The meaning of wellbeing: my first physical exhibition
Me in front of the exhibition on its opening day
“The meaning of wellbeing”, my very first physical photographic exhibition which I completed as part of my HND course, covers three specific topics: Wellbeing itself, my company Arm, and the power of photography to inspire us, connecting to a core idea: how can photography contribute to one’s wellbeing?
While the audience of this project is universal, it’s targeted to Arm employees since they’re the stars and main characters of this show, a tribute to them as unsung heroes, and to the company itself.
It was always my intention to create a collage with them performing wellbeing activities, creating an emotional map where everyone can relate to at least one of them, and inspire to try some of the others. From an emotional perspective, it’s a recognition to their resilience and to one of Arm’s core values: be your brilliant self.
The installation is located in a wide white wall with a 3:2 aspect ratio, one of the reasons I chose to have photographs printed in 45x30cm, to create a form of harmony between them and the wall, and 25 different activities related to different wellbeing based on my secondary research and in agreement with my team. This number provides enough variety of people, activities, and another important element: diversity and inclusion.
A small written narrative on the left-hand side introduces a 5x5 matrix of high-quality photo prints under matte acrylic glass, filling but not overwhelming the wall, fully shaping this mapped story and immediately connecting emotionally with the viewer: their potential as human beings, the pride in their colleagues and the beauty of their own strength and resilience.
Final exhibition wall
There’s also a small mention to my figure as author and artist, and a QR code linking to a feedback form and an extended narrative to the installation including the people that have worked in it as well.
The final result just works: a whole wall with big prints in a harmonic, rectangular presentation, in a well-visited area of the company building, providing inspiration to the Arm employees in their daily stressful work lives though this wellbeing story, their story, hoping that the beauty of photography and their own wellbeing in display becomes a form of solace and inspiration for their present and future.
I’m personally very proud of this work, and my company also echoed this through a post in their Careers website.
