May 7, 2026
Why the gallery is staged before launch
A photography site should lead with photographs. If the image set is not ready, the honest answer is not to dress dummy cards up as finished portfolio work. The public gallery is therefore being held as a staging surface until the curated archive can be imported with proper titles, dates, categories, and alt text.
The public pages separate three things: available public routes, known archive destinations such as 500px and Redbubble, and the unfinished local gallery import. That makes the site less glamorous for the moment, but it is better than letting dummy image tiles make a false promise.
The next useful pass is practical: choose the launch image set, prepare responsive files, write captions, test the lightbox with keyboard and touch, and only then promote the gallery as a finished portfolio.