Into Your Eyes: Photographic Portraiture in the Digital Era – Virtual

About

As we collectively experience the alienation, isolation and loneliness brought about by our current digital era, portraits seem more pressing and relevant than ever. To look at one’s eyes in an image feels like an immediate invitation to connect, to explore, to be curious about others, to wonder about what the image reveals and what it could never disclose. It’s an ongoing call for empathy, for a relationship with those we will probably never meet, whose lives we, the viewers, will never experience.

Emanuel Levinas wrote about the ethical values we reveal in the world by encountering one’s face. Roland Barthes was fascinated by portraits from the past, and the idea that he is looking at eyes that looked at the world’s greats, or that he is looking at a person no longer living. Photographic portraits shorten the distance between the past and present, between us and those around us, and might help us see beyond ourselves, beyond our time, beyond our experience in the world.

The Juror

Nicholas Fahey is an American art dealer at the Fahey/Klein Gallery, a prominent art gallery located in Los Angeles, California. Born and raised in Pasadena, CA, Fahey developed an early interest in art, particularly photography, as his father David Fahey was the founder of the Fahey/Klein Gallery. He spent his youth taking party pictures at the openings of people like Peter Beard and Herb Ritts while also traveling with his father to install and produce exhibitions around the world.

After completing his education, Fahey returned to Los Angeles, where he began working for nature photographers, tracking and shooting polar bears across the Arctic while also assisting commercial photographers on advertising and editorial jobs. In 2007, Fahey co-founded Glitterati Magazine, an art and fashion magazine focused on creating a conduit from 20th-century photography to 21st-century audiences.

Nicholas later founded the High Desert Art Fair, an initiative that reflects his commitment to fostering artistic communities. The fair aims to bring together artists from diverse backgrounds, providing them with a platform to exhibit their work in a unique desert setting. Fahey’s involvement in the high desert also includes setting up artist residences and developing properties to support creative endeavors. For the past nine years, Fahey has played a pivotal curatorial role at the Fahey/Klein Gallery, continuously striving to showcase groundbreaking photography and fine art. His dedication extends beyond exhibitions; he is deeply committed to helping artists publish books that preserve their legacies. This effort has been a cornerstone of his work, ensuring that the voices and visions of artists endure for future generations.

Fahey has also made significant contributions to the fine art streaming industry over the past decade. He created his own fine art streaming app called Pictaura, consulted Niio to help them break into new content markets, and is currently the head of content for Vasari, a fine art streaming app that streams up to 1 million artworks a month. Through Vasari, Fahey has partnered with major hardware companies like LG, Epson, and Amazon, expanding the reach of fine art into homes and businesses worldwide. In addition to his work at the gallery and in technology, Fahey is a founding board member of the Inglewood Photography Festival. He established a book grant awarded annually to an emerging photographer, offering them the opportunity to publish a fine art book of their work. Winners of this grant are also mentored by Fahey, who helps guide them as they begin to establish themselves in the fine art market.

Fahey has curated many exhibitions and facilitated the publishing of numerous art books. His contributions to the art world have been recognized by many. He has served on the board of directors of several arts organizations, including the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), The Inglewood Photography Festival (IPF), and the Photography Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). He has also been a guest lecturer and panelist at various art events and institutions.

Throughout his career, Fahey has remained dedicated to promoting and preserving the art of photography. His passion for the medium, combined with his keen eye for technological development, has made him a respected and influential figure in the art world.

Juror Statment

In an era where our eyes are often fixed on screens rather than faces, the act of truly looking at another person feels increasingly radical. Portraiture reminds us what it means to see — and to be seen. It slows time, demands attention, and asks us to look not only outward but inward.

I have looked at portraits my entire life. The ones that stay with me are those that show me something I don’t usually see — a quiet truth, a contradiction, a flicker of vulnerability that escapes language. The best portraits expand how we understand beauty, identity, and humanity. They challenge us to see differently, to notice what’s been overlooked, and to appreciate how every gaze holds its own kind of revelation.

Photography, at its core, is about point of view — about the dialogue between how we see and how others are seen. Each portrait adds a new shard of glass to the kaleidoscope through which we experience the world. The more perspectives we allow into that mosaic, the richer and more complex our collective vision becomes.

To those making portraits today: keep looking at the world differently. Look at people as they are, as they were, and as they might be. Let your work remind us that empathy begins with seeing.

— Nicholas Fahey

Features

Into Your Eyes: Photographic Portraiture in the Digital Era will feature the following FREE events and happenings:

• Virtual In-Person opening reception, Thursday, November 13, 2025, 12 pm – 1 pm PST on Zoom RSVP HERE

Price Sheet and Instructions for Purchasing Artwork

Download/view price sheet HERE.

Interested in purchasing artwork? Please email info@lacphoto.org and a representative will contact you ASAP.  Thank you!