Midtown Y Photography Gallery was a pioneering nonprofit organisation in New York that offered photographers an opportunity to publicly exhibit their work. The Gallery ran from 1972 until 1996 directed in turn by photographers Larry Siegel, Sy Rubin and Michael Spano.
Though it occasionally showed historical photographs, and established contemporary practitioners such as David Attie and Robert Giard during its first decade, the Midtown Y Photography Gallery concentrated on promoting the work of emerging artists. It issued open calls for participation in large thematic exhibitions but most often selected exhibitors by conducting portfolio reviews, the work being shown alongside that of one or two other photographers. For most, this was their first “solo” exposure in New York or their first public display of work. Some returned subsequently to show later work.
Exhibitions 1973–1993
April 18–May 30, 1973 Barbara Walz
April 6–April 29, 1975 John Messina
November 22–December 18, 1977, Fred Casden: The Zoo
December 28, 1977–January 22,1978, The Recent Work of John Ganis
December 28, 1977–January 22, 1978, The Recent Work of Mark Schwartz
1978 Harvey Stein
November 1–November 26, 1978, Nathan Farb, Soviets: Photographs of the Russian People
January 4–January 28, 1979, Robert Giard: Grounds
October 24–November 18, 1979, David Attie: Russians and Americans Photographing Themselves
May 29–August 15, 1980, Four Photographers from the Visual Arts Referral Service CAPS
September 17–October 18, 1981, Color Photography in the Urban Environment'Todd Weinstein- Patrick D. Pagnano
December 17, 1981–January 10, 1982, Photographs by Larry Chatman
October 22–November 15, 1981, Michael Spano
March 3–March 27, 1983, Recent Photographs by Louis Stettner
October 6–October 30, 1983, William E. Williams: Philadelphia Parties and Portraits
January 19–February 19, 1984, Platinum and Palladium
March 22–April 22, 1984, Two Photographers
May 3–June 3, 1984, Extended Frames
September 20–November 4, 1984, Geoffrey Biddle: Loisaida: The Spanish Lower East Side Photographs
January 17–February 17, 1985, Photographs by John Lueders-Booth
February 21–March 24, 1985, Photographs by Ed Grazda
June 6–August 4, 1985, Photographs by Dory E. Thanhauser
December 12, 1985–January 19, 1986, View Camera Suburban Scenes
February 27–March 30,1986, Douglas Sandhage: Thailand
February 27–March 30, 1986, Marke Webb: Texas Communities
May 15–June 15, 1986, Ann Chamberlain: Color Interiors
June 19–July 27, 1986, Henry Horenstein: Sports Photographs
November 6–December 7, 1986, Vivian Ronay: Astoria
November 6–December 7, 1986, Dawoud Bey: Urban Photographs
January 23–February 23, 1986, Roy Colmer: Photographs of People
December 11, 1986–January 18, 1987, Roy Greer : Diana, Snow Pictures
December 11, 1986–January 18, 1987, People of Granby, CT
April 2–May 3, 1987, Incorporating T.V.
April 2–May 3, 1987, Sidney Kerner: Faces in the Street
October 1–November 8, 1987, Takagi Madoka: Platinum Portraits
September 22–October 23, 1988, Abelardo Morell: Still Lifes
September 22–October 23, 1988, John Milisenda: Portrait of My Brother
March 23–April 23, 1989, Mary Kocol: Interiors
January 11–February 11, 1990, Ari Marcopoulos: Urban Scenes
February 15–March 18, 1990, Anderson Scott: Rural Oddities
September 27–October 28, 1990, Sage Sohier: At Home with Themselves
March 21–April 21, 1991, Timothy Feresten: Color Photographs
April 8–May 9, 1993, Mary Berridge: Teenage Mother Series
Archive
The Midtown Y Photography Gallery Archive, bequeathed to The New York Public Library in 1998, is housed in the Photography Collection of The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, and in the Manuscripts and Archives Division.
