Rangefinder Magazine
June 2005

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Nancy Robinson Has a Gallery in Rome by Lou Jacobs Jr.

Nancy Robinson is an American photographer who lives in Rome. “I felt at home in Italy before I even saw it,” she admits, “because I wanted to visit the country long before it was feasible. When I actually saw Italy, particularly Sorrento, I was spellbound, and I still feel a kind of inexpressible connection. There was no question that I had to be here. The real issue was how to pull it off. Italy’s beauty is seductive, but reality delayed my ambitious plans.”

Nancy is a New Yorker whose older brothers influenced her with their interest in art and music. She attended the School of Performing Arts in Manhattan where she majored in music, then went to State University of New York at Buffalo where she took her first art courses. “I majored in fine arts, counseling and social services. I had a little formal study in photography but learned much more on my own.

“When I was 20 a close friend bought a completely manual Minolta, and I hijacked it. My feelings about photography were like my feelings about Italy: I was taking mental pictures before I had a camera.

When I got my hands on the Minolta, there was an innate feeling that I had craved photography. I first worked in black and white, photographing people and older things ‘that seem to have lived.’ From that has grown my feelings about the splendor of Italy that I can share with others who see my images. I’ve followed an emotional urge toward visual discovery.”

After college Nancy moved to Newport, RI, briefly and then back to New York City where she worked with victims of domestic violence and child abuse in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. She was a single parent and declares, “I have two very wonderful children, Jesse and Jenna, the two best people I know.

“Besides working in social services, I taught photography in Newport and exhibited there and in New York. I submitted work to galleries and magazines, but our financial situation was always tenuous, so full-time photography was not feasible. Over time I worked at various jobs to keep the three of us in shoes, but I never stopped shooting and printing.”

In the early 1980s Nancy began her own business as a private investigator, and managed to build the business to a point where she saved some money. More affluence enabled her to finally make her first trip to Italy for which she bought two Nikon F90X (N90S) bodies in preparation. “The kids and I spent a week in Rome and another one in Taormina, Sicily, also the site of remarkable ancient ruins.” She pauses, and adds, “All my instincts about Italy were confirmed. We walked from morning till night photographing, more frequently in color, and I’ve carried two cameras ever since. At the Rome airport leaving for New York seemed like returning to a foreign country.”

After that Nancy revisited Italy whenever she could, and took pictures profusely. When she discovered Marina Grande, a fishing village a few minutes from Sorrento, “It felt like home. I was truly in love.” She returned several times and eventually lived there.

As she explored various regions of Italy, the idea for what she calls Grace Gallery emerged, but a time when it could materialize was vague. It took patience, work, saving and firm resolve to accomplish a move to Italy where finding Grace Gallery space in Sorrento was an adventure in uncertainties. She had studied Italian while planning to move, and learned more constantly because language was imperative to activate her visions.

“The bureaucracy involved in opening a business in Italy is a nightmare,” Nancy as-serts. “The system is pretty incomprehensible to just about everyone, and pop-up surprises are daily. But when renovations were finally completed, the gallery did well in Sorrento. Most people, often tourists, were responsive to my photos, and my confidence increased.” She shot additional scenic and detail pictures as often as possible since Sorrento is situated on the grandly scenic Amalfi peninsula.

Nancy’s first apartment was “dark and covered with mold,” she reports, “but I was so delighted to see the sea and Mt. Vesuvius from my balcony I didn’t notice my shadowy ambiance. I shot Vesuvius at 6 a.m. on that first morning in 2000. From the silence of my apartment, I heard the sound of one fishing boat leaving. There was just the sea, the volcano and one boat. Italy was mine. My second apartment was built on top of the gate by which the Saracens invaded Sorrento in 1200, and it had the same great views.”

Nancy spent three years in Sorrento. “Every day brings new discoveries to photograph. My favorite subjects are still people, especially children and older people. It’s a challenge to capture real moments.” By the time Grace Gallery was a reality, Nancy’s children were in college, though her daughter could often visit. “They are still my biggest supporters,” Nancy says.

The gallery in Sorrento did well, but there was a downturn in tourism, and at the same time she found she was missing art museums and live music that the Marina Grande area did not offer. “I also wanted the opportunity to reach more people,” she admits, “That was the main factor that prompted me to start thinking about moving to Rome.”

Again Nancy searched for a gallery location and endured getting it up and running within the rigors of Italian customs. By talking to many people and doing a lot of leg work she found a suitable space and then began the struggle to obtain licenses from city authorities. Nancy says.”I was never sure when I would actually open until the last minute. And relocating meant I also had to find a place to live.”

Nancy’s first Rome gallery was in an area that she discovered didn’t attract enough tourists.

Resourcefully, she found more suitable space a block from the Pantheon, one of ancient Rome’s historic sites. “It was like starting from the beginning,” she sighs. “Again I made efforts to publicize the new Grace Gallery, but luckily I had an advantage. To the best of my knowledge, I have the only gallery in Rome specializing in photography. It seems to be a novel thing here and many Italian customers, as well as tourists, tell me they enjoy talking to the photographer whose work is displayed. I’ve continued to sell only my own work at very affordable prices, also novel here. Appealing to a wide clientele has always been at the heart of my plan.”

Nancy makes all her own prints digitally, after scanning either slides or negatives. When she discovered Photoshop, she researched archival materials and knew she could offer quality, long-lasting digital prints. She began by showing 81⁄2x11-inch prints, the size that still sells most frequently. She then added images about half that size, and now also offers prints 14x20 inches. “I sell all sizes, framed or unframed,” Nancy explains, “in only one simple frame style and color. Tourists are the largest part of my clientele, and I give attention to marketing specifically to them since photographs are an alternative, unique remembrance of their visit to Italy. Here near the Pantheon I also have more Italian customers and people from other countries, too.”

In her love affair with Italy, Nancy learned to be an astute businesswoman who studied the possibilities, which resulted in increased sales in her Rome venue. Because her prices are relatively low, she has to sell in higher volume, but “It’s do-able,” she says. Her work is on display for online purchase on her web site, www.gracegallery.com as well.

Asked about her most popular photographic subjects, Nancy Robinson describes their source. “When I photograph, I walk from morning until I lose the light. I think people are sharing my enjoyment in subjects such as small harbors, artistic ruins and people at ease.” When I said that spunk helped realize her dreams, I wasn’t surprised that she responded, “I like that word—‘spunk.’”

Lou Jacobs Jr. is the author of 28 how-to photography books, the latest of which is Studio Lighting (Amherst Media). He has taught at UCLA and Brooks, and his photographs and stories have been published in numerous magazines. He is a longtime member of ASMP and enjoys shooting stock during his travels in the U.S. and abroad, which is leased through several agencies.