‘Photography is to be shared’, Stephen Hermida urged as he launched his exhibition

Chairman of the Photographic Society Stephen Hermida is exhibiting prints from his travels at Space 92 in Irish Town. The solo exhibition titled ‘Focus on Distant Lands’ offers an insight into the places he has travelled over the past few years.

Photographers should go ‘back to basics’, Stephen Hermida said as he stressed the importance of exhibiting and sharing photography at his latest exhibition.

In this digital age of quick snaps and straight uploads to social media, he urged that people look back at the tradition of photography and share their art.

He encouraged for other photographers to exhibit their work and not just upload online.

“Photographs are invented to be shared and it’s true that in this visual and digital world sharing photographs has never been easier,” Mr Hermida said.

“Perhaps we are a victim of our own success and popularity. Now we have social media, but all it takes is a few seconds, a click, and you move onto the next image.”

“You don’t really have time to appreciate what the artist wanted to show. You have no time to understand or discover the story behind the photograph.”
“I think it is important that photographers that we should go back to basics.”

The joy of seeing photographs framed and on a wall is what Mr Hermida wants to see other photographers also enjoy.

“Whether it framed in an office or in a public gallery, it is a privilege of a photographer to show their work,” he said.

“It should be a goal to see their art exhibited and not just relying on social media. Digital photography and social media is a very transient medium and we need to appreciate photography.”

This exhibition is a result of Mr Hermida’s first exhibition in 2016 where the curator of the Museo Cruz Herrera in La Linea invited him to exhibit his work.

“That exhibition should have gone on for one month but it was so successful with nearly 6,000 people visiting that they extended it for three months,” he said.

“When I got the collection back I didn’t know what to do with it and a friend of mine suggested it exhibit it here in Gibraltar before I break up the collection, and this is the result.”
“I will probably to breaking up this collection to anyone that wants to buy it or giving it away for charity.”

From his first exhibition Mr Hermida sold most of his prints and raised nearly £3,500 for the Calpe House Trust.

With this exhibition he will donate the proceeds to the Gibraltar Alzheimer’s and Dementia Society.

Mr Hermida is already working on his next collection from his recent trip to Nepal with Mark Randall.

“The idea is we are going to be exhibiting and possibly a book will come out with my travel companion Mark Randall where we will be talking about the story of that trip with my new collection.”

He added he aims for this new collection to be exhibited later on this year.

The exhibition at Space 92 is open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday at 92 Irish Town until May 31.