Conversation – Paul Caponigro & John Paul Caponigro

Photographers - On Photography  Comment
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Father and son talk art.
Here’s an excerpt.
JPC O’Keefe once made the statement “You must learn to love the paint.” I think this quote very much emphasizes the process of being alive to one’s materials. I think the same needs to be said for one’s subject and oneself. I feel a work of art is great to the degree that the artist is truly alive to all three of these things. We touched on how to identify a work that is truly alive. If it is, is it a great work of art? If so, why is this so often confused with technical mastery and historical or ideological relevance.
PC The only way a work of art can become great is for one to acknowledge that it doesn’t belong to anybody. The greatness is in constantly giving back, coming to an acknowledgment of the source. Look back to the source of any individual, any process, any set of materials. If the individual personality can relinquish its insistence on concepts like “this is mine”, “I did it”, “this is original”, “nobody else has done it”, it goes straight for greatness or the essential spirit. No matter how simple the idea might be, it is compelling. Because the source has been allowed topermeate or inspire it.
Read the rest of the conversation here.
Find out about the new Running White Deer inkjet print here.

Paul Caponigro – Running White Deer – Inkjet Print

Printing  Comment
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My father and I have been collaborating on reproducing his most famous image – Running White Deer. It’s a piece of photographic history. You’re hearing about it first here. And, you can get one of these special prints at a special discount for a limited time only. It’s not available anywhere else.
Find out more about the project here.
Order your print today here.
Stay tuned for more on this exciting project.

Paul Caponigro – HMCP

Event - Exhibit  Comment
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“The Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography is privileged to exhibit a special group of Paul Caponigro’s photographs chosen by HMCP’s Director, Paul Turnbull, from Mr. Caponigro’s voluminous archives. Entitled, “Select Photographs: 1956 thru 2005″, the seventy-five silver gelatin prints can be seen in the museum’s Gallery 52 and Gallery 56 facilities, on the corner of 2nd Street and Avenue A, downtown Turners Falls, Massachusetts. The exhibition will hang from September 25 through December 14, 2008. The opening reception is on Saturday, October 11, 2008, from 1-5 pm with lecture at 7 pm.” Read More

Exhibit – Two Generations at MMW

Event - Exhibit  Comment
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Father and son exhibit together in a special exhibit – Two Generations (Paul Caponigro and John Paul Caponigro) at the Maine Media Workshops. The exhibit runs from July 26 to August 22. Saturday, July 26 from 4-6 pm is the opening and at 7 pm I’ll present a lecture. The following day we’ll run a special workshop (all proceeds benefit scholarships for aspiring photographers at MMW); with a visit to and demonstration in our personal studios – first in my father’s studio (analog) and then in my studio (digital).
Two Generations was first exhibited in 1995 at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, Maine. Following that, it’s traveled to many museums and galleries including the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. It’s been several years since its last showing. Now, it’s been updated with new work and it’s coming to Maine Media Workshop’s Union Hall in Rockport, Maine. The prints are drawn from my personal collection. There are over 50 prints (silver gelatin and pigmented ink) representing classic highlights from our careers as master printers.
Our work is at once very similar and very different.
Our processes are entirely different. My father remains one of the premiere masters of 20th century technology while I’ve become one of the leading pioneers in 21st century technology. I work primarily in color, my father works primarily in black and white – though we both work with the other palette on a more limited basis.
On a more soulful note, our work is very similar. We both share intense interests in nature and spirituality. Our primary impulses are essentially mystical and poetic. Our themes and our stances towards nature and art are closely allied.
This show is actually somewhat nostalgic for me. At the age of 19, I had my very first group exhibit at The Workshops with my father, George Tice, and Eliot Porter.
Want to hear what happens when father and son share scotch?
Read our father son conversation here (first published in View Camera magazine in 1995).
Check my Calendar for other upcoming events.
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