Great panel discussion about collecting photography

Photo: Nicole Aguirre

I moderated a panel discussion on Tuesday night about collecting photography in conjunction with the DCist Exposed photography show at Flashpoint. I think most everyone who attended the event agreed that the panelists were pretty darn impressive.

Paul Roth mesmerized the audience. Besides giving us an informative overview of photography through the history of art collecting, Paul talked about whether photography was even art and about how dealers and collectors have been primary drivers in the rising value of photography, among many other riveting topics. I could have listened to him speak for hours! Seriously. Veronica Jackson spoke about her passion for art collecting and how living with art is necessary to maintaining sanity. She also said that she especially enjoys collecting emerging artists and she believes that art should be accessible to all. I could not agree with her more! Theo Adamstein spoke about the nuts and bolts of photography: printing, preservation, etc. We could have done an entire other panel discussion on this topic alone! Photographer Jason Horowitz spoke about how much he enjoyed his relationship with collectors and with the community of photographers. He lamented how the advent of digital photography has actually diminished the sense of community among photographers to some degree because they don't hang around at film processing places like Chrome anymore.

The DCist Exposed photography show comes down on Saturday so get right on over to Flashpoint and buy some excellent photographs that document life in DC beyond monuments and the usual touristy, postcard fare. They are well-priced and a great way to start a collection, or fill out your existing collection if you've already been acquiring art for a while.

I got to have the last word in the discussion. I said that I believed that art has transformative powers and that it helps you to see the world from different perspectives. I recounted a recent experience that made that point vividly clear to me. Awesome artist Victoria Gaitan photographed me a couple months ago and recently sent me one of the images she had made. At first glance, I didn't at all like her portrayal of me. (See below.) I'm used to me smiling in photographs and I thought the picture made me look too serious and maybe a little like I was about to kick someone's ass. I think of myself as a pretty happy-go-lucky gal who unfailingly tries to amuse and entertain. Victoria's response: "I hope that people find something unexpected reflected in them." Turns out, this photo she'd made of me was an unexpected opportunity for reflection and introspection and had became an instrument of self-discovery. Now that's good art!

Photo: Victoria F. Gaitán.