J. John Priola
Alameda Street and Chestnut Street
Priola pays particular attention to otherwise unnoticed details in the cityscape, a quality that not only recurs throughout his oeuvre, but which also places his work in line with a strong tradition of California documentary photography. Close-ups and attention to detail reveal something different: a portrait of what is usually discarded or missing, like unassuming weep holes in Alameda Street or minuscule weeds making their way up through the pavement in Chestnut Street. But these details are subtle to the point of being conceptual; from afar both images appear to be monochromes.
In his characteristic black-and-white gelatin silver prints, San Franicisco-based J. John Priola adopts the aesthetic of American modernist photography. He pays particular attention to and emphasizes image surface while at the same time manipulating light to create dramatic effects.