A Conversation with Jennifer Schlesinger
Owner | Director of Obscura Gallery
225 Delgado Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501
@obscuragallerysf
You originally studied political science before photography pulled you in—what drew you to the visual arts? I fell in love with art when I was taking a gap year from college, where I was initially studying Political Science. In 1994, I moved to Atlanta and started working at a photography lab where we processed C-41 color film and black film and white gelatin silver prints. I would visit the High Museum and study art books. I then took a several-month trip to Europe, where I immersed myself in the arts and culture there – I was hooked. I then decided to go back to school for photography in Santa Fe, and moved here to do so in 1996.
What does running a gallery solo look like on a daily basis? How do you stay energized by the work? I love being a photography dealer and appraiser because I am very passionate about the medium, and I feel so lucky to be able to work in the passion I started out with 30 years ago. I'm a one-woman show, so I do everything from press releases, marketing, curating, installation, inventorying, consignments, and dealing with artists, clients, visitors - everything! I’m lucky enough to have a few people I can count on to run the gallery when I go out of town, but otherwise it’s just me, so I stay busy all the time!
What exhibitions or projects are you working on at the moment? I'm finishing up the final details on The Photography Show presented by AIPAD at the Park Avenue Armory happening in two weeks. My crates are getting picked up today! Then the next exhibition I am mounting is a collaboration with jdc Fine Art to bring Luis Gonzalez Palma here to Obscura Gallery, that show opens on May 9.
Is there a particular photographic image that’s stayed with you over the years? Hmmm, that's a tough one but I would say probably the first photographic negative of Lacock Abbey ever captured by William Henry Fox Talbot - it's monumental in the history of photography and I can only imagine the surprise and joy he must have felt to capture that.
If you could sit down with any early photographic innovator, who would you want to meet—and what would you ask? I would love to meet the early pioneers in photography in the 1800s. That all happened so fast, so many were moving advancements so quickly as they tried to find more stable chemistry. I would have so many questions for these innovators and inventors, especially because I am someone who has experimented with a lot of those early processes.
When considering new artists for Obscura’s roster, what kinds of voices or aesthetics do you feel compelled to spotlight? I always have my eyes open, though I have a limit on how many artists I can properly manage, so I am not quick to take on new artists. But I always love finding work that fills a niche I do not have and looking to bring awareness to artists that may not be as well known but should be (and I strive to make them so).
A great thing about living in Santa Fe is that we are a multicultural hub of art. For a small city of 80,000, you would think you were living in a world-class huge city for the opportunities that come through here to see incredible art in all genres, including visual art, music, opera, indigenous culture, film, even restaurants, and the mountains - it's a haven.
Writing seems to be a meaningful part of your curatorial process—how do you think language shapes the viewer’s relationship to photography? I usually provide a good written description of the exhibitions on our website and in the gallery, and try to educate the public with a few important introductions and words on what they are looking at when they visit the gallery. Education is key in understanding the work one carries in any gallery, and one thing I truly love to do is write about the art and artists I show, so that helps shape audience perceptions of the shows.
After decades working in the medium, you recently became an accredited appraiser. What led to that decision, and how has it broadened your perspective? I just completed being accredited as a photography appraiser with the Appraisers Association of America because I felt like my current position would benefit from such knowledge. It's important that I have a well-rounded education and continue to advance and build the knowledge I have spent my entire adult life acquiring. I have been studying and/or doing photography for nearly 30 years, so it is basically who I am and what I know.
Starting Obscura Gallery just after another gallery closed sounds like a bold leap—what did you learn about yourself in that moment? I would say starting Obscura 8 years ago was one of the most challenging professional experiences I have had. I was the Gallery Director at another gallery (VERVE Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe) for over a decade when they closed, and it was literally overnight that I decided to start Obscura. While I did take a few of the artists from the old gallery to start my inventory with, I basically had to start a business overnight, and there was a huge learning curve in that, as I had never owned my own business before. I was an artist first, and had a bit of experience running my own artwork as a business and, of course, knew what to do to run a gallery and deal with clients, but the actual physical aspects of starting my own gallery brought challenges and stress. Here I am, though, 8 years later, and I look back at that and think how amazing it is that I'm still here, in business!
When collaborating with artists on exhibitions, where do you see your role most clearly—editor, advisor, curator, partner? I work directly with my artists to curate their exhibitions. Usually, they will provide their work to me and I will curate the work based on that selection - a lot of times, artists need help editing their work and that's where I feel I can come in and make selections that are sometimes too difficult for an artist to make with their own work. It's always a collaboration working with my artists, and I love it. I also love collaborating with other galleries and/or museum or institutional organizations, and some of our best shows have been in that realm. I love collaboration in general.
When thinking about Obscura’s audience, how do you ensure that the shows you present speak to both local communities and broader conversations in contemporary photography? I always have my audiences in mind. I try to show a diverse group of artists and art that will reach different audiences all the time. It's always a conscious effort.
Can you describe a mentor or influential figure and the impact they had on your professional development? What advice would you give to aspiring gallery owners? What are the biggest challenges facing gallery owners today, and how do you navigate them? I think it's important to support younger galleries as much as you can. It's such a difficult world to break into, and it helps to have colleagues you can call and ask questions to. I have my original professor David Scheinbaum from college and his wife Janet Russek, who both own Scheinbaum & Russek, Ltd, in Santa Fe and their daughter Andra Russek, who are my go-to a lot of the time - they have known me for 30 years and guided me on my path as an artist and as a dealer. Andrew Smith is another dealer who used to be in Santa Fe and moved to Tucson when I started my gallery. He was so helpful to a lot of the 19th and 20th Century work I carry and introduced me directly to Paul Caponigro who was one of my most influential photographers in my studies, and then I got to represent him – who he himself became a mentor to me as well as other artists such as Kurt Markus, Norman Mauskopf, Susan Burnstine, and Brigitte Carnochan – all artists I represent who have also been integral into the development of my gallery. There is also the AIPAD (Association of International Photography Art Dealers) organization of which I'm now a board member - this organization and the gallery members have been crucial to educating me along my journey. It's so important to have people that you can pick up the phone and call to ask questions. I would always want to offer that and give back to any young photography gallery.
Art fairs and gallery operations come with their own environmental impact. How do you approach sustainability in your work, especially with the logistical demands of shipping and framing? I try to keep my shows to one crate, and reuse my packaging. Also, a lot of the backend of fairs is much more sustainable than it used to be. People are far more conscious of re-using and not tossing away with one-use only in mind. I realize that it is not the most sustainable way to promote art, but there are ways to make it better, and I’m always looking to keep sustainability in mind. I have an inventory of frames I reuse for my shows, and at this point, our waste is minimal.
AI is rapidly transforming how we think about authorship and aesthetics. What role do you think traditional photographic practices — particularly analog or handmade processes — will play in an increasingly digital art world? I think AI can be used as a tool. Using it for 'art' could be do-able as long as it's identified as such and the medium is attributed. People are always reluctant with the advent of new technology and there is always a downside to it, but there are upsides too. The entire photographic medium has advanced based on the advent of new discoveries, so the medium adapts and certain things stick and others don't. I would predict a resurgence in the photograph more as a created object and less of a computer-produced result in the future as a counter to AI. Though we as a society need to keep a check on AI – and it will be an ongoing challenge.
