Aperture Patron and Trustee Sondra Gilman Gonzalez-Falla Passes Away

Aperture is deeply saddened to learn of the death of Sondra Gilman Gonzalez-Falla, who served as a dedicated, generous patron and trustee of Aperture Foundation for many decades. Her husband and partner, Celso Gonzalez-Falla, served on the Aperture board as longtime chair and ongoing patron. Sondra also created and chaired the influential Photography Acquisition Committee at the Whitney Museum. Together, Sondra and Celso worked tirelessly to support the photo community and to build an unparalleled collection around the photographs they loved. In Shared Vision: The Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla Collection of Photography (2011), Sondra described their mutual commitment as follows: “We are custodians, and we feel an obligation to the photographer—to the artist who created the work—to allow it to be seen and exposed as much as it can. We don’t own it. Nobody owns art. It’s passing through us, and we have to take care of it.” 

We celebrate Sondra’s life and her passion; the work she and Celso gathered with such care lives on.