This year, The Photography Show presented by AIPAD will take place from April 5th to 8th at the Pier 94 in New York. It is one the oldest photographic fair where a lot of special moments happened. Until its opening, The Eye of Photography will publish a selection of memories of the fair collected from the gallery owners, mostly related to photographs.
– Julia Gragnon, Galerie de l’Instant, Paris: This is a picture by my father François Gragnon taken for Paris Match, in the 1950s… last year it was the first time I participated as exhibitor at AIPAD, a moment I dreamed of from the beginning of my gallery in Paris, but that seemed to me to be “for others”. Then, with time, I took a little more confidence in myself and could finally reach this sweet dream. So I arrived with my photos of Paris, including this one, which I particularly like for the atmosphere and the contrast between the clothes of this spring-summer collection. It is part of a series shot in winter by Papa, and remains for him one of its worst moments of photographing. He liked to shoot in a quiet atmosphere, and at that moment had all the staff of Paris Match at his side, not to mention the freezing models, and other security agents (here in the boats), present to save young women in case of a fall in the lake! Mingling my dream and Papa’s bad memory, symbolizes a magical and unforgettable moment for me, swaying between pride and a form of accomplishment.
– Marcella Brandimarti, Utopica Gallery, São Paulo: This photograph is by Brazilian photographer German Lorca, which Utópica showed for the first time in the US on our first participation at AIPAD Show. This is an iconic photo by a man who is now 96 years old and still photographing. Lorca is well known in Brazil but had never before been seen in America and the public response to his photographs during the days of the fair was such that we were really pleased to have taken his work abroad; curators, collectors and amateurs appreciated German Lorca. The image was the last vintage print of its kind, and it depicts São Paulo’s airport in 1965; the 1960’s was the decade during which Lorca’s work got more refined as he evolved as a professional photographer also taking on his personal work. A similar print is part of MoMA s collection and the print shown at Aipad went to a private collection in London.
– Luisa Goldstein, PDNB Gallery, Dallas : One of the most recent memorable AIPAD shows was in 2016, when we introduced the work of Ida Lansky, who was a student of the Texas experimental photographer, Carlotta Corpron. Both Laszlo Maholy-Nagy and Gyory Kepes visited the small college town of Denton, Texas for artist residencies. Kepes developed a friendship and influenced Carlotta Corpron’s work. Lansky and other students also benefitted from this Bauhaus influence as well. For many years we have worked with a collection of vintage prints by Ida Lansky, placing her photographs in mostly local museum and private collections. But when we finally decided to bring her experimental photography to The Photography Show in 2016, the New York response was overwhelming! We had important collectors and institutions, some that we never worked with before, buying her work. This was really overwhelming and gratifying on many levels. It is always important to a gallerist to introduce an unknown artist to the world that you think should be recognized, especially one that is no longer living. Then to see her work collected by museums and notable collectors is icing on the cake.
