Please be mindful of Forum rules about courtesy. We can disagree without being insulting.
Please be mindful of Forum rules about courtesy. We can disagree without being insulting.
Hi Dennis - Thanks, no problem.Originally Posted by DennisD
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
For those on the East Coast...http://www.puckergallery.com/. Until Oct 6.
I was in there a few years ago when they had their first PC show. Very friendly folks excited about the work. Ask to see other works they have by Caponigro.
Well I went.
I was out hiking the Brushy Peak area yesterday afternoon scouting interesting terrain for future images and made it back to the car in just enough time, I thought, to drive to the venue by 6pm. The plan was to fill-up on ice-cold water at a McDonald's next to the 580 freeway entrance on the way out and to take 580 all the way to 880 in Oakland and then across the San Rafael bridge to San Anselmo instead the 680 route which looked a little longer. Once past the 580/680 junction and thus committed to the 580 route, I had the brilliant idea to tune the radio to the current traffic conditions and discovered that an accident on 880 in Richmond had traffic backed up all the way to the “maze” in Oakland. Taking the 680 route would have went around that and I thought about just heading back home. But I pressed on and after lane swapping my way on 880 to the Richmond/San Rafael bridge I pulled up in front of the Gallery at 5:53pm – just in time, I thought, to get a seat inside before the lecture.
But all of the parking spots outside on the street were vacant and only a couple of cars were parked in the Gallery's private lot. Did I get the dates wrong or was the event canceled? I walked into the lot and saw a door slightly ajar that led into the Gallery's back entrance and walked through. “They're all inside,” a server said from behind what looked like a 30-foot table loaded with food for the art connoisseur and I continued into the gallery to be greeted by Lynn, the owners wife, a very pleasant and friendly woman who informed me that Paul Caponigro wouldn't be in attendance. Apparently he had an accident where he had fallen down a hill some years back and had gotten tangled-up with poison oak and was now mobility impaired and didn't travel much or do landscape photography with the large format camera as he once did. Recalling that he was a student of Ansel Adams at The California School of Fine Art right after WWII, that would easily put him in his eighties. Falling off a hill and becoming tangled with poison oak would surely result in mobility issues at that age. I can't speak about falling of the hill, but in recent years I stepped into poison oak twice and both occasions I had to apply
Calamine Lotion whereas in my earlier days poison oak or poison ivy didn't have an effect. Of course I always avoided contact with it then as I do now.
SO NO MUMBO JUMBO yesterday, which was a disappointment. But the images were both inspiring and a real treat to see in person. Outside of occasional reproductions in books or other media, this is the first time that I had seen Caponigro's work in person or on this scale and I was mighty impressed with it. The print quality was excellent although many images appeared to be ink rather than silver gelatin as branded. A special treat was awaiting in the back room where a gigantic Phillip Hyde B&W print dated 1951 was mounted on the walls. This is an excellent exhibition of Paul Caponigro's work and I highly recommend it if you can make it. You will not be disappointed!
Finally, a regular edition of Photography: The Golden Decade: Photography at the California School of Fine Arts, 1945 – 1955 will be published soon. I briefly browsed through a display copy at the Gallery and this is must have.
Thomas
I saw his prints at the Farnsworth Art Museum last year. My adventure was less exciting. There was a lull in work, and I was walking past the museum to the bank or post office and stopped in and viewed the exhibit. Even if someone is not a fan of his styles, it's good to see top quality silver printing and photography once in a while. I happen to like some of his styles. If it's in your area, I'd also suggest checking it out.
I won't venture a guess at the medical issue, but something as simple as cellulitis from getting scuffed up in a bad fall can turn into a serious health problem for older people or those with weak immune system if it's not dealt with quickly.
Some of Paul's current health problems stem from a serious fall off of a residential deck in 1993. He was in California at the time, and a very long recovery period followed. In fact, he did not photograph over a period of six years after the accident.
Several years ago the Open Shutter Gallery in Durango hosted an exhibit of Caponigro's work. Not only was I impressed with the selection of photographs, but I was stunned at the quality of his darkroom work. I would love to see it again.
al
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
Bill, I spent part of today at the gallery. In hard numbers there are 38 prints of varying size, one from 1957 and one from 2013. My guess is that you would be familiar with all of the photographs, with perhaps the exception of three prints from his Aluminum Foil series of 2008, and his photograph from 2013, reminiscent of his early work. There was one Stonehenge print and his photographs from the 1960's prevailed.
All of the prints were unmistakably gelatin silver, printed on a variety of papers. The gallery is situated with an abundance of available light on two sides, and the prints were a real feast for the eyes. If for nothing else, Paul will be remembered as one of the finest gelatin silver printers that worked in that medium; However, I doubt that his reputation will rest solely on that attribute. It was a wonderful experience!
Capronigro once wrote how, during lectures and diatribes, he wished Minor White would just shut up. I find the whole "photography as religion" thing of both of them
rather kooky, to say the least, not to mention Minor White's association of scales of gray on the Zone System with metaphysical meaning. Then Caponigro went on
to say how, once White got his head under the darkcloth, that was a true learning experience, just watching him and what he focused on! I feel the same way...
I can do without their esoteric explanations for why they took this or that ... but the prints themselves... those I can look at all day long!
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