Photo LA has been a long-standing favorite event of mine where galleries from all over the world come together in February, in Los Angeles (Santa Monica usually) and take over a large space and have a photographic art fair for the weekend. It began thirty years ago and unfortunately hasn’t had a full event since 2020 right before the pandemic hit. Thankfully the Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles made the effort to keep it going this year, along with James Danziger who hosted the event, to bring in a dozen top gallerists this past weekend for a scaled-down version of the fair. Danziger Gallery Los Angeles was the perfect host venue and the event seemed to be very well received. I went up yesterday and saw some great images, had some solid conversations, and added three more books to my library. I heard that Saturday was absolutely packed with visitors at Bergamot Station, which is fantastic for our local photo community. Sunday had the perfect sized crowd, enough people so every gallerist was always interacting with someone but with enough room and time to inspect work without feeling rushed.
Danziger Gallery - Photo Forward Los Angeles 2023
Joseph Bellow Gallery
It was good seeing Joseph Bellows again and the selection of work he brought up from La Jolla. I was excited to see that he was showcasing Ave Pidas’s Star Struck limited edition portfolio as well as some of his vintage prints. This was my first opportunity to see some of Ave’s original prints. I purchased a signed copy of a place in the sun - photographs of los angeles by John Humble. This 2007 book was published by The Getty to accompany his exhibition at the museum. It is so well done, and I really like Humble’s photographs. Bellows also had a stack of Humble’s photographs on site which were beautiful, and I thought they were reasonably priced. Some prints were vintage, and others were modern digital prints. I really like John Humble’s photographs and encourage you to get to know his work.
Aperture
I have been wanting to add Stephen Shore’s Uncommon Places, published by Aperture, to my library for a while. I think I was at the MFA in Boston the last time I saw a copy of it, and I didn’t want to deal with lugging it home then (I had already bought a few other books on that trip). So, when I saw a copy on the Aperture table, I decided to buy it. That’s when I met Kellie McLaughlin, Aperture’s Chief Marketing and Sales Officer. Kellie was so engaging and enthusiastically pointed out how the other Stephen Shore book they had, Selected Works 1973-1981 was a perfect complement to Uncommon Places and how it was unique in its own right. I love meeting people like Kellie who understand the medium of photography and are passionate about it. Kellie made me an offer that I couldn't refuse, and I ended up with both books. I did put one condition on the sale that she introduce me to Sarah Meister, Aperture's Executive Director and former MoMA curator, who I had seen talking to James Danziger in his office. Meeting someone like Sarah was amazing, she was so gracious and I’m still excited about the introduction.
Danziger
For this event James Danziger gave most of his 4,000 sq ft gallery space to other exhibitors and showcased his holdings in his private office, which was open to the public. I was in there looking at photographs when I realized Sarah Meister had come in from NYC for the show because I recognized her talking to James. It was interesting to see the selection of work James had up in his office for this event. Over his desk was a large Tod Papageorge photograph from The Beaches exhibition they showcased last year. There were O. Winston Link prints, and fittingly a famous Julian Wasser print. All the prints were amazing, as I expected they would be.
James Danziger’s Office. Sarah Meister speaking with James and another person.
Terry Etherton brought some amazing pieces including a portfolio of The Bikeriders by Danny Lyons.
Skidmore Contemporary Art
Every time I go to Danzinger I stop in to Skidmore Contemporary Art to check out their latest exhibition. Skidmore shows a lot of photo-realism paintings which is I really like; I know that’s shocking being that I am a documentary photographer. Below is the is the work that stood out to me. Eric Nash’s A Pool in Hills is epic Los Angeles, love it.
While at Bergamot I also stopped in to check out Robert Berman Gallery and had a great talk with Gallery Director Jason Vass. Berman’s current exhibition Focus on Women in Photography runs through March 14, 2023. It showcases over forty different female photographers. I immediately noticed two recent photographs from Los Angeles that I had never seen before. The photographs were by Rezeta Veliu who I had not even heard of. Jason explained how Rezeta’s husband was successful in the entertainment industry and was a big part of why she was in the area. To prepare for writing this post I researched more about Veliu. She was born in Kosovo in 1999 and came to New York city basically as a refugee in 2013. She married Rich Cook in 2020 and they have already started their family. Cook is a producer and co-founder of Range Media Partners. Veliu is also an actress and I assume a model; she is absolutely stunning.
Rezeta Veliu - Born and Raised -Los Angeles 2022
What impressed me most about Rezeta Veliu’s photographs is she is willing to go to hard areas to photograph. She takes her camera in to areas like Venice, Compton, and other rougher parts of Los Angeles and she gets among the people and photographs. I can tell by the images she often uses a wide angle lens and her subjects know she is photographing them. I respect that so much. Few things bother me as much as photographers who use a telephoto lens from safe locations and lay claim to being a street photographer. There is a time and place for both long and short lenses but to be a good street photographer you have to move amongst people sometimes. I spent time looking at Veliu’s work and saw a lot of good images. I also saw a photographer who is still emerging and needs to continue to hone her craft. She speaks of documenting Los Angeles extensively by visiting 43 different areas of the city over 6 months. I have been photographing in Los Angeles for 40 years and I still feel like I am just scratching the surface when it comes to documenting Southern California. Six months in LA is nothing, it is probably one of the hardest cities in the world to photograph because it is so big and diverse. Someone could get a good portfolio to document a small area, like say just Venice or just Malibu in six months but for Veliu to claim she documented that much in such little time shows Veliu still has a lot to learn. She also tells us she shoots on film and her prints are on “cotton paper”. Why? and can she tell me more? I have exposed, and processed, a few thousand rolls of film in my life. I used film because that was the best medium at the time, with today’s technology if someone is photographing on film, they should have a real reason other than it is hip. There are so many plus ins available for Photo Shop that most any analogue look is quickly obtainable in a digital image file now. I also don’t know what “cotton paper” means. Say what brand paper you print on, so the buyer knows the archival value. Some of her prints can also be better, some are flat and lack shadow detail. Veliu still has to learn more about the craft of Photography, but with her connection to the entertainment industry here in LA, and her marketability as a person, I expect her work to take off and her photography to become very well known. Veliu’s work is worth getting to know and she is a young photographer worth following.
