Swann Announces Deborah Rogal as Director of Photographs & Photobooks

New York — Swann Galleries announces Deborah Rogal as the new Director of the Photographs & Photobooks department, as longtime Swann Vice President and Photo Director Daile Kaplan steps down after 30 years with the house.

Deborah Rogal joined the Swann Galleries’ Photographs & Photobooks department in 2006, and has served as its Associate Director since 2014. She has presided over numerous sales of private collections of photobooks and rare photographs, including the 2012 sale of Edward S. Curtis' North American Indian, the first million-dollar lot at Swann ($1,440,000 in October of 2012). Rogal has contributed to the burgeoning vernacular photography market, which was spearheaded by Kaplan, and has introduced and contextualized never-before-seen imagery uniquely offered at Swann. “I have had the pleasure of working with Daile for most of my professional career, and I could not have asked for a better mentor and colleague. I am thrilled and honored to be stepping into the role of Director now, and look forward to continuing Swann’s long relationship with the photographic medium,” Rogal commented.

Rogal has lectured about collecting, and in the last two years has made several appearances on the PBS television show Antiques Roadshow as an appraiser. She has a wide-ranging expertise, but holds special interest in Depression-era photography, the Photo-Secession, and photobooks from all periods. Rogal’s alma mater is Smith College (’05).

Daile Kaplan joined the team at Swann in 1990. Over the intervening years Kaplan has helped transform the vintage photography auction market. Among the innovations she has brought to the industry were the introduction of photobooks to the auction canon, and transforming vernacular photography from a past time into an international pursuit. Of the transition Kaplan remarked, “I am moving on from Swann with a sense of gratitude and expectation that, with the promotion of Deborah Rogal to Director, the department is in great hands.”

Swann is currently accepting consignments for the fall 2020 season. For more information visit swanngalleries.com or download the Swann Galleries App.