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  © Al Rendon. All Rights Reserved. All photographs within this site are the exclusive property of the photographer. All Photographs are protected under US and International laws. The images herein cannot be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated without express written permission.

An artist lives to express his dreams and visions. To remain independent, the artist must be more than a craftsman, forging expression in the lens — he must be part entrepreneur, part impresario. For the past 10 years, Al Rendon has been both photographer and gallery owner.

In 1997, Al Rendon created Foto Real, a new art space in San Antonio's historic La Villita, for the express purpose of celebrating the photographic arts. By that point in his career, Rendon had been part of several group exhibitions, including a group show at the San Antonio Museum of Art that eventually traveled throughout the Southwest, and his first solo exhibit, part of FotoSeptiembre in Monterrey, Mexico. (A detailed list of Al's exhibits may be found in his arts bio.)

Al renovated the historic space for Foto Real and maintained it amidst La Villita's tourist traffic (the annual Night in Old San Antonio Fiesta crowds made for some interesting adventures) and the challenges of hanging art against stucco walls. Beginning with a small one-room “hole in the wall,” Al continued to expand Foto Real as it garnered attention and neighboring areas became available. Within a couple of years, Foto Real doubled in space.

It was a time in San Antonio when the photographic arts were blossoming. Al was one of a small group of photographers, curators and galleries that worked to promote Foto Septiembre in San Antonio in 1996. Kathy Vargas curated shows in galleries and museums throughout the city. However, Foto Real was something special — a privately owned gallery operated by a photographer who (influenced by several trips to New York) was determined to show the city not just his own work, but the global range of photographic arts.

Foto Real's first exhibitor was a Scandinavian photographer transplanted to the American West. In the ensuing four years, photographers and artists from Peru, New York, Mexico, Chicago, Mexico and various San Antonio sources were seen by the San Antonio arts community and a regular parade of tourists visiting San Antonio's historic village.

Throughout the Foto Real years, Al worked from the gallery, and lived just south of Alamo Heights in the Mahnke Park neighborhood. In 2001, an historic building in the burgeoning Southtown Arts District came available. The large, two-story triangle building at 733 S. Alamo presented an opportunity to live and work in the same place. Rendon Photography & Fine Arts opened with Al's Angels, Devils & Saints in February 2002.

In the ensuing five years, the gallery has seen a diverse range of artists and media. In addition to photography, the gallery has hosted several holiday craft shows, metalworks, jewelry, floral constructions, paintings and all kinds of photographic arts. Al has converted his photography to digital archival prints, and the myriad expressions made possible by digital photography find welcome on the walls of 733 S. Alamo – Rendon Photography & Fine Arts.