Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography
520 Cleveland Ave. N.W. • Canton, Ohio 44702
Phone: (330) 438-0030 • gallery@jsaxtongallery.com • www.jsaxtongallery.com
The Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography, named for America’s first photographer, will open on June 5. The gallery will take visitors on a historical journey through the evolution of photography as an art form. Visitors will begin by experiencing the earliest interactions with photography via clamshell daguerreotypes, followed by turn of the century international masters, photographers like Edward Steichen and Alfred Steiglitz, who put the art of photography on par with the works of Picasso. From there, the gallery circuit will continue counterclockwise, with works in chronological order. It also features portraiture, including Hollywood and contemporary portraits.
“I love that photography is still a revolution of sorts,” said Tim Belden, Saxton’s great, great, great nephew and gallery founder. “I’ve created the gallery to share all of the great turning points in photography, to show when people began to take photography seriously as an art form.”
Belden’s passion for the medium leaves no philosophy unturned. He views his gallery as one that breaks down limitations in language, substituting the universal language of photography. And he is fascinated by the anthropomorphic nature of photo gra p hy, the relationship bet ween the photographic era and size.
“In the 19th century, we have daguerreotypes, intim ate handheld ex p e riences. As we pro gre s s through histo ry, the size of the photo graph becomes grandiose, a huge leap in scale building up to today’s digital photos.” Indeed, the gallery will highlight a range of formats, including extremely large works. The gallery space is rounded out with the inclusion of a small portrait studio, an irresistible addition due to the spectacular natural light that streams through the building.
When asked if he himself was a photographer, he answered modestly “isn’t everyone these days? It’s the most democratic of art forms.”
Photographs not hung on the gallery walls will be featured upon standalone kiosks and all told, more than 200 photographs will be featured in the gallery. Apart from a small collection of pieces that Belden feels validate the collection, all of the work will be available for sale, complete with museum quality, archival-grade framing performed onsite. For Belden, selling art is an educational process. When the gallery sells a piece, he intends the new owner to know where it occurs in the scheme of the movement, and to have a sense of the value of their investment. The gallery space will include a small library for authentication purposes, critical in an age where technology allows for elaborate forgeries and reproductions.
The gallery is making its home in the Wilson Building, one of the earliest and largest Cadillac dealerships in the country. In its day, the dealership could hold 300 cars within the confines of its 27,000 sq. ft.
“This is an important historical building. Canton was known as ‘little Chicago,’ but we were also known as ‘little Detroit’,” said Belden. “A. H. Wilson was one of the early entrepreneurs who knew that the horseless carriage would be important.”
The Wilson Building is being re-imagined as a LEED-certified building with the help of SoL Harris/Day Architecture. The histo ric building, replete with subtle touches of Arts and Crafts and Gothic Revival flourishes, also boasts subfloor heating and a solar system, providing 25% of heat for the building. The variable flow system that controls the temperature for the gallery is more efficient than a geothermal system. The second story of the building will house a small city retreat for the Belden family, a 3,500 sq. ft. apartment. Plans for other rental spaces are on the horizon, as are renovations for retail and business operations along the city block that Belden owns from Fifth to Sixth St re et NW, between Cleveland and Court Avenues.
The Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography will join other downtown arts staples in expanding the arts district in Canton. Belden hopes that the gallery will become the most important photography gallery in Northeast Ohio, drawing regional visitors to Canton to enjoy quality art. Be sure to visit the new gallery opening night on June’s First Friday.
