The Expert Eye

Episode 36: Kaloma

A trip to Istanbul in 2011 revealed several mysteries, including a portrait of a dark-eyed, scantily clad woman whose true identity has been elusive for over 100 years. Who is Kaloma and why is she in so many antique stores throughout the world?

Episode 35: Dogs Behaving Badly

In the summer of 2025, Aimee participated in the 30th season of PBS’ beloved program, Antiques Roadshow. As a volunteer appraiser, it’s always exciting to see what viewers bring to the show. This time, however, a guest brought some photographs that blew her away… it was a huge collection of portraits of dogs smoking pipes, collected over a period of 20 years. It was the perfect chance to play photo detective yet again.

Episode 34: A Conversation with Rick Wester

In my continuing series of conversations with people who have shaped the Photographs market, I move back to focusing on the auction world.  I sat down with Rick Wester, who, in addition to being a private dealer, consultant, and gallery owner, he has headed up the Photographs departments of 2 of 3 major auction houses, and has put together some of the most memorable sales of the last 40 years.  I sat down to find out what it was like to be working in the wild west of the auction world during the 1990s and 2000s, and what lessons he learned during the ride.

Episode 33: Twist Endings

Ralph Eugene Meatyard’s series of photographs featuring his family in unexpected places and costumes are hard to describe but entirely captivating. He found inspiration for a series of photographs from a book published in 1911 by Ambrose Bierce called ‘The Devil’s Dictionary.’ After handling one of Meatyard’s prints at Sotheby’s, Aimee gets to the bottom of what these two things have in common, while discovering what demons were hard at work in old printing workshops.

Episode 32: Avery on the Log

In 1853, photographer Platt Babbitt made a chilling daguerreotype of a man named Joseph Avery, who had been stuck on a tree branch in the middle of the rushing rapids near the edge of Niagara Falls for over 10 hours. Babbitt had unknowingly created the first “action” shot in photojournalism. In this episode, Aimee tells the unbelievable true story of a daring rescue attempt on the Niagara River, a photographer who fought tooth and nail to defend his turf, and the beginning of photojournalism as we know it.