The International Digital Photography Museum

Not that I mean to downplay this news at all, but, first of all, I'm getting married!

She's a TOP reader, and has been for the past eight years. She said she has watched my personal peregrinations with interest over the years, and 16 months ago now she decided to introduce herself. Her name is Magda, and she has residences in Budapest, Hungary, and New York City as well as a vacation home in a location she prefers not to disclose. After we get married we'll have two vacation homes, the second one being this little house I've been living in for three and a half years here in the Finger Lakes! I won't be giving this place up.

Now for the relevant part. Magda happens to be the widow of very accomplished and urbane man who was famously successful in business in Hungary. She married him when he was 54 and she was 32; he died five years ago now. She's one year older than I am. We both consider ourselves relatively young, and we're both in good health, so there is still time to do the things we want to do. And neither one of us is terribly interested in merely collecting the conventional trappings of wealth...we want to do something; something useful to society and, specifically, for photography.

Same shows, different audiences
Of course, I have spun my idealistic notions at her gleefully for some time now—a few of them, admittedly, pretty crackpot. (She would say "most," possibly with an exclamation point appended to that. I do get carried away with ideas sometimes.) But because her wealth is essentially limitless and her interest is in public architecture, we've decided on the following plan, which we're pretty well along with already at least in concept.

We've decided to create a series of "mirror" museums—so far, we have plans for three in the United States, one in Canada, and two in Europe—one each in Prague and Budapest. Each building will be proximate to existing museums that already draw crowds—for instance, the one in Corning (local to where I am now) will be a hop, skip, and a jump from the wonderful Corning Museum of Glass, and the one in Chadds Ford will be within an easy drive of the Brandywine River Museum of Art.

Each Museum will have its own architecture, designed to complement its setting and its culture, but all of them will have very similar facilities—three beautiful large galleries and two small ones, an entry atrium and book shop, a number of small offices, several workrooms, and so forth.

Celebrate the new
Here's where it gets interesting. We won't be showing existing art, at least in terms of the actual objects—we'll be making our own. The halo Museum organization, IDPM, will employ master digital printmakers as well as curators. The printmakers and curators will work with living digital photographers to create exhibitions that will then be mirrored in all six locations worldwide. This might be one large exhibit in all five galleries, or several concurrent exhibits split between the various gallery rooms. Since every venue will have its own conservator and framer and presentation specialist, all that's required for coordination between locations will be the shipment of the newly made unframed prints, whether they're made in Europe or America. Pretty simple. Each show will be up for three months, for a total of four "changeovers" per year.

Not only will every print be newly custom-made for each exhibits, but small limited editions of each photograph shown in every show will be available for sale to the public—with all of the proceeds going to the photographers. In that sense our strategy is something of a hybrid between a traditional museum and a gallery, as well as a hybrid of a business and a type of charity called a "grant maker." Oh, and by the way, photographers themselves will not have to bear any expense for their shows.

Here's a big difference from a traditional museum: the IDPM will not maintain a collection. We will keep a record of what we show, but we will not collect and archive work—rather, we will help create it and release it into the world at large, where it may fly on its own wings.

The Mission statement
That's because our overarching mission will be to support active, working photographers of all kinds with these shows. Not only will they receive the intangible honor of having their work shown in six premium venues in North America and Europe, with printed catalogues, but they get to keep all the proceeds from any print sales. (Unsold prints will become their property when the shows are over, too.)

As you can see, this is sort of like TOP's print sales writ large! Very large.  :-)

You would think all this would be a lot of work, but, it turns out, not so much. Magda is used to having "people" doing things for her. And boy, do we have people. We are in the process of hiring directors for every museum, curators, printmakers, architects, builders, you name it. And we already have a core staff of administrators and helpers. After working alone for a decade and more, it's heavenly, let me tell you.

Launch is scheduled for 2023. The initial locations are: Toronto, Canada; Corning, New York; Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Prague, Czech Republic; and Budapest, Hungary.

Magda has plans for more museums—three more in Western U.S. cities, and one each in the UK, France, and Germany.

