The Image Flow aims to celebrate photography in all its forms and to provide a platform for photographers of all levels to create work, exchange ideas, and to innovate the medium of photography. Our staff and instructors are deeply engaged with photographic practice in their daily lives and bring that same dedication to our space each day. We remain committed to making photography accessible to the community by providing public exhibitions, free lectures, workshops, rentals, and imaging services.
In 2008, Stuart Schwartz founded The Image Flow with one initial goal; to provide high-quality photographic printing services to Marin County – because, in the words of Stuart, “it’s not a photograph until it’s a print.”
Since then, it has grown into a space to create, exhibit, discuss, and study all types of photographic expression, both digital and traditional. Based on the early feedback of some of our long-standing clients, we began offering workshops and classes, branching into the realm of photographic education. In 2011, we outgrew our original 1,100 square foot space and expanded into our current location, boasting 6,300 square feet of learning and production facilities.
With this extra space came new creative opportunities; a gallery space exhibiting the work of national and international artists, a large natural light studio, dedicated classroom, traditional darkroom, and an alternative process darkroom has made The Image Flow a destination for photographers in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond – both seasoned and emerging.
Today, our workshops and services continue to be in support of Stuart’s mantra, driving toward photography in print form. Whether you seek to achieve this goal in the darkroom or using digital images, we possess the tools and expertise needed to help bring your vision to life.
Chrysta Giffen earned her BFA at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and her MFA at San Jose State University, and has over two decades of experience in the photography industry primarily as a digital retoucher. Her client list includes Nike, Disney, Sephora, Discovery Channel, Showtime, New York Magazine, Wired, and the California Academy of Sciences. She is also an experienced fine art photographer and an adjunct professor at Portland Community College and Mt. Hood Community College in OR. At The Image Flow, Chrysta teaches remote workshops and one-on-one Zoom sessions on photography, Lightroom, Photoshop, retouching, and printing. She also curated exhibitions at The Flow’s former location.
Nathan Lomas hails from Buffalo, NY. He developed his passion photography at the tender age of five when his father gave him a Ricoh camera. He has a BFA from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit and an MFA in Imaging Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. He is an adjunct professor at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, owns his own photo studio in Alameda where he specializes in 19th-century tintype photography, and at The Image Flow, works with digital restoration, film scanning, and printing, as well as teaching workshops and working one-on-one with clients.
Kristy Headley is a systems person who likes people and photography. Working as Outreach and Workshop Coordinator at The Image Flow, she is interested in growing the photographic community through education. You’ll often find her here or at Scott Nichols Gallery in Sonoma. Previously, Kristy was the manager at Collectors’ Photography Gallery in Marin, and a technical lead for notable archival imaging projects at Google and Internet Archive. She has a BFA in 2D Studies, and practices alternative process photography with handmade photo emulsions.
Anton Belov graduated from California College of the Arts with a BFA in Illustration and is a freelance graphic designer. At The Image Flow, he does a little bit of everything – from designing fliers and updating our website, to offering valuable advice on our range of photo services. When he’s not at The Flow, he can be found freelancing for a number of clients such as Stanford Children’s Health, Saint Mary’s College of California, or the Paramount.
