas, another of the short-listed photographers.
It may not have been the ideal coming out party for a photographer, but it was exposure, none-the-less 🙂
Thanks for all the encouragement and well wishes folks.
The Michael Lam Collection's Blog 
Hey that was great. First of a kind event for Guyana. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Fidal, not sure if it’s the first of a kind, but we were glad to be a part of it 🙂
Thanks for doing a nice summary Mike. Didn’t even occur to me to write about it. The event wasn’t anything brilliant, but its a step in the right direction and we owe Demtoco a thank you for that.
Agreed Nik, a step in the right direction 🙂
Wow! How impressive for you guys and, a stunning collection of images. Congratulations! 🙂
Thanks Nigel, we tried to choose our best, unfortunately Nikhil had to leave out a lot of the street photography because of the whole tobacco industry thing and people 🙂
Nice to see more about the event, and you both look extremely cute in the photo you start the post with! Teehee! You suit your suit!
Thanks 🙂 I grew into the suit 🙂
Wait guys, was this a private exhibition?
Hey Sita, it was by invitation through the sponsors, and they then went and invited people (smokers) from the party outside 🙂
Congratulations to you both. It must have been very difficult to choose which of your wonderful photos to print, but those you chose look pretty fabulous to me.
Thanks Cindy, it was difficult, but we had help making the hard choices 🙂
Congratulaions Michael and Nikhil, I think you both have done very well with a great spread of images. You should be proud.
Cheers mate
Thanks for the compliments David, more scared than proud, but as Nik said, a step in the right direction 🙂
Hey, where did you print your photos? Any recommendations?
Only the best Fidal, only the best 🙂
Michael – I’m happy that you were able to showcase some of your photography. Take no mind that it was a small showing – it is still a little exposure for yourself (and Nikhil) and probably at least that much gained in experience. You chose some truly wonderful and stunning photos! I can’t believe you had to do that all in a day! I’m sure it was nerve-racking!
Thanks Joseph, fortunately we had our portfolios selected recently and we just had to narrow that down and add a few other favourites, but it certainly was nerve wracking 🙂
Hi Michael,
You have a very eclectic collection in your set. Very well done.
Bob
Eclectic! now that’s a word that describes my photography in general 🙂 I don’t think I found my niche 🙂
Thanks Bob
great job! any show is good exposure and both your sets of images are really expressive.congrats.
Thanks Sheila, I agree, any exposure is good 🙂
Good to see the faces behind the camera 😉
I don’t think I have seen your pictures before. It’s always good to see the face(s) behind the name(s).
You both have a very good collection.
Thanks Sasi, we’re usually on the other side of the lens 🙂