Owner & Executive Director Nicholas S. Argyros

My photography mentor recognized my budding interest in making pictures and advised me on the purchase and use of my first 35mm camera. I was 16 years old. In later years, he advised me on my second, third, … and hundredth plus camera. To foster my early interest in nature and close-up work, he sold me my first true macro lens.

It was the first of many equipment transactions to transpire back and forth between us over the years. This equipment included virtually every significant brand and model in existence, especially Minoltas, Nikons, Leicas, and Graflexes of every age and description. In addition, almost every accessory needed to make good images, as well as rooms full of darkroom equipment, have been part of the picture. More recently, my photo mentor has advised me on digital equipment and its merits.

My photography mentor was also my career mentor. After efforts to teach me mathematics through four years of high school, after guiding me through my initial teaching career as a math teacher, after encouraging me through a dual Ph.D. program in Educational Psychology and Statistics, after introducing me into CVCC and to some of its members, and after a continuing relationship over the past 50 plus years, I owe my photo mentor a lot. Thank you Al Starkweather, thank you for all this and more.

A regular job outside of the realms of photography allowed me many photographic indulgences, including modest collections of images, cameras and lenses, and photo/art books. I have organized biannual camera shows in the Albany area for more than 20 years. Along with 30 or more other dealers, I buy and sell enough stuff to benefit my collections. I participate in the Schenectady Photographic Society, which holds weekly meetings from September to May. I have held most of the offices over the past 25 years, and organized workshops and field trips for the members.

The Chenango Valley Camera Club (CVCC) — a travelling portfolio — has been very helpful to me over the years. Month after month I have viewed much very fine work. The feedback on all images has been instructive and almost always constructive. I am grateful to the members for their kind and helpful comments

My image-making interests include family and travel photos, pictorial and architecture work, and an occasional wedding job. Lately, CVCC has seen some of my work with the human figure. My lofty, unlikely, and chimerical photo aspiration is to find new ways to apply old photo technologies, equipment, processes and styles to create novel images. However, the digital age has tempted me to alter this quest drastically, to be more forward looking rather than impossibly retrospective.

At the beginning of 2006, upon my retirement from salaried work, I undertook to establish the Photography Center of the Capital District.This membership-supported facility offers three stories of almost everything photographic: a gallery for contemporary images; exhibits of cameras and images spanning more than 100 years; a consignment store selling used equipment; a shooting studio; computer workstations with a variety of scanners, burners and printers; a media center with projectors and HDTV for viewing photo and video productions; a reading/research floor with thousands of books and collections of periodicals past and current; equipment for do-it-yourself mounting, matting, Polaroid transfers and copying; and space for meetings, workshops and salon nights. My retirement has been short-lived, needless to say.

Back to top

— Doug Mitchell photo

Katherine Wright has been the director of The Photography Center of the Capital District since January 2008.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree in photography from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in June 2007. This four-year program included all the technical aspects of photography, from traditional darkroom to the latest in digital software, from large-format view cameras to pinholes, from platinum to ink-jet printing. Her background includes training and experience in the aesthetics of composition, design, lighting, portrait and wedding photography. She has been photo editor of a fashion magazine and creative consultant to many clients.

The majority of Katherine’s personal work concentrates on women in myth and the ideals of the ethereal. She is noted for her dramatic lighting, intense color, elaborate cosmetics and style to set the tone of the images. “I wanted to expand the look of digital imaging to create otherworldly effects so the viewer can transcend to a place where these muses exist,” she says. Katherine’s work has been exhibited in various galleries on the east coast, from Pittsburgh to the South Hamptons.

As Director of the PhotoCenter Katherine manages all aspects of the operation — gallery, studio, library and museum — including curating exhibitions and teaching workshops with assistance from other photographers and designers in the Capital Region. The majority of the subjects taught are technology-based and include all aspects of digital photography, from basic camera operation to advanced software techniques, as well as photographic restoration, studio lighting, portraiture, fashion, often using unique on-site shooting locations.

Back to top