Laurence Miller is one of New York's historic gallery owners.
Today he is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of his passion, of his journey in the exhibition and promotion of photography.
He entrusted us with this text and these images.
Thank you Laurence for all the images you showed us.
JJN
The story begins around 1964, when my father covered my bedroom walls with cork boards and I hung my first installation: colorful magazine covers featuring star athletes.
After graduating from high school, I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, began taking art classes, and turned to photography, studying with Cavaliere Ketchum, who believed that the great era of image magazines like LIFE was coming to an end and that living without these magazines would be a challenge for photography. He emphasized combining photography with other skills, such as typography, and we began publishing our own handmade books. I then moved on to the University of New Mexico to continue my graduate studies with their excellent faculty, which included Beaumont Newhall, Van Deren Coke, and photographer/curator Thomas Barrow, who sadly passed away this summer. At UNM, I held my first public exhibition, featuring handmade photography books from the 19th and 20th centuries, at the Quivira Bookstore and Gallery.
In 1974, Tom Barrow informed me of an opening at LIGHT Gallery in New York, which I joined that September. I became an associate director, working with Harold Jones, Peter MacGill, Victor Schrager, Susan Harder, and Charles Traub. My responsibilities included traveling exhibitions, exhibition installations and sales. LIGHT was a destination for everyone interested in the art of photography, which provided me with meetings and friendships with many greats… Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, Jan Groover, Ray Metzker, Linda Connor, Andre Kertesz, Ansel Adams, Nancy. Rexroth, Stephen Shore, Fred Sommer, Duane Michaels, Garry Winogrand, Emmet Gowin, Paul Strand, Minor White and Ansel Adams, to name a few… and many collectors, curators and writers as well…
When LIGHT later moved to a larger space at 724 Fifth Avenue, people began decorating the walls with photographs. In response, in 1979 I imagined a different type of exhibition, entitled INTERIORS DESIGNED FOR PHOTOGRAPHS. We invited five major design firms to create their own installations within the Gallery: JOE D'Urso Design, Inc; Falkener-Stuetley Interiors, Ltd; MacII; Parish-Hadley, Inc.; and Patino/Wolf Associates, Inc. The exhibition received excellent media coverage and generated numerous sales…
That same year I accompanied Aaron Siskind to the Rencontres d’Arles. I'll never forget sitting at a big round table with many big names, including André Kertesz, when Aaron burst out, “Kertesz, why do you look so grumpy all the time?” » typical question from Aaron and typical Kertesz.
In 1980 I left LIGHT to start my own private gallery, had two exhibitions at BOOKS AND COMPANY on Madison Avenue: Val Telberg and Frances Murray, and soon after began representing Ray Metzker and The Estate of Larry Burrows.
I opened LAURENCE MILLER GALLERY in January 1984, on East 57th Street and was fortunate to hire associates from Patino/Wolf, who transformed my shoebox into a magical, unconventional space to display images . During the afternoon before our grand opening, I split my pants!! However, an elderly seamstress had space nearby, and in a few minutes I was stitched up and ready to begin my future as a gallery owner…
NEW YORK magazine published a magnificent double page spread on the unique design of the gallery. To attract new potential buyers who fear that photography is a matter of endless editions, I organized THE ONE AND ONLY: UNIQUE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE DAGUERREOTYPE. As our reputation grew, I was able to attract Helen Levitt and Lee Friedlander. We soon outgrew our modest space and moved to Soho.
Representing Ray, Helen, Lee, Toshio Shibata and others has given me reasons to travel throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. A moment that I will never forget was going to Paris to represent Helen Levitt, who never took a plane, for the opening of her major retrospective at the NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY CENTER. In the middle of the afternoon, Régis Durand, the museum director, called me at the hotel and said: “turn on the TV, there has been a terrorist attack!” Not knowing what he was referring to, I read my book and shaved. Shortly after, my wife Lorriane called me and told me what was happening. Glued to the TV, I could barely get out of bed to get dressed and attend the Levitt opening. It was September 11, 2001.
As SOHO became more and more retail oriented, we moved back to 57th Street, and in 2011, Jacob Cartwright joined the gallery as an art manager and assistant. We then moved to Chelsea, just a few meters from the High Line. With the arrival of COVID we finally closed our public space, I returned to transactions and private consulting from our apartment and house in New Hope, PA. My wife Lorraine continues to play a vital role as financial director and advisor to the Gallery. I should note that Jacob continues to be director of the gallery and, although we have no public space, Jacob's outstanding contributions as author of our popular online series PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE WEEK, now at number 317 , have generated a long mailing list, including many compliments and frequent sales. We now benefit from the best of both worlds: global visibility and confidentiality…
After fifty, I'm starting to slow down and be more selective about the projects I take on. With a large barn adjacent to our house, I have the space to create facilities, both indoors and outdoors, for the occasional chat with good friends and neighbors. I am satisfied.
All the best,
Laurence Miller
September 29, 2024
http://www.laurencemillergallery.com/
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