In 2020 I went to the Legacy of LIGHT symposium at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, in Tucson. It was held in January and commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the LIGHT gallery in New York City. LIGHT was the first gallery dedicated solely to exhibiting and marketing Photographs. The Gallery had a huge impact on the establishment of the medium as an artform and its impact on the medium was incredible.
Harold Jones was the first Director of the LIGHT gallery. In 1975 Harold was recruited to be the first Director of the Center of Creative Photography. He taught at the University of Arizona while leading CCP for 30 years and has maintained his ties to CCP and the U of A since he retired. Harold is an icon in the history of the medium of Photography as an artist, educator, curator, and director.
I was fortunate to have one of my prints included in the exhibition that was held in conjunction with the symposium. I went out for the exhibition opening as well as for the symposium. The opening was good, and the symposium was incredible. As soon as I saw the exhibition, which was amazing, I knew how important the exhibition and symposium were going to be. I photographed the opening, and when I returned for the symposium, I had already decided to photograph as much as I could to document that event. I authored a number of blog posts about LIGHT, and I also mailed out prints to people who I met or saw at the symposium. I sent a group of prints for people at CCP in a single package but unfortunately it shipped in March 2020 just as the Covid lockdown was starting. The package was misplaced and not found until this past summer. The folks at CCP then distributed the photos to everyone including forwarding the photos for Harold, who moved to Oregon when he retired. I didn’t know all this until I got an email from Harold in September thanking me for the prints and asking for my mailing address.
I sent a reply with my address, and we had a couple emails back and forth. Harold’s emails are fun; he attached a vintage photo of a Canon Camera production line on one then a very appropriate cartoon for me personally on another. Our exchanges were validating, and I especially loved when he thanked me for being a photographer before the age of the cell phone. He absolutely sees the dangers of the cell phone photography culture for the medium of photography.
A couple weeks after our exchanges I received the above print from Harold. I am so honored that a person of Harold’s stature would take the time to thank me in such a way. Without a doubt this is the coolest gift I received this year. As a photographer I get this on every level, especially the process. It is an incredible thank you gift. It is also a great example of what photographers are. You can’t shut off seeing images. This also isn’t an image you can appreciate in an Instagram post. You can’t appreciate the layers of meaning in a 2 second view and swipe.
I know it was a private gift, but I felt the need to showcase it because Harold is an amazing person and was so influential for the medium of Photography on so many levels/