On June 30, a new photographic experience opens in San Francisco. Neomodern is both a gallery of photography and a concierge printing service that works one-on-one with customers to produce museum-quality prints from their personal photos. While in Neomodern, customers are surrounded by a gallery that will rotate through an array of original masterpieces from photographers like Ansel Adams and Cartier-Bresson to inspire them as they create their own piece of art. Neomodern isn’t a print or frame shop, it’s a new participatory retail experience.
Customers walk into the Neomodern studio, a sleek minimalist gallery, with a photo taken on their camera or smartphone—maybe a unique shot of the bridge in the fog, the kids at the farm or a stunning vacation sunset. Then, one of the photographic printing specialists (a “printmaster”) will work closely with each customer in the Nest (a cross between a livingroom and a canopy bed) on the spot to edit and enhance the photo to produce the best possible print. Neomodern then prints, mounts, custom mats and frames the work—all within an hour, right there in the studio. Customers walk out with an archival, museum-quality piece of art.
“We’re at the beginning of a new era in photography. With modern smartphones, for the first time in history, we all have access to a camera that produces photos and prints at the quality of traditional film cameras,” says Michael Rubin, founder and Chief Photo Officer of Neomodern. “At Neomodern, we offer access to the expertise and services professionals enjoy, allowing consumers to learn about photographic art and how to improve their photos. The printing and framing process is no longer a complicated, slow and expensive pain; finally it’s an enjoyable and creative experience.”
The walls of Neomodern are covered with inspiring photography from a private collection deserving of the deYoung or SFMOMA, as well as selected outstanding prints discovered from Neomodern’s own customers. The private collection will feature modernist photographers including Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliott Erwitt, Andre Kertesz, Harry Callahan and Alma Lavenson. It will be in constant rotation, curated to best demonstrate modernist ways of seeing and photographing the people, events, and things around us. Neomodern believes that an individual’s photographic skills will improve simply by spending time exploring the masterpieces in the surrounding gallery.
The Neomodern customer is everyone from a photographic hobbyist with their DSLR, to the family memory keeper who uses their smartphone to capture special moments. But when it comes down to it, Neomodern’s customer is any consumer or amateur photographer who wants to create a piece of art from a personal photo, reviving the hobby of creative photography that has been disappearing as film cameras have gone away.
From print optimization to framing, Neomodern has streamlined and simplified the process and pricing: 16x20 framed projects are $195 (inclusive of everything), 20x24 projects are $295. Customers can also print and mat (but skip the framing) for a bit less. Neomodern uses only archival techniques and acid-free materials designed to preserve and protect photographs. The museum pieces in the gallery are framed exactly the same way as the customer’s works.
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