Staley-Wise Gallery

Staley-Wise Gallery Fine art photography gallery, specializing in fashion photography and portraiture for over 25 years.

Slim Aarons
Jesse Alexander
Antonio
Richard Avedon
Sid Avery
Peter Basch
Lillian Bassman
Cecil Beaton
Harry Benson
Nick Brandt
Clarence Sinclair Bull
Louise Dalh-Wolfe
Patrick Demarchelier
Andre de Dienes
Robert Doisneau
Michael Dweck
Arthur Elgort
Philippe Halsman
Toni Frissell
David Gahr
Ron Galella
Ormond Gigli
Milton Greene
Horst
Frank Horvat
Hoyningen-Huene
Hurrell
Andre Kertesz
Steven Klein


William Klein
Dan Kramer
David LaChapelle
Jacques-Henri Lartigue
Erica Lennard
Kurt Markus
Herbert Matter
Sheila Metzner
Lee Miller
David Montgomery
Genevieve Naylor
Helmut Newton
Norman Parkinson
Denis Piel
Len Prince
Rico Puhlmann
Bob Richardson
Herb Ritts
Willy Rizzo
Amalie R. Rothschild
Jerry Schatzberg
Jeanloup Sieff
Melvin Sokolsky
Edward Steichen
Bert Stern
Phil Stern
John Stewart
Deborah Turbeville
Ellen von Unwerth
Chris von Wangenheim
Alfred Wertheimer
Bob Willoughby
Firooz Zahedi

Throughout history, the LGBTQ+ community has been one of the biggest contributors to culture, with many being some of th...
06/27/2026

Throughout history, the LGBTQ+ community has been one of the biggest contributors to culture, with many being some of the most recognizable muses of iconic photographers. From David LaChapelle’s decades-long relationship with pioneering transgender model Amanda Lepore  to the energetic images by Ron Galella and Anton Perich showing a bygone era of q***r nightlife in New York, these images are a reminder of the q***r community’s presence in art, fashion, music, beauty, and film. Photography has always been important for representing people and communities that society at large has previously shut out, and the LGBTQ+ community is no exception.  In celebration of the annual Pride Parade in New York City this Sunday, we are celebrating some of the most famous icons, image makers, and muses in q***r history.

Elton John and Divine at the premiere of “Grease,” Studio 54, New York, 1978 (Photo by Ron Galella © Ron Gallela LTD)

Galliano, Paris, 1993 (Photo by Ellen Von Unwerth © Ellen Von Unwerth)

1 Samuel 18:1: ... the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul, 2021 (Photo by David LaChapelle © David LaChapelle)

John Waters, Max’s Kansas City, 1972 (Photo by Anton Perich © Anton Perich)

Gia Carangi and Sandy Linter, January 1979 (Photo by Chris Von Wangenheim © VAGA Rights)

Halston and André Leon Talley, Tanglewood, Massachusetts, 1977 (Photo by Harry Benson © Harry Benson)

Amanda as Andy Warhol’s Liz in Purple, 2007 (Photo by David LaChapelle © David LaChapelle)

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas sitting with “Basket” just after liberation at home in southern France, France, 1944 (Photo by Carl Mydans © LIFE Picture Collection)

Karl Lagerfeld’s Studio, 2008 (Photo by Steven Klein © Steven Klein)

🏈Roger Staubach played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for 11 seasons and led the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl w...
02/08/2026

🏈

Roger Staubach played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for 11 seasons and led the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl win in 1972. (This LIFE issue was published just a few days before the game on January 16, 1972.) His coach, Thomas Landry, was actually the head coach for the Cowboys when the team launched in 1960, and Landry remained the coach for the next 29 years – an NFL record.

Our current exhibition, “Looking at LIFE,” continues through February 21st. We look forward to seeing you here!

1. Harry Benson: Quarterback Roger Staubach with UT Austin Coach Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys, 1972
2-3. LIFE Magazine, January 14, 1972
4. Installation photograph of “Looking at LIFE,” Staley-Wise Gallery

While LIFE showed its readers the people, places, and things they might never know about or see in person, the magazine ...
01/23/2026

While LIFE showed its readers the people, places, and things they might never know about or see in person, the magazine also reflected the everyday lives of its readers, their families, and communities. Childhood – as seen in Yale Joel’s photograph of a young Little Leaguer waiting impatiently for the pants of his uniform and Leonard McCombe’s photograph of a grandfather and his grandson shooting the breeze with other railroad workers – was universal. As was daily work, regardless of whether you were a group of oil field roustabouts in Texas as captured by Carl Mydans, or monks hustling to church in Italy as pictured by Alfred Eisenstaedt.
 
