John Strazza Art Photographer
You know, it’s funny, I don’t consider myself a photographer per se. I didn’t spend a lot of time in photography school other than to master the technical aspects which are extensive. Rather, I went to Hartford Art School where I studied under some very accomplished artists. As part of our schooling we also met many prominent and up-and-coming artists of that time. My main focus was photography as art, as well as other two dimensional works like painting and film making. Interestingly, Hartford Art School was a conceptual art school, so that’s a whole new layer to add on top of it all. But when making photographs, I come from an art issues point of view. To me it aims at different interests and directions than other types of photography. One isn’t better than the other, it’s just that I’m more interested in art than much of what I see happening in photography today. As for me, I go out and respond to things in the every day world that translate into images that are interesting throughout the entire film frame. Then of equal importance, there’s the physical print itself. It has to portray the original photographic negative or sensor in a way that speaks to whatever I’m seeing conceptually. That’s pretty much it.
One of the great joys of being an artist is when art collectors connect with your work. The gentleman pictured here with me is the famous collector Peter Klein from Germany. Peter and his lovely wife Alison are two of the most prominent art collectors in the world today. They are the founders of the Kunstwerk Museum in Germany. I have had the pleasure of knowing the Kleins for some years now, and always enjoyed their visits to our gallery when we were in NY. Learn more about their museum and collection here: Klein Collection

I am honored that the Kleins became collectors of my photographs, many of which are in the Kunstwerk Art Museum in Germany, four of which were shown in an exhibit called ANKOMMEN (which means Arrival), and curated by Valeria Waibel.

To date the Kleins have twenty-two of my photographs, most of which are in Germany, and a few that are in their private collection in the USA.

John Strazza and art collector Peter Klein