Exploring an Empty Art Gallery – My Photo of the Year 2025

In 2025, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with my photography, not only taking the most keepers in nearly 10 years but also adding some vintage Nikon kit to the stable. (Nikon was my aspirational brand when I was photo editor of my university’s Associated Students newspaper.) An unused-in-box Nikon F3 and a mint Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 AIS were two of the year’s lucky finds.

In July, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art held a member’s preview of its new pavilion, a magnificent and controversial Brutalist structure that will house LACMA’s permanent collection when it fully opens next April. Architect Peter Zumthor’s horizontal building is said to mimic L.A.’s sprawl and the elevated space actually straddles Wilshire Boulevard. A floor-to-ceiling ribbon of glass surrounds the structure and some of the early concerns expressed by art critics include the amount of daylight that the artwork will be exposed to. (Curtains are planned and light-sensitive art will be placed in interior rooms.) Also, art will be hung on glazed concrete walls, and how the repairs to the concrete will look as the collection rotates is anyone’s guess.

I was shooting a lot of color street photography during the summer and I loaded up some Portra 400 for the tour. The F3’s automatic exposure performed well in the mixed light and the 28mm lens was the perfect choice. During the walk – with the walls and floor bereft of art — I felt lucky to be shooting in some incredible liminal spaces. Who doesn’t get a boost knowing they are capturing a scene that will never again look the same?

The color images ended up looking so-so but as luck would have it, the Portra converted nicely to black and white.

The photo selected as my favorite for 2025 shows an enthusiastic senior museum member strolling the new space — and likely contemplating her return in April.

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