Gregory Essayan Fine Art Photography
ABOUT
Gregory Essayan
Born in New York City in 1955, Greg made his first serious photographs using a vintage Argus C-3 film camera given to him by his father over 50 years ago. With this camera Greg discovered what would become his life’s passion.
Greg graduated from Yale University in 1977 earning his B.A. magna cum laude with a double major in Art and History of Art. While at Yale he was privileged to have been mentored by some of the most revered figures in 20th century art and photography including Walker Evans, William H. Bailey, Ansel Adams, Irving Penn, Emmet Gowin and William Eggleston. During this period Greg made photographs primarily using an 8×10 Deardorff view camera and a Mamiya C330 film camera. He printed his work himself in a traditional “wet darkroom” making both silver gelatin and platinum/palladium prints. In 1977 Greg’s iconic image “Anne, 1976” was acquired by the Yale University Art Gallery for its permanent collection which at the time made him the youngest artist to have work in the gallery’s permanent collection. In 1978 Greg was engaged by the Estate of Walker Evans to print a catalog of Evans' images for the Evans estate.
While continuing to passionately pursue and support himself through his photography Greg earned a Juris Doctorate law degree and became a member of the New York Bar. He practiced law with a prominent Manhattan law firm and successfully engaged in ventures unrelated to photography. Over the years however it was his photography that always remained his true passion. He continued to make images, primarily working in color and building a significant body of work.
Deeply influenced by painting, Greg's precisely composed and executed images celebrate light, color and mood in a manner evocative of the work of American painters of the late 19th and 20th centuries such as Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, Edward Hopper and Richard Estes.
Subtleties of light, color, detail and mood are paramount to Greg in his work. In order to fulfill his vision he utilizes the 150 megapixel Phase One IQ4 coupled with Rodenstock and Schneider-Kreuznach lenses and the finest available printing methods. Drawing upon his decades of experience he continues to create stunning limited edition and singular "Edition of 1” fine art pieces with extraordinary detail, richness, nuance and depth that remain true to the traditions of classical art and analog film photography and are enjoyed by his collectors around the world.
Artist's Statement
“What I seek to evoke in my work is a feeling, a mood, an emotion. A sense of a place and a time. I am an observer selecting and carefully framing literal reality into a pure, distilled, two dimensional essence. A hyper-condensed curated reality, if you will. An ode to a subject that may be savored, studied and enjoyed by a viewer in their time and over time.”
"In order to realize my vision I employ the finest cameras and lenses available. Currently, I am using the 150 megapixel Phase One IQ4 paired with Schneider-Kreuznach and Rodenstock lenses, Phase One or Alpa camera bodies and always mounted on a firm tripod. I feel this system, although heavy and often challenging to use in the field is currently the best available tool for recording the subtleties of light, color, detail and mood that are paramount to me in my work."
"My large (up to 120 inch long) Limited Edition prints are made using the finest quality materials available. Collectors may select either a traditional silver halide photographic print developed on FujiFlex photographic material and then face mounted and sealed under plexiglass or an archival pigment print on Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta archival paper carefully backed, over-matted, framed and covered with UV attenuating anti-reflective glass. Either process results in the creation of a fine art piece with extraordinary detail, richness, nuance, depth and permanence.”
– Gregory Essayan, March, 2021.
Galleries
Cache Street along Gaslight Alley
Jackson Hole, Wyoming USA
307.732.3988
La Galleria di Villa Martiena
Villa Martiena
Via di Martiena, 8, 53045
Montepulciano, Siena, Italia
Contact
+1.702.290.9135