It’s my greatest pleasure to kick off a new series for The Eye of Photography. I am thrilled to start with one of the most famous New York-based gallerists – Howard Greenberg. Ever since I started working in photography, Greenberg’s shows, activities, and collaborations have been a huge inspiration for me.
Please join me now for the first part of “Recap & Reload,” featuring Mr. Howard Greenberg:
Nadine Dinter : When and how did you start your career in the arts / photography business?
Howard Greenberg : After college, in 1970, I purchased a camera and never looked back. I had not intended on a career in the arts, as a photographer, or certainly not as a gallerist. However, my love and obsession with being a photographer turned into a similar love and obsession with the history of photography, particularly with my discovery of the transcendent beauty of changing materials available during that history when utilized by the great photographers. I morphed from being a photographer to founding and directing a nonprofit “center” for photography in Woodstock, NY, in 1977 to opening my own commercial gallery in 1981.
What was your main motivation to open a gallery? Do you have any particular role models or idols?
HG : My motivation for opening my first commercial gallery was the realization that I loved the history, and also that there were great treasures close by (Woodstock was an important art colony founded in 1902, and many photographers lived or had strong connections there). I could have a gallery in Woodstock during the warmer months and then be on the road with the photographs I was finding and acquiring all the time. If I had gallery role models, it would have been the early NYC galleries like Witkin and Light. However, for me, it was more about the discovery of great work and then finding ways to sell it and then create a gallery business. I assure you I did not sell many photos from my Woodstock gallery in the early ‘80s. The business grew from my many trips to NY and other cities, which allowed me to form relationships with the few curators and collectors at that time.
Who was the first artist you signed on?
HG : Good question...