I have the opportunity to participate in an artists group that focusses on getting emerging artists work seen in my local area. The group includes artists using various media and they do a number of publications, exhibitions and projects throughout the year.

My goals in my photography have never been about making money from it, but rather to share things as I see them. I dont profess to be an expert, although like many here I often receive compliments for the work I display whether at work or in a couple of cafe's and restaurants where I have displayed my work (these have had dedicated galleries for local artists attached to them). I have drifted along over the last few years trying different things in my photography and have found that I am most comfortable now producing 8x20 soft focus landscapes printed using alternate processes (predominantly salt printing) and have been for a couple of years now.

For me the only drawbacks in becoming involved are the risk of rejection (my self esteem is sometimes not as high as it could be), and the risk of trying to create what someone else wants rather than what I want to create.

My question is whether you would, or have, become involved in an emerging artists group, and if would you do it even if your goals were not so much about selling work, but sharing it with others, or are there better ways of doing it? Any experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Craig Griffiths