What happens when we face our fears? What happens when we look past terror and find wonder?
In collaboration with photographer (and reformed arachnophobe) Billy Hickey, Green Street Photo Collective presents Arachnophilia, a photography show honoring the work of Hickey’s dear late friend, Joe Warfel, who spent decades documenting the animals he loved.
Arachnophilia addresses a common fear and seeks to understand the misunderstood. It celebrates the maligned and the eight legged, and aims to spread Warfel’s same love for spiders by creating a unique space for viewers to confront their own personal fears of arachnids.
Join Green Street Photo Collective for opening night Nov. 6, 2026. Doors will open at 5:30PM, with remarks to follow at 7PM. This event is BYOB. Snacks and light refreshments will be served.
This event is a part of a wider Jamaica Plain First Fridays initiative. Check out other galleries and art spaces opening their doors for an evening of art, community, and conversation at firstfridaysjp.com.
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Billy Hickey is a nature photographer from Massachusetts. He has spent most of his life afraid of spiders and photos of their faces.
In his personal work Billy makes stories about the intersections of the natural and human worlds covering topics such as falconry, light pollution, fireflies, and goats. Billy’s passion is learning about nature and sharing its wonders through photography with the hope to educate and inspire. In 2020 he graduated from the International Center of Photography and his project “How We Were” won first place in Lensculture’s Black and White Photography Awards. Billy’s work has been featured in the Eastern Mass. Hawkwatch’s Newsletter, The Wall Street Journal, STAT News, and the New York Times. From Spring 2023 until Spring 2024, he was an Artist-in-Residence at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. During this time Billy made An Uncommon Inheritance which looks at the ecosystem formed in the Cemetery that is shared by human, animals, plant, and fungus alike. He is based in Watertown, Massachusetts, available for assignments around New England.