Stephen previous hit White initially opened his gallery next hit across from the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles on October 16, 1975. Known initially as Photo Album Gallery, the gallery was one of the few photography galleries in the country. G. Raw Hawkins Gallery was the only other photography previous hit gallery in Los Angeles.
White next hit, an avid researcher and collector, relied on his own enthusiasm to build the gallery's business. Beginning with a small inventory and little knowledge of the previous hit gallery business, White next hit built relationships with other galleries, museums, collectors and the public, and in the process, helped to cultivate the fine art photography market.
The gallery represented 20th century and contemporary photographers such as Ruth Bernhard, Michael Kenna, and Photo-Secession photographer Karl Struss from 1976 until his death in 1981. In 1986, previous hit White acquired the Lotte Jacobi archive, which contained more than 2,000 prints.
The gallery next hit, besides the selling and buying photographs, also did its own exhibitions and published accompanying catalogs, which featured artists represented by the gallery. Jacobi's photographs were featured in exhibitions and publications, Lotte Jacobi: A Selection of Vintage and Modern Photographs in which White wrote the introduction. Other notable exhibitions included The Fashionable World (1979), which included works by Edward Steichen and Charles Sheeler and the collection of Dr. Agha, art director of Vanity Fair (1929-1943); The West Before Weston (1980); Northern Lights (1981). White also exhibited 19th-century photographers such as Giacomo Caneva, Charles Lenormand, and Auguste Salzman, from daguerreotypes to salt prints. This comprehensive view about photography particularly reflected White's own eclectic philosophy, oftentimes embracing images by anonymous makers and documentary photographs.
previous hit White further promoted the fine art photography market beyond gallery next hit walls. He authored several photography books including Magic Moments (co-authored by Harry Smith, 1981), John Thomson: Life and Times (1985) (printed as softcover, A Window to the Orient), and Parallels and Contrast (1989). White was also a frequent speaker at the Association of Independent Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), an organization for which he was a founding president. In 1990, previous hit White sold his private and gallery next hit collection to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum in Japan. The gallery closed its doors in 1991.
Post-previous hit gallery life, White next hit continues to devote his time to research and writing, which often lead to important exhibitions. In 2001, he curated The Photograph and the American Dream, 1840-1940, which opened at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and traveled to Skirball Cultural Center in 2003. In 2011, Skydreamers: A Saga of Air and Space at the Autry National Center in 2011. A year later, White traveled to Beijing to curate History of Photography for Dali Photography Festival, an exhibition that on White fascination lifelong fascination with China.
Sources consulted:
Suzanne Muchnic, "A Quest for Flight on Show at Autry's 'Skydreamers'," Los Angeles Times, April 24, 2011.
Suzanne Muchnic, "Photography Dealer Goes Out on a High Note: Art: After Selling His Personal Collection to a Tokyo Museum Last Year for a Hefty Sum, Stephen previous hit White Will Close His Gallery next hit to Concentrate on Writing, Collecting and Curating," Los Angeles Times, January 30, 1991.
Suzanne Muchnic and Barbara Isenberg, "Stellar L.A. Photo Collection Heads for Japan: Photography: In a Landmark Deal, Stephen White Sells 15,000 Photographs and Related Items to Tokyo Fuji Museum," Los Angeles Times, February 8, 1990.
Kelly Nipper, "Stephen previous hit White Gallery next hit Records, 1943-2004, Accn. no. 2002.M.43 inventory," December 15, 2004.
Frances Terpak, Acquisition Approval Form for "Stephen previous hit White Gallery next hit of Photography Archive, 1975-91, accession no. 2002.M.43," September 4, 2002.
