My day at the gallery

On Superbowl Sunday while most of my friends were glued to the TV watching the Jets lose their shot at getting to the Superbowl. I was sitting at the gallery with fellow gallery member Nandor. Nandor is currently having a spotlight show at the gallery while just a few feet away one of my images hangs in all it’s glory. I’ve been a member of SOHO Photo Gallery for about two years now and display my work their regularly. Unfortunately, it is very rare when I actually have any in depth conversations with the members there. Sure, many of them are very nice, engaging and talented in their own right but for whatever reason, perhaps age.  I always feel like an outsider there.                 However, as I sat with Nandor I felt comfortable and even entertained.  He told me about growing up in Hungary and how the combination of cold weather and Communism make for hard and sometimes bitter people. I had mentioned how as a teen and into my early twenties I worked in areas of Brooklyn and encountered many people who came from Eastern Europe. I had met my share of gypsies, thieves and people who made their living off the misery of others. Though the subject matter may seem pretty dark. We spoke in good humor about our experiences.                                                                                Later in the day we went through one another’s work and immediately developed a mutual admiration society. I sat nervously as he poured over my pictures. It’s one thing to have someone you know and love praise you or tell you they are not impressed by certain images, concepts or ideas, But to have someone who’s work may be on your level or even better is different. I was both happy and relieved to know he liked my work but what blew me away was his knowledge of lighting. As he went from image to image pointing out the source and direction of light I sat in awe. Over the last year or so I have really become an apprentice with light. Not only seeing it but directing it and using it for dramatic purpose. I find I have tendency to go a little too dark sometimes. When I look back at the work I was doing between 2006-2008 I see a tremendous difference. I’ve added a lot more drama and I like that. But sometimes I do admit missing the days when I would just flood the studio with light. It may not have been as creative or ballsy but it was a little more conventional. Not that I want to go back to that style on a regular basis. But I don’t think I’d mind revisiting it every once in a while.