DMTV Milkshake: J. John Priola on the Intersection of Architecture, Portraiture, and Plants
Photographer J. John Priola talks to Design Milk about his approach to photography, fave images from his new book, and more.
In artist and educator J. John Priola?s new book, Natural Light (Prestel), he presents 12 series of images of trees and plants and the spaces in which they live, created over the span of 20 years, with each section prefaced by an archival image taken by his mother. The breadth and depth of the work speaks to the crucial role the natural world in Priola?s art making, and in his life in general. ?I photograph inanimate objects, nature, and architectural elements, all to get at people,? he says, from San Francisco. ?I’m making portraits of people through these objects.? (For more evidence of this, see Priola?s Instagram, which functions as an ongoing series of images of domestic architecture and their plant-based residents.)
In this week?s Milkshake, he talks us through several of his favorite images, including the one that appears on the cover of Natural Light: ?I love every one of the images in the book ? I love the pairings in the book,? he says. ?Picking one, I’m going to go with ?Parasite,? the cover of the book, and the last image in the book ? a picture of lichen on a tree branch where there’s lots of green new little leaves surrounding this dead branch. [It?s about] absence, presence.?
Posies, installation view, Natural Light, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, February 7?March 9, 2019
He also expands on his mother?s influence on...
In artist and educator J. John Priola?s new book, Natural Light (Prestel), he presents 12 series of images of trees and plants and the spaces in which they live, created over the span of 20 years, with each section prefaced by an archival image taken by his mother. The breadth and depth of the work speaks to the crucial role the natural world in Priola?s art making, and in his life in general. ?I photograph inanimate objects, nature, and architectural elements, all to get at people,? he says, from San Francisco. ?I’m making portraits of people through these objects.? (For more evidence of this, see Priola?s Instagram, which functions as an ongoing series of images of domestic architecture and their plant-based residents.)
In this week?s Milkshake, he talks us through several of his favorite images, including the one that appears on the cover of Natural Light: ?I love every one of the images in the book ? I love the pairings in the book,? he says. ?Picking one, I’m going to go with ?Parasite,? the cover of the book, and the last image in the book ? a picture of lichen on a tree branch where there’s lots of green new little leaves surrounding this dead branch. [It?s about] absence, presence.?
Posies, installation view, Natural Light, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, February 7?March 9, 2019
He also expands on his mother?s influence on...
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