To say this is all exciting is a vast understatement! Oh, and by the way, my title is Director of Exhibitions. Our curators will work under me and although they will work largely independently, with lots of freedom, I'll have the final word on who, and what, gets shown. I'm chomping at the bit.

I'll keep you posted.  :-)

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Everything must fade away

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Dave: "Mike, Congratulations, and congratulations! Wow, that's a lot of news to digest. I'll bet you'll be inundated with requests from photographers who never thought such a museum (with such fair treatment of the artist) would ever exist. From your description, Magda seems fascinating. Best of luck!"

Zack Schindler: "Does this mean that the with your newfound riches that the first ten posters here will be sent one of the new Leica Safari Edition M10-P's with matching lens?"

Mike replies: Since you suggested it, yes!! Unfortunately, you are commenter number 13. Chance is cruel.

Robert Harshman: "What day is it?"

Mike replies: It's Monday.

Jnny: "Magda sounds lovely. Has she asked you to forward expense fees yet?"

Mike replies: Made me laugh....  :-)

Bahi: "Why am I reminded of buried Leicas? That one still hurts. :-) "

Comments

[Dave Jenkins]

Great April 1st post! I wish for your sake that it were true.

[MikeR]

No foolin'?!?!

[Stephen Gilbert]

Congratulations. I wonder if she's the same Magda I married a couple of years ago. Coincidentally, that marriage was announced on April 1.

[Burdette Parks]

Ha!

[scott kirkpatrick]

Wow, what a positive April Surprise! Looking forward to hearing more of Magda's and your exciting plans, not just today, but all year.

[len Salem]

Congratulations on your visionary marriage and the plans for your future together.
I'm sure I'm not alone in remarking how auspicious it was to share this information on 1st April.

[Ken]

Ahh, yes. April Fools Day. I bet you'll get a lot of congrats from readers before they realize today is April 1st.

[John Krill]

Yea, and I'm the King of Blowdrea.

[Gordon Lewis]

Guard your heart, Mike. I suspect your dear Magda may be playing a cruel and capricious April Fool's joke on you.

[Dave Van de Mark]

I wanted to say "WOW" in 144 point bold type - then realized it is April 1st. Your move my friend...

[Dave Riedel]

This is great news Mike. You're surely relieved at not needing Patreon signups anymore.

[GULP. Wait!!! --Mike]

[Bruce Alan Greene]

It was somewhere in the 2nd paragraph that I realized todays date! Well done Mike!

[Dave Hodson]

Good one - had me going for a minute. Not that I mean to disparage the idea but I kept thinking at some point she was going to take you back to the mother ship.

[Jonathan Gruppe]

Will the museums be open all year, or just on the 1st of April ?

[Mike Chisholm]

Wake up, Mike, wake up! It's already well past midday...

Mike

[Dierk]

C'mon Mike, it's April 1st...

[Scott]

Looking forward to April 1st being over with! :-)

[Rick]

Mike,

almost sounds too good to be true!

All I can say is My best wished it works out the way you imagine,

Rick

[Grant]

Mike, the last three words of the first sentence kind of blew your cover. Don't worry though, I'll be there for the Toronto opening. That part was real, right?

[Photo Guy1743]

Happy April Fools Day

[Michael Perini]

Does she have a sister?

[Bri]

But George Soros is not dead!! :)

[T. Edwards]

You had me until billionaire.

[Since you tipped me off that that was a tipoff, I changed it. --Mike]

[Tim McGowan]

Mike, I haven’t read the whole post as I realized
today is April First.

[Hans Muus]

This (double/triple) news is so unexpected and great, in many respects, that I almost blame you for making it public on the first day of April - please confirm that it's serious...
That being said, I nevertheless jump in head-over-heals to congratulate you and your future wife Magda from the bottom of my heart - and keep us posted ! And if you have fooled me after all, it's still brilliant and I'll have a good laugh. Pity though that in that case chances of meeting you in Europe will be that much smaller.

