I have two separate careers, writing and photography, both of which I am proud of. Once in a while they even merge!
Actually my photography career predates my writing career, per se. I have been taking and selling my photos since the age of 14.
My first professional job was as a photojournalist attached to the vast Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada the summer after my first year of college.
Some of those photos were featured in my 2019 retrospective, My America II, which I mounted at VEF Palace of Culture. My most ambitious exhibit to date as well as one of the largest photo exhibits in Riga history, My America comprised over 50 images on two floors of the venerable Riga culture hall. The show, which was sponsored by the US Embassy Riga was the event which sealed my relationship with my adopted homeland of Latvia. Check it out: My America — The Life and Media of Gordon F. Sander. There’s also a video of the grand opening. A Day to Remember!
The exhibit was the successor to My America I, the retrospective I mounted in 1998 at Helsinki’s Taidehalle (Municipal Museum), in Finland, the country where my “Baltic thing” began back in the 1990s.
Over the years I have mounted over 30 exhibits on both sides of the Atlantic, including my retrospectives, “My World” and “My Cornell” at my alma mater, Cornell University, where I was artist in residence from 2002 to 2004.
I also have mounted installations of my photos at cafes and restaurants in New York, London, Helsinki, and Riga, including my most recent installation, “Portraits de la Femme II,” featuring my female portraiture, at the Dome Hotel in March 2024.
My photos have appeared in “The New York Times,” the “Times” of London, “Financial Times,” Image Magazine and numerous other American, British and Finnish newspapers and magazines, usually in combination with my articles.
My photos were also integral parts of two of my “country guide” books, Off The Map: A Personal History of Finland, my illustrated memoir of my relationship with Finland Off The Map — The Life and Media of Gordon F. Sander and Latvia Rising: A Personal Portrait, my book about Latvia, which was commissioned by the Latvian Foreign Ministry Latvia Rising — The Life and Media of Gordon F. Sander.
My photos were also featured in my most recent book, Rooms: The Works of Life of JJ Manford, about my long-time friend and protégé, JJ Manford, which was published in 2024 Rooms — The Life and Media of Gordon F. Sander
My archives, which include transparencies and negatives, comprises over 12,000 images. This archive contains approximately 400 of the more striking ones, which we have divided into 40 diverse galleries, including both location-based, era-based, subject-based and other miscellaneous categories.
Welcome! Dive in! All of the images here are available for sale.
Thank you! Kiitos kiitos! Liels paldies!
Gordon
