Stephen Cohen, founder of Photo L.A. and longtime Los Angeles gallery owner has passed away. He began his career selling photos and books in 1977, crisscrossing the country by car, visiting museums, corporate curators and collectors to establish his network. By 1992 he had begun organizing art fairs including Photo San Francisco, Photo Santa Fe, Photo NY, the AIPAD Photography show in Miami and of course Photo L.A. He produced over fifty shows during his long career and never lost his love for the big events.
His gallery, Stephen Cohen Gallery closed in 2016 after a 25 year run but he stayed active selling privately. His love for photography and shows remained undiminished. When he was closing the gallery we talked about his feelings for the photo scene and he said, “We need the entire photographic community coming together to promote expositions like photo L.A. Artists, students, galleries, curators, collectors and those who write about photography, they all need to be supportive of efforts to promote the making and exhibition of photo-based art. Even if you cannot afford to purchase photographs, you can visit the galleries… Having had a public space for 25 years, I can tell you that gallery visitors are very much appreciated… A great part of educating your visual palate is to see as much art as you can, so support your local gallerist. Visit a gallery today”.
He also said “Never give up. Never surrender.” I think I’ll leave it at that.
Andy Romanoff
Photo website www.andyromanoff.com
Writing website https://medium.com/stories-ive-been-meaning-to-tell-you
YouTube Channel YouTube
