Hal Gould at his last featured show at the Dona Laurita Gallery in Louisville, Colo, where they celebrated his 95th birthday.
Hal Gould, a photography visionary and arguably one of Colorado’s most renowned artists, died Thursday, June 25 at the age of 95. Gould’s memorial will be held Tuesday, July 7 at the Holiday Events Center, 2644 W 32nd Ave. The memorial service begins at 4:15 p.m. and is open to the public.
For more than 60 years, Gould refined his craft becoming one of the foremost experts in film and darkroom techniques and served as a champion of photography as a medium of fine art throughout his life. His work is included in many collections, including the Denver Art Museum.
He is most recognized in the Denver and Rocky Mountain Region for his renowned Camera Obscura Gallery, which opened in 1980. At the age of 91, Gould closed the gallery after successfully showcasing local, regional, national and international fine art photographers’ work. Gould also founded the Colorado Photographic Art Center, which was Denver’s first gallery for fine art photography.
Gould was able to curate shows featuring some of the great masters including Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham. Other high quality shows included Howard Bond, Paul Harbaugh, Edward Curtis, Sebastiao Salgado and others.
“Hal was a gem among photography dealers – a tremendously knowledgeable, nice person who worked hard to promote photography and was enormously helpful to me,” said Howard Bond. Their nearly 40-year friendship began after Gould quietly suggested Bond send some of his prints for a group exhibition. “That was the beginning of our 37 year friendship during which Hal sold vast numbers of my photographs and recruited students for my 20 years of teaching printing workshops in Denver,” he said.
Gould spent his early years in New Mexico on a ranch where he became fond of the landscape. At 12 he purchased his first camera, a little brown-box camera, with money spent selling magazine subscriptions.
He was born on February 29, 1920 and attended the Chicago Institute of Design and Ray-Vogue Schools of Art & Photography. Gould was also a U.S. Army veteran.
Gould is survived by his children, Juliette, Gordon and Signe and grandchildren.