Hiding in Plain Sight via You Tube

The Alley Theatre has a wonderful gallery space which has welcomed numerous artists over the last 3 years to display their work in Strabane. Now with a growing reputation, the amount of applications we receive to exhibit at the Alley is growing dramatically on a yearly basis.

From the world famous Felim Egan, glass artist Sean Campbell, the Northern Ireland Press Photographers Association to the local arts Group, the Alley has offered an exceptional space and support for professional and amateur artists alike. The venue offers regular exhibition launches, an art club and regular podcasts with the exhibiting artists, all aimed at raising the profile of the artist and the gallery space.

This year the Alley also embarked on establishing a second gallery space within the Linton and Robinsons department store in Strabane, funded by Arts and Business. From a wonderful launch in a newly refurbished 2nd floor area, the North West Artist Gallery, based in Lintons' has became a commercial success!

The superb success of our exhibitions clearly demonstrate how the Alley is leading the creative arts in not only the North West, but across Northern Ireland, pushing the boundaries and getting more people interested in viewing/buying art.

However our new exhibition, "Hiding in Plain Sight" made me stop and think about how we should approach new artists in the future.


Our new exhibition, "Hiding in Plain Sight" is by a Strabane photographer, Raymond McCarron, a highly complex man whose passion for street photography is endless. He has a god given gift to capture that lost or stolen moment on the street which when seen through the lens offers more than a thousand words to the observer. From the gritty streets of Belfast, a Halloween trip in Derry, an old women hunched in a windy high street to an almost "Darwin -ist" portrait of an old man walking the dark narrow back alleys in Edinburgh, Raymond can certainly be hailed as one of Ireland's leading street photographers and is worthy of having his work put into a book format (any publishing houses reading this?)

For his new exhibition, "Hiding in Plain Sight", the Alley has developed press releases, interviews with regional newspapers, twitter updates, designed invitations, web updates, e-news letters, planned an official launch night, a Facebook events page, got David Oliver to play at the launch and completed a hit podcast.

However one piece of marketing gold we missed out in producing was a You Tube presence for the exhibition. We shouldn't have worried, Raymond had already completed one himself without telling us and boy was it good. This stunning exhibition on You Tube, mixed with a killer soundtrack simply took my breath away it was that good.

I have to admit my jaw dropped when I first saw it listed on You Tube, how could I have missed this? What a great way of exhibiting the work to potential journalists and patrons. Why hadn't he told me? More importantly, why hadn't I asked? However my frustration over missing this golden opportunity to further promote his show was very short lived, as I began soak up the music and enjoy the wonderful images which were flowing in front of my eyes.

So this weeks comment from the Alley, when you are planning your campaign, make sure you have a good chat to the performer/artist about what else they have done and maybe you might find a hidden gem! To watch for yourself the wonderful work Raymond has produced on You Tube click here.

I hope you enjoy it as much as me.