Observant downtown Durango regulars may have noticed an iconic presence on Main Avenue, Claude Steelman’s Wildshots Gallery, featuring his nature and wildlife photography, has migrated a few blocks to East Second Avenue.
It’s part of Steelman’s plan to spend more time behind a camera and less time behind a cash register.
“My lease was up, and this had gotten to be a seven-day-a-week job. I wanted more time for my photography, and I didn’t want to sign up for another five-year lease,” Steelman said. “I’m not getting any younger, and I want to get out and have some fun.”
Steelman has downsized to a studio at 755 East Second Ave., Suite C, where he’ll see clients by appointment only. He also wanted more time to pursue a new-found passion. After taking blacksmithing lessons with Steve Williams, a cowboy blacksmith who lives in Mancos, he’s now forging his own knives, including one made from a railroad spike.
Landscape and wildlife painting, he said, has always been “a hobby” he’s pursued, and he wants more time to work on his oil painting.
He’s going through his catalogue of more than 100,000 pictures on file as he works on what would be his sixth photography book.
“I’ve got so much stuff no one has ever seen, and now I have the time to go through it,” he said.
Add in another new avocation – making his own bows and arrows – and Steelman realized spending time in the gallery had become too burdensome.
Now, Steelman will have the time to pursue his photography and other passions.
“I’ve been taking photographs for 40 years. Initially, I got into photography as an avid outdoor guy, hunting, fishing, and when I didn’t want to shoot anything anymore I picked up a camera. With a camera, you can hunt all year round and in the national parks,” he said.
Steelman, who was influenced by nature photographers John Shaw, Tom Mangelsen and Art Wolfe, said his photography skills are as sharp as ever, and with the internet available to study the habits of wildlife, he’s about in the best position ever to capture shots out in the field.
“I’m always learning new things on the computer,” he said.
Tim Walsworth, executive director of the Durango Business Improvement District, said, “Claude’s work is amazing, and I will miss seeing his photos in his gallery downtown. The photo of the horse that was in his front window greeted me every day I have come to work for the past seven-and-a-half years. The image made you feel like that horse was coming out of the glass right at you.”
Durango is lucky to have many great galleries, Walsworth said, and they play a key role in keeping downtown vibrant and diverse.
Steelman said his age, 72, is the one source of frustration that impacts his photography.
“I know where I want to be at sunset and sunrise, but I can’t climb mountains anymore. I don’t have the energy physically,” he said. “But seeing an image and capturing a picture, I think I’ve got that figured out. I’ve learned a thing or two in 40 years.”
Moving away from his large Main Avenue gallery, which was located at 824 Main Ave., will also give Steelman time to pursue the No. 1 trip on his bucket list: Brazil. He’s particularly interested in capturing images of jaguars.
He also wants to take another trip to Alaska.
Steelman said he will miss meeting new people, one of the best side benefits of operating a Main Avenue gallery.
He will miss the income from the gallery, too. But he said moving into a smaller studio lowers his overhead and allows him to keep seeing clients interested in his work.
The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed his sales, but Steelman said the internet has helped keep the commercial end of his life afloat the past two months.
But downsizing from a gallery to a studio is the right move now, he said.
“Running a retail business eventually takes all your time, and time, it just seems like it goes so fast now. There’s never enough of it.”
parmijo@durangoherald.com
