After spending much of his life in the spotlight, Tower Records founder Russ Solomon got behind the camera lens to showcase the faces of Sacramento’s art scene.

His photography exhibit – The Faces of Art – opened Thursday at Sacramento City College’s Gregory Kondos Gallery and will run through March 4.

“It’s basically portraits of people in the art community, which includes as many portraits of local artists as I can, as well as wives in some cases, art dealers – people that involve themselves in the arts,” Solomon said.

Solomon said he has been taking photographs for 70 years, but he has never before displayed them in a gallery.

“For a long while, I was peddling records,” he said. “I didn’t do much, except take snapshots.”

All of the approximately 230 photos in the show were taken within the past five years.

Solomon said he prefers digital photography to film photography because of the ease of the process.

“It was really a pain ... to develop,” he said. “I did it many years ago. To me, it was just hard work.”

Despite using digital photography, Solomon doesn’t alter his work.

“Russ doesn’t manipulate these things,” said Mike Stevens, who co-curates the gallery with his wife, Suzanne Adana. “He shoots them and lets them read as they read. Some of the people like the photographs, and some ... maybe the photograph isn’t so flattering.”

Stevens said it was the realistic, gritty nature of the photographs that drew him to the images and inspired him to hold a show with them.

“He’s been on the Crocker (Art Museum) board, he’s been involved in the arts all these years,” Stevens said. “It just seemed to be a natural thing and place to go, and he is one of the unique personalities to come out of Sacramento.”

Stevens said he was also interested by the fact that Solomon has been better-known as an art collector, not an artist.

“We found that fascinating,” he said. “He is what we call a new artist at age 85.”

The show itself resembles a patchwork quilt of photographs of faces up-close, Stevens said.

“There’s no frame around them,” he said. “We pinned them up like a photographer in the studio would pin up work. As you walk into the gallery, there is one gigantic wall, and it looks like a tapestry of faces.”

The gallery itself is relatively new, having opened in August, and unlike its predecessor, it’s not a converted classroom, but a dedicated gallery.

“Russ’ work really suits this space,” Stevens said.

Crocker Art Museum Director Lial Jones – who appears in one of Solomon’s photographs – said the show is in keeping with a longstanding tradition.

“Since photography was invented in 1839, photos of artists have been taken,” she said. “Artists are around artists, so they tend to be subject matter.”

Jones added that she was “delighted” to be included in an art exhibition featuring artists from the region.

“I know Russ loves photography,” she said. “From the few things I’ve seen, he’s an accomplished photographer.”

For Solomon, however, it’s more about fun and new experiences than anything else.

“It’s just a bunch of pictures, almost snapshots enlarged,” he said. “Let’s not think of it in terms of great art.”

The Gregory Kondos Gallery, located at 3835 Freeport Blvd., is open from noon - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Entrance is free, but all-day parking on the school lot costs $1.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.