Success Isn’t Just Black and White

Albuquerque Journal - Spotlight on Business
By Janet Vondice

Journal staff writer Joette O’Connor applied simple principles to her business, Photogenesis: A Gallery of Photography.

As an avid collector of black-and-white photography for years, she made a decision to stock her gallery at La Fonda with work she would feel compelled to buy even if it weren’t hers already.

Her plan has paid off handsomely, as black Photogenesis celebrated its 10th anniversary.

“The first day we opened, I still remember their names - one could have kissed them,” O’Connor says, laughing. “It was one room easy.”

That day, she sold enough pictures to cover a month’s rent, or about $1,000 worth of photos.

“It was a good omen,” O’Connor says.

From there, Photogenesis was off and running - and shooting.

O’Connor says her gallery, at 100 E. San Francisco St., thrives together with the variety of photographs whose work lines the walls, tables and, yes, even floors of the gallery.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

Since space is limited, some of the framed shots rest on the floor, leaning against a wall.

“I always tell photographers whose work I have on the floor that it’s like a window to the street,” O’Connor says.

“She’s not kidding,” one softly says, the gallery sits slightly below the lobby floor.

Although from the gallery you can really see only the bottom half of a person’s body, the person walking by can look in, and the first things they’ll see are the photos on the floor.

“I use every square inch,” O’Connor says. “I’m limited.”

Her business has come to mean a lot to her.

She says her location in the La Fonda has the durability and attributes part of that durability to the lack of media attention.

O’Connor says her passion for collecting black-and-white photography didn’t necessarily translate into being a savvy business woman.

When she started the business, she was afraid to alter the look.

“I wasn’t sure how successful we’d be, so I didn’t change,” she says. “I still think of it as a hobby but it didn’t last.”

It took private home fears she had that Photogenesis might not thrive in Santa Fe - despite that first-day sale - as a safeguard, she took some photography and art history courses at the University of New Mexico over the years.

She says knowledge is especially important for her, since most of her clients are highly educated or highly intelligent.

However, O’Connor says she has an ace in the hole with the photography, many of what are New Mexico landscapes that really encompass a wide variety of international and national, including several New Mexico residents.

“I think photography is someone can never get tired of,” says O’Connor, who moved to Santa Fe 15 years ago from New Jersey.

“Especially black-and-white photography. Looking at it is like listening to music with your eyes and ears.”

She says it is also a very affordable medium and that customers tend to scoop up the vivid New Mexico landscape shots.

“It’s a far cry from the days when O’Connor says she didn’t know how to process a credit card purchase.”

“It’s been getting better every year for us,” says the affable O’Connor, which has been really exciting.

“It’s exciting to do something everyone said one can’t be done.”

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION