Aurelia
10-Aug-2009, 16:56
Artist’s Statement
“Culture is the lifeblood of peoples... It is what they are, their art, their food.. their personal grace... their soul.
With images on paper, I extend to others the bouquet of a people... It is always a privilege to be offered a sample, a taste of another culture, to listen to the stories, the music, to feel the land, to smell the odors of the kitchen... to feel the wild sage on the skin... to have someone pray for you in a foreign tongue...”
- Richard D’Amore
Biography
May 30, 1940 ~ December 14, 2006
Richard D'Amore dedicated more than thirty years to fine art photography,
distinguishing himself as a master printer. He first began his work in Mill Valley,
California, under the tutelage of artist and photographer Walter Chapell. In 1970, Mr.
D'Amore relocated to France with his brother, Robert D'Amore, also a fine art
photographer, to work and study. A powerful collection of his early photographs were
published in Zoom Magazine as early as 1971. During this time, he taught photography at Camberwell College of Art in London, while building a reputation that extended from private collectors to museums and galleries, both in Europe and the United States. Mr.D'Amore's work was featured in Camera, Progresso Fotografico, Photocinema, and Peterson's Photographic Magazine, among other fine publications. His work was also published in Der Erotische Augenblick, by Stern Bibliothek der Fotografie, a compendium of the evolution of fine art erotica. He is listed in the Photographer's Collector's Guide by Lee D. Witkin and Barbara London.
Upon returning to the United States in the late 1970s, Mr. D'Amore continued to
expand his artistic horizons, concurrently working for the celebrated designers,
Charles and Ray Eames in their Venice, California studio.
Using vintage and specialized techniques, such as gum bichromate, carbon,platinum, cyanotypes and hand tinting, Mr. D'Amore took great pride in the handmade print. There is a haunting timelessness to his work, which has been exhibited and collected throughout the world, and appears in a number of prestigious private collections. He was a respected member of the Platypus Group of premier platinum printers and Camera Press, Ltd., London, associations which brought him great joy. His work appears in the Ironworks Portfolio, the first contemporary exhibition of platinum printing.
His photography bears both an intimate and a universal appeal. The best of Mr.
D'Amore, the essence of him, is in each image, presenting his love song to the world,
his inner triumphs and torment, his poet's soul. The discriminating connoisseur and the private collector alike respond to the aesthetic rapture of the elegiac landscapes, the elegant architectural and still life studies, and the extraordinary nudes. Each image evokes an immediate connection to the man, with all his artistic integrity and all his personal grace.
Mr. D'Amore was born on May 31, 1940 and was tragically murdered by his wife
on December 14, 2006. Although his life was cut short, the focus of his legacy is not
upon how he died, but how he lived. Mr. D'Amore lives on in each superb image,
an echo of a quiet, reserved, immensely gifted man whose work will resonate forever.
A great poet has said that "some men should have mountains to bear their names to
time." It is Mr. D'Amore's fine art photography which will bear his name, and his vision, to time.
Miss Aurelia D’Amore, Mr. D'Amore's niece, also a photographer, and his brother,
Robert D’Amore, currently orchestrate Mr. D'Amore's estate and plan a future
retrospective, exhibitions, limited editions and a book of his work.
-E.F.Caporale
Please take a moment to visit the new site. It will be updated often with more photographs and information:
http://richarddamore.org
“Culture is the lifeblood of peoples... It is what they are, their art, their food.. their personal grace... their soul.
With images on paper, I extend to others the bouquet of a people... It is always a privilege to be offered a sample, a taste of another culture, to listen to the stories, the music, to feel the land, to smell the odors of the kitchen... to feel the wild sage on the skin... to have someone pray for you in a foreign tongue...”
- Richard D’Amore
Biography
May 30, 1940 ~ December 14, 2006
Richard D'Amore dedicated more than thirty years to fine art photography,
distinguishing himself as a master printer. He first began his work in Mill Valley,
California, under the tutelage of artist and photographer Walter Chapell. In 1970, Mr.
D'Amore relocated to France with his brother, Robert D'Amore, also a fine art
photographer, to work and study. A powerful collection of his early photographs were
published in Zoom Magazine as early as 1971. During this time, he taught photography at Camberwell College of Art in London, while building a reputation that extended from private collectors to museums and galleries, both in Europe and the United States. Mr.D'Amore's work was featured in Camera, Progresso Fotografico, Photocinema, and Peterson's Photographic Magazine, among other fine publications. His work was also published in Der Erotische Augenblick, by Stern Bibliothek der Fotografie, a compendium of the evolution of fine art erotica. He is listed in the Photographer's Collector's Guide by Lee D. Witkin and Barbara London.
Upon returning to the United States in the late 1970s, Mr. D'Amore continued to
expand his artistic horizons, concurrently working for the celebrated designers,
Charles and Ray Eames in their Venice, California studio.
Using vintage and specialized techniques, such as gum bichromate, carbon,platinum, cyanotypes and hand tinting, Mr. D'Amore took great pride in the handmade print. There is a haunting timelessness to his work, which has been exhibited and collected throughout the world, and appears in a number of prestigious private collections. He was a respected member of the Platypus Group of premier platinum printers and Camera Press, Ltd., London, associations which brought him great joy. His work appears in the Ironworks Portfolio, the first contemporary exhibition of platinum printing.
His photography bears both an intimate and a universal appeal. The best of Mr.
D'Amore, the essence of him, is in each image, presenting his love song to the world,
his inner triumphs and torment, his poet's soul. The discriminating connoisseur and the private collector alike respond to the aesthetic rapture of the elegiac landscapes, the elegant architectural and still life studies, and the extraordinary nudes. Each image evokes an immediate connection to the man, with all his artistic integrity and all his personal grace.
Mr. D'Amore was born on May 31, 1940 and was tragically murdered by his wife
on December 14, 2006. Although his life was cut short, the focus of his legacy is not
upon how he died, but how he lived. Mr. D'Amore lives on in each superb image,
an echo of a quiet, reserved, immensely gifted man whose work will resonate forever.
A great poet has said that "some men should have mountains to bear their names to
time." It is Mr. D'Amore's fine art photography which will bear his name, and his vision, to time.
Miss Aurelia D’Amore, Mr. D'Amore's niece, also a photographer, and his brother,
Robert D’Amore, currently orchestrate Mr. D'Amore's estate and plan a future
retrospective, exhibitions, limited editions and a book of his work.
-E.F.Caporale
Please take a moment to visit the new site. It will be updated often with more photographs and information:
http://richarddamore.org