“I feel so fortunate to have been a temporary custodian of these images and now is the time to let them fly away and bestow their power on new recipients.”
~ Peter Fetterman
Wow. The 2000th Power of Photography blast. How can this be? Is this a typo?
I started this at the beginning of the dark, dark days of Covid back in April 2020. I didn’t know what to do with myself. The gallery was closed, all the art fairs had been cancelled. I was sitting at my kitchen table completely lost and despondent. I was like a rock n’ roller with no tours to go on.
Then the simple words “The Power of Photography” rattled around in my little brain. All the images and the memories of their makers came back to me. It made me feel good. I thought I would try something simple: send out an image and a few words about it, what it meant to me, and how I came across it. I thought I would do it for five days and then stop, because I assumed no one but me would care.
I guess I was wrong.
People seemed to like it and were moved by it. Aunt Lilly in Des Moines sent it to Cousin Jack in Michigan. Cousin Jack would send it to his long-lost love in Saratoga. People kept writing to me, telling me it was helping them get through the day and giving them hope. I was totally amazed by the response. Even a good client of mine at the World Bank sent it to a European Prime Minister, who said it was the only email of the day they actually looked forward to reading.
I was deeply humbled by the response. It also spawned a book and a traveling exhibition.
And it still goes on.
My thanks go to all the great photographers I’ve had the privilege to know, and to all the wonderful clients and friends of the gallery who have supported us over the years.
I can’t promise I can continue for another 2000, but I’ll try.
