ALEXANDRIA, VA – After almost 30 years in one location, Tisara Photography is moving to 403 S. Washington Street. The King Street town house that has been its home has been been sold, announced artist-photographer and studio owner Steven Halperson.
“When I received a call from the owner’s daughter, I knew changes were coming,” said Halperson. “It happened to be on the 29th anniversary of our moving here. You’re not calling to wish me Happy Anniversary are you, I joked.”
“I’m happy to report” says Halperson, “that Tisara Photography will continue to specialize in business and family portrait and event photography in its new location.” Halperson, who has received awards for both his fine art photography and etched copper, plans to use some of the new space to exhibit his own art and the works of other artists. “Still,” says Halperson, “leaving the King Street space is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
Halperson has worked with Tisara Photography since 1987 and has been in
charge since 2009.
Thirty years has seen the growth of Tisara Photography from a small office and darkroom in the basement of Nina Tisara’s home to professional space in the King Street Metro area of Alexandria in 1990.
The opening of the King Street Metro ushered in a period of new development and small businesses, many of them art-related, who found affordable space there. The area was home to several small galleries as well as the offices of the Alexandria Symphony, American Showcase Theatre (now MetroStage) and Opera Americana (no longer operating). It also attracted many unique shops with international offerings. The continuing development of the area has seen most of those early business close or relocate. “Maybe there should be some sort of brick program commemorating the mom and pop places that have closed,” quipped Halperson, with a nod to the name-brick program at nearby King Street
Gardens Park.
Tisara Photography has had a role recording Alexandria’s history since the studio opened. In the early 80s, \it provided much of the photography for the City’s Annual Reports, and for many years Nina Tisara’s black and white photographs of Alexandria hung in the Market Square Lobby of City Hall.
Today the Market Square Lobby showcases Halperson’s portraits of Alexandria’s Living Legends. Living Legends of Alexandria, the nonprofit organization founded by Tisara in 2007 chronicles the stories of people who have made significant contributions to the quality of life in the City. Much of the studio’s early documentary photography has been donated to the Local History/Special Collections section of the Alexandria Library on Queen
Street.
Those interested in the studio’s wedding and portrait negatives should contact Steven Halperson at [email protected] or 703-838-8098 to see if they are still available.
Watch for notice of an open house celebration at the new location this fall.
