Wellbeing Space

Thank you for offering to participate in the staff photography exhibition which is due to be hung on Wed 8th October 25. 

The theme for this exhibition is ‘Holiday Destinations’. 

How you interpret this title, and the content of the image is up to you (based on the guidelines at the end of this document). Creativity and lateral thinking is encouraged!

Link Gallery:

The Gallery space in the Link Corridor is run entirely by us in the hospital, we have a small committee who look after the space and plan the exhibitions. 

They are:

· Ines Orosnjak

· Aggie Cebula

· Theresa Weldring

· Steve Summers

We are very open to new ideas for future exhibitions. Please get in touch via stephen.summers@nhs.net 

Submission Process:

Please email a copy of your submission photograph to stephen.summers@nhs.net keeping the file size below 1 Mb. You can submit up to two photographs for consideration. The deadline for submissions is Monday 22nd September.

The Link Gallery committee will sort through submissions and email you back as soon as possible letting you know if your image has been selected for exhibition. This is mainly for when we get more entries than we have spaces for. Even if your photograph doesn’t make this exhibition, we are absolutely going to have further exhibitions, so all is not lost!

If your picture is accepted, you will need to provide a print of it by Monday 6th October. 

The size of the frame is A2 (420 x 594 mm) so your photograph will sit within this. You can have it printed any size up to A2. You can supply it as it is, or in a mount, it’s entirely up to you. If this sizing doesn’t mean anything to you, please get in touch and I will explain!

Please note that the gallery has 13 frames:

4 of these are portrait format, 11 are landscape format 

Bear this in mind when deciding which image(s) to submit, since we can display more landscape format than portrait format prints.

Practical Stuff:

· Size – The frames take up to A2size prints. That is 420 x 594 mm (16.5 x 23.5 inches). The print can be any size and shape up to these dimensions, and will be mounted on stiff card. We can stick it onto a sheet of white A2 card for you, but we only have white.

· Printing – you are responsible for getting your picture(s) printed. This is now really affordable with online services e.g. an A3 size photograph only costs about £9. You will need to plan ahead to allow for delivery time. 

There are many online printing services - here are some examples:

Snapfish UK: Online Photo Printing & Personalised Photo Gifts

Photo Printing Online | All Sizes | Photobox

Photo Printing » Print Photos Online | BonusPrint UK

Sometimes the larger print sizes come under the ‘Wall Art’ or ‘Poster’ section of their website.

Top Tip - don’t leave it till the last minute and go to the local shop for a print, it will cost much more than online. The photographs can be matt or gloss finish, it’s up to you, when in the gallery frame, they will be behind a sheet of matt finish fire-retardant acrylic. The deadline for getting your print to Steve on Esher Wing Level 4 is Monday 6th October.

· Mounting card - if the photograph is not going to fill the A2 frame, you may want to place it on a mount card in a colour of your choice. Mounting just means sticking your picture to this backing card, or if you are able, cutting a hole of the right size and sticking it on the back. A2 mount card is really affordable and you can buy it at stationery shops like ‘The Range’, or Amazon, as well as from specialists.

· Title – please give your photograph a short one-line title. This will go on the information sheet. Please email this title, with the name you want to use, and the department or team you work in, to Steve ahead of time.

· Information sheet – there will be an exhibition information sheet, which will have some info about each photographer, the title of each picture.

Please be aware that the exhibition space is in an open and accessible space, with frames that snap shut but are not lockable. There is an element of risk, in that damage or indeed theft is possible. So far, we have not had any trouble so the risk is very low, but you need to be aware.

Exhibition Rules:

There is a very simple set of guidelines for all exhibition contributors that you would expect, in order to keep our exhibitions safe and accessible to all.

Criteria

We will collect and/or display paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, installations, photography, moving image and digital artworks, that support the health and wellbeing of patients, their families and staff. The criteria for display and/or acquisition are:

a. Led by the needs of patients, their families and members of staff.

b. Of quality, demonstrating excellence in making and handling of materials.

c. Innovative in skills, materials and intention.

d. Responds effectively to the environment in which it will be displayed.

e. Has a positive impact on patients, families and staff, and is aligned with the Trust’s values.

f. Supports the development of a successful coherent collection and will stand the test of time.

g. Reflects the diversity of our patients, families and staff and the Trust’s Equality Policy.

Future:

This is one of what we hope will be many staff photography exhibitions. Please come back with future photographs.

Contributing to a public exhibition of your work is brave thing to do, but it really does provide something to celebrate, and brightens up our workplace.

Thank you!