Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Beth Holland. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Beth, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
In December 2019 I had my first photography show at Fountain Place in Downtown Dallas. I had been longing to have an exhibit for years and I felt very lucky to have been asked. My photography exhibit was called “After Hours, America’s National Parks at Night.” I am a night photographer and my goal was to show how our crowded national parks look in the hours when everyone else is sleeping, with no crowds, and complete peace.
When it came to putting on an exhibition I faced a steep learning curve and I had a short amount of time to prepare. Selecting and editing my photographs was easy. The hard part was presenting my photos in a public space. My questions were how will they be framed, what size should they be, how many photos will fit into the space, what kind of signage, what should the captions say for the photos, and how will my photos look with the available lighting? After resolving those questions I had to find the right companies to produce the signage and the large photos.
The photos, the captions, and the exhibition signage were completed. My next decision was how to hang 20 large photographs in a narrow hallway. How high do you hang them and what do you hang them with? Problem solved when I contacted a professional art hanging company. The installation was done and to my surprise, it looked good!
This was a frustrating journey, but one I am glad to have experienced because I learned so much about the process of installing an exhibit. Hopefully, there will be another one in the future and this time I won’t have as many sleepless nights.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
After all of my children left the nest I made a decision that it was now or never in terms of becoming a photographer. I was a museum educator and was grounded in the elements of art. It was time to practice what I knew so I upgraded my camera to a DSLR and signed up for my first photography workshop in Yellowstone National Park. Alas, I was the least experienced student in the group and it was mortifying. Shortly after this awful experience, I went to school at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops where I learned how to use my camera and photoshop.
I found my current photography niche when I attended a workshop with a group called National Parks at Night. It was my first experience with shooting the Milky Way and star circles. I had never seen the Miky Way until my first shot appeared on my camera screen. I was then hooked on astrophotography.
I am primarily a nature photographer. My clients are nature lovers. My photos evoke memories of places they may have visited but never seen at night in another kind of light…….starlight.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
As creatives, we want to show our art but sometimes we don’t know how and it is difficult to get gallery representation. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Dallas had a place to display art in a public place on a rotating basis, that was free to enter and free to the public?
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes, my age is the driving force to complete my goals. I began this journey when most photographers my age are already successful and have made a name for themselves. I have had to work twice as hard to learn what they know in a shorter amount of time
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bethhollandphotography.com
- Instagram: BethHollandPhotography
Image Credits
all photos by Beth Holland