Vance Gellert bought his first camera as he was finishing his graduate studies in pharmacology at the University of Minnesota. He soon realized that the camera was going to give him a more effective voice to address his concerns in medicine. Several years after completing his MFA at VCU he cofounded pARTs Photographic Arts a nonprofit gallery for photography where he was director and curator for 13 years. His projects include Smoke and Mirrors, a study of indigenous and traditional healing, REAL: Artists and Landscapes, about self taught artists; BRIDGE, a moving project on the survivors and first responders of the 35W Bridge collapse, and the Palmer’s Bar Sideshow, the patrons and musicians of what Esquire magazine labeled as the best dive bar in America. His first and favorite body of work is CarlVision, an 11-year project he did with son exploring emotional rollercoaster, mostly fun, of the father-son relationship. He still curates photography at several venues.