[MargaretR]

You almost had me, for two whole paragraphs..... but it's April 1st. :-) Much more believable than half the stuff I've seen today though, so A+ for effort!

[Duncan]

Congratulations, or is it April Fools?

[Peter]

Wow!

[Ed Hazera]

Happy April fools day?

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Happy April 1st to you, too, Mike!

[James Weekes]

Nice post for the date.

[Sean]

Mike, Congrats and best wishes! May I suggest the two of you buy the Brooklyn Bridge, and construct the museum there?

[Mark Kinsman]

This is indeed, great news - Congratulations!
I'd also like to thank you for the generous funding of my current project - working title: "The Quixote Project". While it will be a bit of a whirlwind tour chasing the light at each of the selected Windfarms located around the planet, the resulting photographs will be printed life-size, to allow the visitors to the IDPM exhibit to fully immerse themselves into the photograph, feeling the power of windmill generated electricity. By describing this, I hope I'm not spoiling any secrets that Magda has been planning. Great times are ahead!

[John Holmes]

Only in your wildest dreams.

[Actually, my wildest dreams are wilder than that. :-) --Mike]

[Dogman]

Yeah, congratulations...you almost got me.

[Robert Roaldi]

April 1st is so much fun.

[Jim Arthur]

"This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four." ~Mark Twain

[Stan B.]

I just happen to win the Pulitzer today- won the MacArthur yesterday, and word is- I'm tied for a Nobel...

[Jimmy L. Day]

Happy April Fool’s Day!

[Randall Teasley]

On any other day of the year this would be wonderful news.

[John E]

Wow Mike, I’d say you might have gotten away with this April 1 write up but the giveaway was the link at the end that still has you soliciting funds! Good try, funny, funny, funny!

[Ben Rosengart]

Holy moly.

[Stephen McCullough]

So
Do Hungarians engage in the April Fools Day thing?

[Maggie Osterberg]

Michael.

We need to talk.

You know what it's about.

[c.d.embrey]

Congratulations!!!

With some of your spare change hire a webmaster/designer, and an IT person for TOP.

For the museum, get a Océ LightJet or a Durst Lambda, for photographers who only print gelatin silver.

Director of Exhibitions sounds better than chief cook and bottle washer 8-) Enjoy!

[Kevin]

Now why did you post this on April Fool's Day? Many will not believe it.

[Gunny]

4/1/19.

1/4/19 in Hungary.

[Norm Nicholson]

Ah....if only it were true. But then I remembered the date. Anyway, congratulations to you and Magda!

[Andrew]

Today is an interesting day to choose to announce this.

Andrew

[GKFroehlich]

Mike,
Congratulations, and I wish you all the best! I hope you are as ecstatic after April 1st!
-gkf-

[Sandy Rothberg]

Congratulations, and best of luck. Your plans sound wonderful but a good woman, now that's something special.

[BJ]

Hey, what day is it?

[Rube]

Happy April Fool's Day, Mike.

[Greg]

Glad your sense of humor is alive and well.

[brian]

What a propitious day to announce your engagement and your new-found "essentially limitless" wealth ;)

[Jim Freeman]

I have sent you several Swiss Spaghetti Trees, one to plant by the front door of each museum.

[Pete F]

"three more in Western US cities" - I'd like to lobby for one of those locations to include flyover country in the Midwest!

[Tom]

For a moment, you had me.

[Brian Illes]

Mike, that all sounds great! It would have sounded even better if posted on March 31 or April 2. Please tell me I'm reading too much into the post date...

Brian Illes

[Ken James]

For you, I would love this to be true, but then I remember the date. Good one, you got me, but I was only on my first sips of coffee.

[Nigel]

Monday, First of April?

Hmmm

[Rene]

Ah, you had me until you said "Magda and she's Hunggarian."

[John Camp]

I hate this s***. (Shouts at clouds, scratches ass.)

[-et-]

Given that it is not only Monday, but also April 1st, I unfortunately feel compelled to apply far more than a single grain of salt to your posting . . .