The importance of home and a sense of belonging was highlighted in LIFE’s 1952 photo essay by Leonard McCombe, published on the occasion of McCombe’s official USA citizenship after 7 years in America. McCombe spent a lonely first summer in New York at the age of 23, documenting the idiosyncrasies and frustrations of his new home.
 
“I began to notice the difference in my own countrymen. I’d never even seen men eating ice cream (that was only a children’s treat in England),” McCombe said, “but by now – seven years after I set foot on American soil – I have been buffeted and shaped until I fit. I feel I am a citizen of the place where I belong.”

Our current exhibition, “Looking at LIFE,” continues through February 7th. We look forward to seeing you here!

1. Yale Joel: Little League spokesman voices players’ demand for pants, Manchester, NH, 1954

2-4. LIFE Magazine, June 28, 1954

5. Leonard McCombe: Little boy with railroad workers, Arkansas, 1955

6-7. LIFE Magazine, August 29, 1955

8. Carl Mydans: Roustabouts take time off from their job, Freer, TX, 1937

9. Alfred Eisenstaedt: Monks along the River Arno, Florence, Italy, 1935

10. Leonard McCombe: Men enjoying ice cream, Iowa State Fair, 1952

11. LIFE Magazine, August 17, 1953

leonardmccombe photography photojournalism artexhibition staleywisegallery

On January 28, 1985, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, and Michael ...
01/17/2026

On January 28, 1985, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, and Michael Jackson entered A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood to record their vocals for the charity single “We Are the World.”
 
Produced by Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones under the name “USA for Africa,” the supergroup’s aim was to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Over a week, more than two dozen notable musical artists crowded into the studio to record parts for the song. A taped sign read: “check your ego at the door”. Wonder was also said to have threatened that any misbehavior or being unable to record their part in one take would result in him and Ray Charles driving everyone home.
 
“We are the World” would go on to sell 20 million physical copies and raised over 80 million dollars for humanitarian aid. It remains the 8th best-selling single of all time.

Our current exhibition, “Looking at LIFE,” continues through February 7th. We look forward to seeing you here!
Harry Benson: USA for Africa: Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, and Tina Turner, 1985
2. Clip from “Harry Benson: Shoot First” directed by Justin Bare and Matthew Miele, 2016 (Magnolia Pictures)

benson

On January 28, 1985, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, and Michael ...
01/17/2026

On January 28, 1985, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, and Michael Jackson entered A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood to record their vocals for the charity single “We Are the World.”
 
Produced by Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones under the name “USA for Africa,” the supergroup’s aim was to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Over a week, more than two dozen notable musical artists crowded into the studio to record parts for the song. A taped sign read: “check your ego at the door”. Wonder was also said to have threatened that any misbehavior or being unable to record their part in one take would result in him and Ray Charles driving everyone home.
 
“We are the World” would go on to sell 20 million physical copies and raised over 80 million dollars for humanitarian aid. It remains the 8th best-selling single of all time.

Our current exhibition, “Looking at LIFE,” continues through February 7th. We look forward to seeing you here!
1. Harry Benson: USA for Africa: Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, and Tina Turner, 1985
2. Clip from “Harry Benson: Shoot First” directed by Justin Bare and Matthew Miele, 2016 (Magnolia Pictures)

benson

On January 28, 1985, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, and Michael ...
01/17/2026

On January 28, 1985, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, and Michael Jackson entered A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood to record their vocals for the charity single “We Are the World.”
 
Produced by Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones under the name “USA for Africa,” the supergroup’s aim was to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Over a week, more than two dozen notable musical artists crowded into the studio to record parts for the song. A taped sign read: “check your ego at the door”. Wonder was also said to have threatened that any misbehavior or being unable to record their part in one take would result in him and Ray Charles driving everyone home.
 
“We are the World” would go on to sell 20 million physical copies and raised over 80 million dollars for humanitarian aid. It remains the 8th best-selling single of all time.

Our current exhibition, “Looking at LIFE,” continues through February 7th. We look forward to seeing you here!

