Today we’d like to introduce you to Gary Dorothy.
Gary, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Way back in the olden days (the mid-70’s), I sold my art photographs at art shows all over the Pacific Northwest. Under the banner of “The View Finder,” I created in my booth space ‘the world’s only self-guided photo nature trail,’ and I displayed scores of my nature and landscape photos on burlap covered walls amidst the smells, sights, and sounds of a lush Olympic forest.
That fit my disposition and talents at that time as I’d left my teaching career (biology) and graduate school work (microbial genetics and virology) behind, and was needing to bring focus and structure to my nomadic, hitchhiking adventure through national parks of the western U.S. After a few years, I tired of the art-selling world and determined to never work another art show.
In the mid-eighties, in Santa Barbara, I plunged deeper into retail by starting “Stampa Barbara,” a wonderland of thousands of artistic rubber stamps. 15 years later, having added “Stampa Barbara on Melrose” and “Stampa Barbara at South Coast Plaza,” and selling hundreds of thousands of fun stamps, inks, and papers, while celebrating the countless ways they could be used artistically, I decided to venture again into the unknown and moved to Palm Springs.
At the turn of the century, as digital cameras and techniques were invading the photography world, I decided to learn all I could about this promising new universe, and in 2002 I opened “Imageville” in historic La Plaza in downtown Palm Springs. Now in my 19th year, “Imageville Gallery” features hundreds of my decorative and fine art photographs.
Has it been a smooth road?
Over the past two decades, I’ve enjoyed creating every day, and I’ve loved selling my work to so many amazing people. As seems to be my habit, I do my small business on a shoestring, and so when the recession hit, and now with this pandemic, I’ve found the financial aspect of the business quite challenging.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Imageville Gallery story. Tell us more about the business.
As people peruse and shop at Imageville, they’re often surprised to see that all of the photographs have been made by me. Much of my work has local themes, mountain and desert landscapes, Palm Springs modernism, flora and fauna of our area, and Joshua Tree National Park. I also have an eclectic mix of other subjects, including Los Angeles, New York City, abstracts, and old signs.
Amidst the billions of photographs made each day, I don’t know that mine are all that unique. I hope that what starts in my heart and eyes conveys the essence of whatever stories I’m compelled to portray. I’ve been blessed to gain the trust and patronage of many collectors.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
When I began Imageville, digital cameras were a novelty, and today nearly all humans have them with them at all times. It’s said that more photos are made each day than have been made in all history before this.
I expect that to continue, and I imagine videos will grow to become an even more familiar part of our human story.
I hope that I can continue to introduce my photographic prints to folks who recognize the special feeling of owning, displaying, and enjoying mounted art photos on their walls.
Pricing:
- I offer my photographs, framed or unframed, in many sizes, on several mediums, at prices ranging from $295 to $5,000.
Contact Info:
- Address: Imageville Gallery
128 La Plaza
Palm Springs CA 92262
In La Plaza Shopping Center, south of Tyler’s Burgers and across from Hotel Zoso. - Website: www.imageville.us
- Phone: 7602853292
- Email: Gary@imageville.us
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