Clearly this comes from my perspective as a collector, but perhaps more importantly as an artist. Over the years, I’ve had a lot of different opinions about photography as an art form. Specifically, I thought it was kind of lame. I know…that’s weak…I get that now.

A pivotal moment for me came in 2007, when the Art Institute held an exhibit of the work of Jeff Wall. I spent hours in there, staring at every image, and felt like I connected right from my heart, with so many of the pieces. I got kind of teary-eyed at one point. So this was truly my first experience in seeing something that I’ve always seen, but this time really seeing it… And feeling it.

It was a very confusing thing for me, but I loved it. My eyes and my mind were opened to a world so full of excitement and wonderment.

Last year, I featured the photography works of artist, Stephanie Dean, in one of my art dinner talks. Her work is magical in that it has the effect of being a painting by a Dutch master, and yet it’s a photograph. As someone who thrives on the use of texture on surfaces, I am fascinated by what she is able to capture in a photograph. There can be texture without texture. An image from her “Modern Groceries” series is pictured here. She is an amazing and truly accomplished artist.

In March, I went to MoMA in New York, and saw the Cindy Sherman exhibit. Same thing!! I was enraptured and utterly captivated. Every image was so sublimely structured, it was humbling for me to look at.

In between these monumental exhibitions, I’ve also noticed a lot of little things. Number one being, I suck at photography. I lack a skill that I didn’t really realize was such a skill. Sometimes I think that just because I am an artist, these things should just happen. But let me tell you, they do not. One of my best friends is a photographer, and the more I look at even his iPhone pictures of barns or door frames or whatever, the more I get that this is something I simply don’t have. Every image I look at, is art. And yet when I try it, it’s something else entirely.

On Friday, September 7^th, at a couple of River North galleries, photography will be the art of choice. At Hilton | Asmus Contemporary on Wells, the work of Dennis Manarchy will be shown. He does some very slick works of people painted silver…seemingly a bit like Avedon, yet very original. The opening night will feature a silver painted dancer at the gallery. So cool! At Jennifer Norback Fine Art, the work of Russian artist Vadim Gushchin will be featured. I was at the gallery yesterday to see the works being uncrated and hung, and let me tell you, they are amazing. They are simple in content, which may be typical of someone from Russia, but the surface texture is what really grabbed me. The colors are rich and enigmatic, but the surface appears warm and velvety, in a way you would not think a photograph could be. I’ve attached an image here.

So all of that said, I have truly been set straight. I now own two pieces of photography in my own collection, and hope to continue expanding on that. But more importantly, I have been so happy to learn that there is this whole new (new to me, that is) world of art to explore and love.