New York: Metaphysics of the Urban Landscape

Throughout the 20th century we have seen every form of landscape, nude, and other genre captured in gelatin silver and platinum prints by scores of brilliant artists. But to produce innovative black-and-white images in the 21st century that reveal something fresh and exciting is indeed very difficult. Moreover, to find an artist who is capturing photographs of New York City, arguably the most photographed and documented city in the world, is even a greater challenge.

Croppi's work stands out for its stark form and composition, juxtaposing solitary figures in some of the busiest and most chaotic areas of the city. Croppi himself seems to perceive the weakness of the objective world and the interior resonance that his dark tones and emptiness are capable of obtaining. The color black, so very dominant in this series, far from being a mere stylistic element, acts as a dramatic process. An estrangement is carried out by an obstinate focusing on all the particulars of the image, with the conviction, emphasized by the artist himself, that in photography the metaphysical dimension is strengthened by an extremely realistic or even a hyper-realistic language.

Faithful as always to an aesthetic which refuses traditional formalism, Croppi reaffirms this ability to grasp multiple phenomena constructed out of moments of reference to painting and literature, with a sense of applied temporality through superimposition and a collision of contrasting moments. Our concerns of the human condition are microcosms in these photographs: ghosts with elusive faces, petrified passers-by, swallowed up by shadows in a space in which they are both victims and strangers at the same time.

Author: Gabriele Croppi
Publisher: Sime Books
Published: 09/01/2014
Pages: 96
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 3.35lbs
Size: 12.50h x 14.00w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9788895218694

About the Author
Croppi, Gabriele: - Gabriele Croppi (1974) is a photography graduate of Milan's Istituto Italiano di Fotografia, working both as a photographer and video maker. His research focuses on the relationship between photography and other arts, including painting, literature, film, and architecture. Croppi has received international awards like the European Photo Exhibition Award (2012), International Photography Awards (2012, 2013), and Golden Camera Award (2013). His images have been shown in several exhibitions around the world and are found in private and public collections. He lives in Italy and is based in Milan, where he works in publishing and teaches at the Istituto Italiano di Fotografia.Kennedy, Marla Hamburg: - Owner of Hamburg Kennedy Photographs and Picture This Publications, Marla Hamburg Kennedy is a leading dealer, consultant, advisor and major collector of 20th and 21st century photography, painting and sculpture. With 30 years experience in the fields of fine art, photography, contemporary art and publishing, Ms. Hamburg Kennedy was previously the Director of the Howard Greenberg Gallery, Vice President of the art e-commerce site Onview.com, and managing Partner of Kennedy Boesky Photographs until starting Hamburg Kennedy Photographs in 2004. After earning degrees in Art History from Columbia University and completing graduate studies in photographic history at New York University, Ms. Hamburg Kennedy has organized scores of contemporary art and photographic exhibitions around the world's eminent leading culture capitals and institutions, including one of the world's largest photographic exhibitions of images of Marilyn Monroe. In recent years Marla curated a large show from her personal collection entitled Fashion Photography From T​he 20th Century at the Shinsegae Department Store in Seoul South Korea. Marla is now curating a large show in Korea on the nude in photography.