1. Harry Benson: USA for Africa: Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, and Tina Turner, 1985
2. Clip from “Harry Benson: Shoot First”, directed by Justin Bare and Matthew Miele, 2016 (Magnolia Pictures)

benson

Happy Holidays from Staley-Wise Gallery! ⛸️🎁The gallery is now closed for our holiday break and we will re-open on Janua...
12/20/2025

Happy Holidays from Staley-Wise Gallery! ⛸️🎁

The gallery is now closed for our holiday break and we will re-open on January 6, 2026. Our current exhibition, “Looking at LIFE,” will be on view through February 7th and we look forward to seeing you here!

John Dominis. Priest Ice Skating, Detroit, 1954

Happy Thanksgiving from Staley-Wise Gallery!The gallery will be closed November 27 - December 1 and we will re-open Dece...
11/26/2025

Happy Thanksgiving from Staley-Wise Gallery!

The gallery will be closed November 27 - December 1 and we will re-open December 2, 2025.

Tessa Traeger: Five-toed Dorking Fowl, 1990

🎃 Happy Halloween from Staley-Wise Gallery! 🎃“In Memory of the Late Mr. and Mrs. Comfort: A Fable in 24 Episodes”, is Ri...
10/31/2025

🎃 Happy Halloween from Staley-Wise Gallery! 🎃

“In Memory of the Late Mr. and Mrs. Comfort: A Fable in 24 Episodes”, is Richard Avedon’s last major fashion narrative before his death in 2004. All but one of the images were published in the November 1995 issue of The New Yorker magazine, where Avedon was the magazine’s very first staff photographer beginning in 1992.  Interpretations of the startling and macabre images of supermodel Nadja Auermann and a skeleton varied, but the photographer himself simply stated that the images were a contemplation of “faith, fashion, love, and other ephemeral things”. The photographs were produced over eight days with a crew of 25 people in an abandoned building in Montauk, New York with the help of two long-time Avedon collaborators: The creative director and stylist Polly Mellen, and Doon Arbus (daughter of Diane).

A selection of photographs from this portfolio was exhibited in 2009 at the International Center of Photography in New York in their exhibition “Avedon Fashion 1944-2000”, which was the first museum exhibition devoted exclusively to the photographer’s fashion work.

1. Episode 13: In Memory of the Late Mr. and Mrs. Comfort, 1995 (Skeleton in John Galliano dress and jacket, Stephen Jones for John Galliano hat and Manolo Blahnik for John Galliano shoes.)
2. Episode 18: In Memory of the Late Mr. and Mrs. Comfort, 1995 (Nadja in Geoffrey Beene dress. Skeleton in Jean Paul Gaultier suit and jacket.)
3. Episode 8: In Memory of the Late Mr. and Mrs. Comfort, 1995 (Nadja in Jean Paul Gaultier coat, belt, helmet, and gloves, and Dolce & Gabbana hat.  Skeleton in Early Halloween coat, Jean Paul Gaultier sweater, and Jean Colonna pants.)
4. Episode 5: In Memory of the Late Mr. and Mrs. Comfort, 1995 (Nadja in Comme des Garcons dress and Martin Margiela head wrap. Skeleton in Gucci suit, tie, and shirt, Paul Smith boots, and Romeo Gigli cufflinks.)

Richard Avedon: In Memory of the Late Mr. and Mrs. Comfort: A Fable in 24 Episodes, 1995 © The Richard Avedon Foundation

“Pamela Hanson had the brilliant ability to capture aspects of the women who posed for her that fashion often forgot. He...
09/27/2025

“Pamela Hanson had the brilliant ability to capture aspects of the women who posed for her that fashion often forgot. Her work is a celebration of their individual personalities. Perhaps my favorite image in the whole book is a shot of Ghauri shielding herself with a newspaper amidst a humid Caribbean downpour. Hanson’s camera only ever invites them to bring themselves.”

—Mark Holgate, VOGUE

Our current exhibit, “Pamela Hanson: In the 90s,” continues through November 8th. We look forward to seeing you here!

1. Yasmeen, British VOGUE, Jamaica, 1995
2. Patricia, VOGUE Italia, Paris, 1993

Address

100 Crosby Street, Suite 305
New York, NY
10012

Opening Hours

Tuesday 11am - 5pm
Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+12129666223

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