Exposed For The Shadows

The gallery is large and beautiful, renovated, maintained and lighted to archival standards. If you visit you won’t see the entire collection on the walls, but there is enough space that some prints from nearly all the photographers in the collection are usually on display.

The breadth of the collection is just breathtaking. The goal was to provide something for everyone. “We wanted to produce as many ‘ah ha’ moments as possible, said McNulty. “Everyone pings on different things. We don’t want to be a niche gallery.” But rather, he said, they want only the best photography, but with something that will appeal to every visitor.

This is a commercial gallery, not a museum. The prints are for sale. And some of the prices are pretty attractive for the level of work in the gallery. Most print prices fall in the $2-3,000 area, but there are a lot of prints for less than $1,000.

But, before you pack up your portfolio and rush off to Canton, I need to tell you that this gallery is NOT accepting any portfolios from photographers for review. But don’t let that stop you from paying them a visit. The collection is wonderful to see and the folks running the gallery are very knowledgeable about photography and happy to talk to visitors. It’s a very friendly place.

But don’t go there expecting to talk with Joseph Saxton. He hasn’t been around for quite a while. Even most historians of photography may not recognize his name, but he was the first photographer in North America. According to a news release from the gallery, he produced the oldest extant daguerreotype made in the United States. Made only a few months after Daguerre invented the process, it depicts the Philadelphia Central High School and was captured using a cigar box and glass lens, then developed with mercury heated in a spoon. Saxton has ties to Canton and his brother was the founder of the city’s newspaper, The Repository.

I should also say a bit about the wonderful building which houses the gallery. It is in the Wilson building at 520 Cleveland Ave. Built in 1909 and originally a Cadillac dealership, the building boasted the largest free spanning space between the Mississippi and New York City. This is made possible by bridge trusses that hold the roof up.

The Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography is a treasure. It’s wonderful that we have it right here in Ohio. It deserves attention and support from anyone who loves photography. I urge you to pay the gallery a visit. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 5.

Their website is pretty sparse, but here is the link: http://www.jsaxtongallery.com/