[Michael]

Wonderful news Mike I'm so happy for you and Magda I hope you'll be very happy together and the Museums sounds like a splendid idea, obviously you'll no longer need funding via the Patreon scheme so I and I expect most of your contributors can cancel our subscriptions with immediate effect.
So happy for you both Mike, now whats the date so I can cancel that subscription!!!
Michael.

[Paul McEvoy]

Took me a sec. well done.

[Martin Rich]

It is April 1. April Fool's Day. I don't trust anything I read today.

[SteveW]

OMG.

Classic.

Does this mean you will store your off site back up disks in Budapest?

[Helcio J. Tagliolatto]

Congratulations, Mike! You deserve to be happy.

[Chris Kern]

Now that you have "essentially limitless" resources at your disposal, perhaps you might be interested in investing in this new venture: https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=129748.0.

[David]

Does Magda have any friends in a similar situation?

[Anders Holt]

Dear Mike,

I really hope the first news is really, really true - and the second news also! :-)

And if its not the day in the year news - by the way, a very good one - Congratulations!

All the best to you!

Anders

[bongo]

April fools!

[John Krumm]

You had me pretty good until you mentioned her "essentially limitless" wealth and then I remembered something. But for several paragraphs I was feeling pretty happy for you...

[Andy Sheppard]

At least we know your major-lottery-win plans. :-)

[Phillip Stiles]

Monday on April Fool's Day, to be exact.

[bongo]

Congratulations! Forgot to add - I too have had a bit of luck, a Nigerian Prince wants me to help him with some banking in return for $500,000!!

[Pros Van Heddegem]

1st of April. :-)

[David Lee]

You almost got me. I was about to say: “Careful Mike, maybe she is just after your prints, like your previous women”

[Edwin Lopez]

Happy April Fool's Day!!

Ed

[James Bullard]

And Happy April Fools Day to you Mike.

[KeithB]

Will you announce when you are going to be visiting any particular museum so we can have a meet and greet with TOP readers?

Like Santa Fe? Hint, hint.

(I hope to meet John Camp so I can ask whether the President in Saturn's Run is a thinly veiled Suzanna Martinez!)

[Dave in NM]

Nice, Mike!
A genie-in-a-bottle fantasy that features altruism, rather than avarice.
I’ve said it before - you’re a good man.

[Jnny]

Magda sounds lovely. Has she asked you to forward expense fees yet?

[fred]

Wow-A fantasy and a joke all rolled into one!

[Johan]

Sounds like heaven! Pity tomorrow is April 2nd...

[chas]

Congratulations!

This sounds amazing, sort of like what the Italians would call a "scherzo di primavera".

C

[Mike Ferron]

Wealthy widow huh? Tell me this is not a cheap attempt to fund your G.A.S? And if she is that wealthy we should all get new cameras!

[Michael T.]

April fools?

[Terry Letton]

Z plane Boss. Z plane

[Chuck Albertson]

Good one, Mike.

[Chris]

Love the Hungarians and the goulash. She knows a few Nigerians too who need someone to help them for a large financial return.

[JOHN GILLOOLY]

Almost sounds too good to be true!;) Maybe if the generous Hungarian falls through, this post can be circulated to other folks of means who may be interested in the novel gallery concept and/or marrying the leader of TOP!

[Don Daso]

And a jolly post this is, albeit it IS April 1st, after all...personal peregrinations not withstanding~!~

[Christopher Taylor]

Brilliant! I was fooled for the first two paragraphs.

[Bill Kearney]

April 1st Mike, good one!

[Jack Stivers]

What great news! And on April 1, too, the same day I won the lottery.

It's only $90 million, so I'll not be in your league, by any means.

I think now I can finally afford an X-H1 AND a 200/2.8.

Cheers

[MikeR]

So, this means that you no longer need my Patreon support, right?

[Longviewer]

Magda is cool, I met her in Elan. She's older than you might think but very wise.

https://firstempireseries.com/author/authormichaeljsullivan/

[Alfonso]

Congrats. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, and it seems that you have a Project for it.