Meet Greg Brophy | Photographer and Fine Art Printer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Greg Brophy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Greg, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I came from a family that was very creative, but most of my family never had the ability to go to school for art or pursue an artistic career. My cousins and I were the first generation to be able to go to school for art. My father started as a machinist and went to night school for engineering while i was a child. It was very hard for him to send me to school for art, but in the end he trusted me. I realize that I am very lucky and not everyone can do that or have family that supports them. For me there was never really a decision,

I just can’t imagine doing anything else. It really is the thing that makes me get up everyday. At the same time it is the hardest career because there is not limit to how long something can take. I know how long it will take me to read a 300 page book, but a project could span a decade with no immediate direct results. A print could take months before I am happy with it. The other aspect of being creative and why I love it so much is you never stop learning. I spend more time on research and learning new things than I do actually creating artwork.Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I work in a very unique process called photogravure which is one of the oldest photographic printing processes. It is considered the most stable and archival process available. The way a photogravure is made is by taking an image and contact printing it onto a piece of carbon tissue that has been sensitized with a dichromate. The carbon tissue is then mated to a piece of copper and etched in an acid bath. The resulting piece of copper is then inked like a traditional etched plate (think Rembrandt or Goya) and then run through an etching press on to a piece of paper. This process done in the traditional way is hazardous and bad for the environment. Thankfully new materials have been developed where the plate can be etched with water and makes it much safer and better for the environment.

It has taken me 10 years to find and perfect the process. I am very lucky that other people who also do this have been very forthcoming and share their knowledge. I have also sought out and taken workshops with artists from around the world who are the best at what they do.

Now I take what I have learned and apply it to projects like The Iron Triangle” which is about an area in Queens NY, next to Citifield Stadium, where small business owners are being pushed out by the city in order to make way for larger businesses. At first the project was trying to raise awareness of the abuse by. the city, but half of the area is gone now and it has become a race to document what is left before this unique area of NYC is forever gone.

Working on a documentary project can be really rewarding and really disheartening at the same time. You have so much passion about it and can’t understand why other people do not feel the same. Then every once in a while you get contacted by someone who is really touched by the story or their uncle is one of the people I photographed and they had not seen it. Then you remember why you did it in the first place. In some ways it’s hard to call it a business because with this type of photography, there is no money that has been made, it is a labor of love and I must rely on other means to support this type of work.Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I have lived in NYC for 23 years. I often think of the article by Colson Whitehead – The Way We Live Now: 11-11-01; Lost and Found (https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/11/magazine/the-way-we-live-now-11-11-01-lost-and-found.html) and my private New York that I built the first day I arrived in NYC where I built my first memories and where years later I would end up saying – that is where The Cupcake Cafe used to be or that is where the Siberia Bar used to be and someone older would say that is where the shoe shine shop used to be. We all have our own version of the city where most of the places I used to go to and enjoy are now gone. The last few reaming places I used to know are rapidly disappearing, especially after Covid. Now I am not young anymore and have responsibilities and can no longer go out as much to find new places.

The places I have found recently that I have done my best to support during Covid to help ensure they survive are Gold Star Beer Counter in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. They have a huge selection of beer on tap with the ability to get beer to go. The other would be L’Antagoniste in Bedstuy Brooklyn. If you want to go to a small, intimate place to have dinner, I would suggest Have & Meyer in Williamsburg. Last but not least, DOC in Williamsburg, a wine bar that I have been going to since it first opened in 2001 and have become friends with the owner and where I took my wife on our first date.

One event my wife and I look forward to is the Jazz Age festival on Governors Island. It happens twice a year in the summer. We also spend a lot of time at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The area there with the library and Museum are a great way to spend an afternoon in Spring.Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a shoutout to my first photography professor in London who saw my passion and gave me keys the the school darkroom so I could work at night by myself. Of course, my wife who always is encouraging me and supporting me. Friends like Phil Penman who has an amazing amount of knowledge in all the areas I lack. To my high school literature teacher who realized that I was not dumb like some other teachers, but just bored and challenged me to think more creatively.

Website: http://gregbrophy.com

Instagram: @gregbrophy

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-brophy-photo/

Facebook: gregbrophyphoto

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/gregbrophy/

Image Credits
Greg Brophy 2021