Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery

Photography has been a prodigious growth market in the 1990s partly because it's finally been accepted as a true art form and partly because of its relative affordability compared to other types of visual art. The success of Burt and Missy Finger's Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery is a perfect case study to prove the medium's new viability.

A longtime photo collector, the Brooklyn-raised Mr. Finger opened the gallery in 1995 just as the medium began a sharp climb economically, and his connections in New York and elsewhere allowed him to display, right from the beginning, works by impressive names such as Walter Rosenblum, Karl Struss, Duane Michals, Paul Strand and Joel-Peter Witkin.

Mr. Finger is also a supporter of up-and-coming national and international talent such as Thomas Tulis, Daniel Cartier and Brazilian Cassio Vasconcellos, who garnered a mention in ARTNews magazine early in 1998 as a hot property (PDNB is the exclusive representative of his work in America).

The gallery, set in a small farm-style house, is tiny and cramped, but the Fingers make good use of the space by immersing visitors in photo-related books (also for sale), discussion (free) and even music (free to listen to, anyway). PDNB, which unlike most other photo galleries does not offer on-site reproductive or restorative services, has already become known nationally through photo conventions and networking by Mr. Finger. If the market continues to grow internationally, PDNB will surely keep mounting its interesting and sometimes important exhibits.