Photo Credit: Drew Altizer
If you’ve been dying to get inside one of those Pacific Heights mansions, here’s a haute entryway: Trevor Traina, San Franciscan native and serial entrepreneur, is giving photography enthusiasts a glimpse into his own photography collection and Pacific Heights home through his company IfOnly.com, which delivers extraordinary experiences for good. Traina himself will lead you on a tour of his strikingly restored Pacific Heights home and impressive 300-piece photography collection–“Real to Real,” from early documentary to more recent conceptual art.
We asked Traina to select five of his favorite pieces from the collection, which traces the evolution of the field from the “new documentarians” of the 60s and 70s through current large-scale color photography. From Robert Frank and Diane Arbus to Andreas Gursky and Jeff Wall, the collection shows the world around us from various perspectives.
Traina has lent works to U.S. and international exhibitions and highlights of the collection comprised the “Real to Real” exhibition curated by Julian Cox and Kevin Moore for the de Young museum. It’s no wonder that IfOnly.com will soon launch its full art collection with premium museum access to the Dallas Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and many other museum offerings, including VIP tickets, tours and access.
Without further ado, in this online exclusive, here are five of Traina’s favorite photos from his personal collection and, in his own words, what makes these photos special to him.
William Eggleston—Red Ceiling
Photo Credit: Trevor Traina
William Eggleston was the pioneer in color photography. This image, in my mind, is the most important color photo of the 20th century as it was part of his breakthrough exhibition at MOMA in ’76. While there were other great photos in the show, color—the rich red—is essential to this one and without it, the photo would lose all impact.
Andreas Gursky—Dortmund
Photo Credit: Trevor Traina
Gursky pioneered large scale digital printmaking and his photos dazzle. This photo is a made up of thousands of individual faces of soccer fans. To handle so many subjects so vividly makes it a virtuoso performance.
Thomas Struth—Yosemite
Photo Credit: Trevor Traina
Struth’s museum and cathedral series place people in the context of large institutions. This work is actually a part of the cathedral series and it is easy to see why with the majesty of half dome dwarfing the subjects below. As a California native, I love to see Yosemite so represented.
Alec Soth—Charles, Vasa
Photo Credit: Trevor Traina
Alex Soth is the heir to the new documentarians of the 60s and 70s and his ramblings around America teach us much about ourselves and our culture. This image was his breakthrough one and kind of speaks for itself.
Diane Arbus- Identical Twins
Photo Credit: Trevor Traina
Arbus is the deal of the new documentarians and this image is probably the greatest photo of the 20th century. Twins are copies of the same negative in a sense and this photo is so great on so many levels.
Now that we’ve whetted your appetite, visit IfOnly.com to reserve your tour and find out what other exciting one-off experiences the very well-connected Traina offers. His three-year-old company offers exclusive experiences to customers who are passionate about food, wine and spirits, music, sports, entertainment, travel and beyond. IfOnly partners with A-list luminaries to curate dream experiences at every price point, with a trusted charity benefiting from each purchase. Now the largest site for curated or customized offerings, IfOnly has expanded its vertical categories to include outdoor adventure, fashion, gaming, niche leisurely activities and more.
Paris Fashion Week is right around the corner and IfOnly has several tempting offerings, including front row seats and a personal styling session with Andrew Gn on March 6 and premier runway show tickets to Valentino and a private showroom tour on March 10. Now that’s haute!
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