PHILIP-LORCA DICORCIA

Philip-Lorca diCorcia investigates the potential of photography for uniting documentation and fiction. He belongs to a group of former students of the Boston School who, since the 1970s, have pursued a subjective view within photography and record everyday life and its social context in semi-documentary style images. These frequently include portraits of people who often play the role of ‘outsider’ in society, and an investigation of the influence that visual culture exercises on the individual subject. diCorcia is one of the founders of the genre of post-modern Street Photography. His pictures of ordinary street scenes and situations in public space are neither staged nor choreographed. Through specific use of spotlights, he follows passers-by without being noticed, detaches them from the crowd, and focuses on their unique individuality. Through this dramatized handling of light, diCorcia elaborates the intimate facial expressions, attitudes and gestures of his subjects, whilst also portraying them as static figures in artificial-looking situations. The relationship between the series and the individual image is of crucial importance to diCorcia, as well as the manner in which individual photographs can evoke a narrative. diCorcia’s photographs have a filmic quality and, in their depiction of human beings, make reference to advertising photography and film-set photography.