My new home

Hiroshi Sugimoto: Lightning Fields exhibition, Fraenkel Gallery, 2009

Dear friends and readers,

As of April 15, I will have a new email address: dhimes@fraenkelgallery.com.

I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted a position as Assistant Director at Fraenkel Gallery, effective mid-April. Yes, I’m moving to San Francisco.

Happily, I will continue to serve on the board of Radius Books, the (amazing) non-profit publishing company that was co-founded with colleagues in 2007; I will also continue to work on certain titles and on new project acquisitions. I’m very proud of the publishing program that we have been able to establish at Radius Books, through the hard work and dedication of the entire team. From books with recognized artists—Lee Friedlander: New Mexico was his 33rd book, and is now sold out—to first monographs with numerous artists—Colleen Plumb, David Taylor, Janelle Lynch, Michael Lundgren, Judy Tuwaletstiwa, Julie Blackmon, Otto Donald Rogers—to a whole slew of titles with artists I have long admired, such as Mark Klett, Michael Light, John Gossage, Alec Soth, Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb, among others. Each title has been unique and we sincerely believe together have contributed to the great dialogue among artists and society.

The new offices for Radius Books, Santa Fe

We have published over 30 books in the last 4 years, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. We’ve also established a library donation program which gets books out to a wide range of students, libraries and institutions around the country. This kind of wide dissemination of important bodies of work is what drives us. David Chickey will continue to serve as Publisher (and Creative Director) of Radius Books, and David Skolkin remains integrally involved with production management for the company. Masumi Shibata, another designer on staff, continues to assist with creative aspects of the books and I’m thankful for his ongoing involvement.

Edward Hopper & Company exhibition, 2009

Sol Lewitt exhibition, Fraenkel Gallery, 2010

FRAENKEL GALLERY
In speaking about my impression of the Gallery over the years (and my complete awe in regards to their publishing program), I’ve often held back somewhat and simply said, “They’re the best photography gallery in North America.” But that’s simply not true (think Atget, Arbus, Adams, Evans, Friedlander, Fuss, Grannan, Marclay, Meatyard, Misrach, Sugimoto, Watkins, Winogrand and on and on…). Fraenkel Gallery is, dare I say, the best photography gallery anywhere.

Established in 1979, it resides at 49 Geary Street, a location where I have often walked in and been awed by the caliber and scope of work presented. I will never forget the “Edward Hopper & Company” exhibition of 2009 which was the best show I’d seen that year in any institution, whether public or private (see above). The artists represented by the Gallery are heroes of photography students worldwide (including myself), and the dose of inspiration regularly presented on their walls is intoxicating.

All of that is without even mentioning the book program! Many of these books I was able to review during my tenure as the editor of the Photo-Eye Booklist, where I developed a love for their attention to detail and book production (something we strive for at Radius!), in addition to the amazing content.

The team at Fraenkel Gallery operates as just that: a team. Jeffrey Fraenkel and Frish Brandt have created an environment that is professional, warm and inviting, a rare combination in any field. I’m proud to join them.

This is a big change, and one that I am jumping into with both feet. I will have a new home—a home situated in a city on a bay with an amazing history. The overlapping histories of San Francisco are legendary, forming one of the richest tapestries in the country. What is interwoven there are deep and fascinating stories that relate not only to the development of photography, but to the intersection of the East and the West and of the entirety of the Americas, as well as a history paramount to the development of this American democracy. I can’t wait to absorb, digest and share it all for years to come.

Darius Himes
Santa Fe, April 2011

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