Now that I’ve been spending a lot of time indoors, I’ve started to think about the different things which inspire me to go out there and create photographs. For this blogpost I wanted to share one of the places that inspires me which is LUMAS Gallery in New York.

Contemporary Photography

Lumas Gallery is a contemporary photography gallery which features work from artists all around the world. Some artists are established while others are upcoming, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the variety each time I step into the gallery or visit their website. 

The art is priced and positioned in a way that’s more accessible to new collectors and definitely leans into a more modern aesthetic. The works are presented as acrylic mounted and printed with museum quality paper so they look great in a variety of environments even without a frame. 

The gallery itself is fun to walk through, bypassing the traditional aesthetic of simple white walls for more styled environments that are inviting and show off the work to great effect. One of the best things about visiting the gallery is experiencing the actual size of the pieces in person. There is nothing like seeing a piece up close and exhibited as the gallery/artist intended. 

For example one of their artists, Luc Dratwa, produces beautiful imagery of iconic buildings such as the Empire State Building. These are captured from the perspective of someone looking out the window with the room/window in the frame of the image. When you see his work as a 70inch piece, it really gives the impression you’re right there looking out that same window.  

After seeing the work in person I knew that’s the way I wanted to present my own photography . In fact, their SOHO location even has an area set up on the lower level exclusively for their print shop, Whitewall. Here you can see the different types of printing they offer and even chat with one of their reps. I have even printed my own work through them for an upcoming gallery show in San Francisco and you can learn about my experience printing here.

Action from Inspiration

When I visited Lumas the first time a few years ago one of the artists that left a lasting impression was Christophe Jacrot. As a street and travel photographer I really liked his eye and the aesthetic of his images, as he showed me that you can create beautiful imagery in poor weather conditions and at night. 

This inspired me to actually go out in the evenings after work to take photos and I ended up finding my own style this way for street and travel imagery. Although I still feel like I’m developing my style when I look at my NY imagery and The Color Block most of those images were taken right after work and share a common aesthetic.  

What this taught me is when you are inspired, take action. Set time for yourself to explore what has inspired you and see how that can apply to your own art. You’ll never know what you’ll find along the way!

I also learned that what inspired me in the past can still drive inspiration again. So almost every time I visit NY, Lumas has been one of the places I stop by as I venture out to take photos. I find it’s like music as listening to the same song can get you into a particular mood more than once so I suggest revisiting work that has inspired you in the past if you need an additional push to do something.

Final Thoughts 

I know we’re all stuck indoors right now and it may be hard to find inspiration to shoot things but challenge yourself to create images with these current restrictions in place. Even if the imagery is different then what you normally focus on you may learn new things or techniques that you can apply to your main focus in photography. 

When things do get back to normal which they will, visit a local gallery or Lumas if you have one in your city and let yourself be inspired by what people have been able to create. Lastly if you like this post I can share more things which inspire me to create my work. I’d also like to hear about what people, places, or things inspire you to make images.

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