We Are Santa by Ron Cooper
Exhibit Dates:
November 18, 2021 – January 7, 2022
Viewing hours are Monday-Friday, from 10am-4pm, as well as two hours before any scheduled performance.
Exhibit Opening:
November 20, 2021 from 5-7pm
Join us to celebrate the opening of this exhibit with milk and cookies (of course!) and a hot cocoa bar. Some of Santa's helpers will also be here to greet you.
Over a period of six months in 2018 and 2019, award-winning documentary and portrait photographer Ron Cooper traveled to seven cities across the US to meet, interview and photograph more than 100 top professional Santa Clauses.
Cooper was inspired to pursue this project after meeting his first professional Santa in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2017. That St. Nick, named Santa Dusty, is a real life cowboy who Cooper was photographing as part of another photography project documenting characters of the American West. Shortly after meeting Santa Dusty, Cooper became aware of the Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest Santa Claus training program in the nation. Cooper was fascinated by the idea that there is an actual school for Santas -- and decided then to meet, interview and photograph professional Santas for a prospective magazine article or book.
After photographing 120 Santas and amassing almost 5000 photographs, Cooper began approaching publishers about his project. Princeton Architectural Press (New York, NY) was enthusiastic about the work and in late 2020 published Cooper's interviews and photographs in a book titled We Are Santa. The book was enormously popular, becoming one of the top-selling holiday books on Amazon.com for a period of time.
To complement the book, Cooper organized a gallery exhibit of some of his favorite Santa portraits. The exhibit at LTAC includes both black & white and color Santa portraits, as well as in-depth profiles of eight of the Santas (and one Mrs. Claus) in Cooper's book.
About Ron Cooper
Ron Cooper is a travel, documentary and portrait photographer based in Denver, Colorado. He travels extensively in pursuit of images that reflect local cultures and people.
Since 2015, his work has been exhibited in more than 50 juried group shows in the United States and Europe receiving Best in Show, Best Portrait, Director's Choice, Artistic Excellence and Honorable Mention awards. He has presented four solo exhibitions and his photographs have been published in consumer magazines, newspapers and photography journals. Note: Cooper's portraits have won several prizes in the Exploring the Light photography exhibits at Lone Tree Art Center.
His book We Are Santa was published in 2020 by Princeton Architectural Press (New York, NY) and was a best seller on Amazon.com. His most recent book, Celebrating Humanity: Faces from Five Continents, published by Photiq (Leamington Spa, England) will be released December 1.
We Are Santa by Ron Cooper
Exhibit Dates:
November 18, 2021 – January 7, 2022
Viewing hours are Monday-Friday, from 10am-4pm, as well as two hours before any scheduled performance.
Exhibit Opening:
November 20, 2021 from 5-7pm
Join us to celebrate the opening of this exhibit with milk and cookies (of course!) and a hot cocoa bar. Some of Santa's helpers will also be here to greet you.
Over a period of six months in 2018 and 2019, award-winning documentary and portrait photographer Ron Cooper traveled to seven cities across the US to meet, interview and photograph more than 100 top professional Santa Clauses.
Cooper was inspired to pursue this project after meeting his first professional Santa in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2017. That St. Nick, named Santa Dusty, is a real life cowboy who Cooper was photographing as part of another photography project documenting characters of the American West. Shortly after meeting Santa Dusty, Cooper became aware of the Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest Santa Claus training program in the nation. Cooper was fascinated by the idea that there is an actual school for Santas -- and decided then to meet, interview and photograph professional Santas for a prospective magazine article or book.
After photographing 120 Santas and amassing almost 5000 photographs, Cooper began approaching publishers about his project. Princeton Architectural Press (New York, NY) was enthusiastic about the work and in late 2020 published Cooper's interviews and photographs in a book titled We Are Santa. The book was enormously popular, becoming one of the top-selling holiday books on Amazon.com for a period of time.
To complement the book, Cooper organized a gallery exhibit of some of his favorite Santa portraits. The exhibit at LTAC includes both black & white and color Santa portraits, as well as in-depth profiles of eight of the Santas (and one Mrs. Claus) in Cooper's book.
About Ron Cooper
Ron Cooper is a travel, documentary and portrait photographer based in Denver, Colorado. He travels extensively in pursuit of images that reflect local cultures and people.
Since 2015, his work has been exhibited in more than 50 juried group shows in the United States and Europe receiving Best in Show, Best Portrait, Director's Choice, Artistic Excellence and Honorable Mention awards. He has presented four solo exhibitions and his photographs have been published in consumer magazines, newspapers and photography journals. Note: Cooper's portraits have won several prizes in the Exploring the Light photography exhibits at Lone Tree Art Center.
His book We Are Santa was published in 2020 by Princeton Architectural Press (New York, NY) and was a best seller on Amazon.com. His most recent book, Celebrating Humanity: Faces from Five Continents, published by Photiq (Leamington Spa, England) will be released December 1.