Photographer Kim McKechie, as a part of her level 6 diploma in photography, has put on the exhibition at the Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre.
The exhibition is called "Observation", and Mrs McKechie said it was a range of photos of people’s eyes around a room, designed to evoke questions in the observer.
"[It] speaks to how we’re all observed and monitored, and makes you stop, look and consider commonalities between each of ourselves," she said.
The idea behind the exhibition came to her one morning, and she found it difficult to let go of before deciding to follow it through and create the intriguing and provocative piece.
The opening night was on November 1, with around 30 people attending and a reception, which Mrs McKechie said was exactly what she was looking for — provocative and engaging.
"It was really interesting. I got a good mix of opinions from people engaging in the exhibition.
"Some don’t get it, they find it off-putting to be stared at, and some get up close and see. It makes people stop and think," she said.
For her, art was about driving conversation and stirring responses, and it was irrelevant if the feedback was positive or not, so long as for a moment people stopped and thought about what they think, and why they think it.
The exhibition was also about reminding people of human connection in its most basic form — eye contact, she said.
"I think because society is getting quite polarised, from news, media, politics, that sort of thing — it’s nice to bring it back to humanity.
"We’re all people together, we all have stuff in common, the nuts and bolts of the tiny details rather than the daily life, it’s my way of bringing this back to focus," she said.
Mrs McKechie acknowledged it was not a traditional exhibition and called it "out of left field", but invited any curious minds, or anyone at all, to visit the aviation centre to have a look, have a think and explore the message from their own eyes.
"Definitely if they are intrigued with the artistic process and finding new ideas, come and have a look.
"Everyone was so excited and intrigued. It’s pushing people’s buttons," she said.
