Philip-Lorca diCorcia

DiCorcia was born in 1953 in Hartford, Connecticut. His father, Philip Joseph DiCorcia, a major architect in Hartford, operated Philip J. DiCorcia Associates."Philip Joseph DiCorcia Obit June 2, 1980," Hartford Courant, June 4, 1980, p. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23747903/philip-joseph-dicorcia-obit-june-2-1980/ The DiCorcia family is of Italian descent, having moved to the United States from Abruzzo. He attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he earned a diploma in 1975 and a 5th year certificate in 1976. Afterwards diCorcia attended Yale University, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in photography in 1979.

Image:DiCorciaBrent Booth.png

DiCorcia alternates between informal snapshots and iconic quality staged compositions that often have a baroque theatricality.[http://www.whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=41 Whitechapel Art Gallery, London] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011113004/http://whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=41 |date=2007-10-11 }} Retrieved on November 23-2007.

Using a carefully planned staging, he takes everyday occurrences beyond the realm of banality, trying to inspire in his picture's spectators an awareness of the psychology and emotion contained in real-life situations.[http://www.cmoa.org/international/the_exhibition/artist.asp?dicorcia Carnegie International - Artist Bio.]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106152415/https://cmoa.org/international/the_exhibition/artist.asp?dicorcia |date=2011-01-06 }} Retrieved on November 23-2007. His work could be described as documentary photography mixed with the fictional world of cinema and advertising, which creates a powerful link between reality, fantasy and desire.

During the late 1970s, during diCorcia's early career, he used to situate his friends and family within fictional interior tableaus, that would make the viewer think that the pictures were spontaneous shots of someone's everyday life, when they were in fact carefully staged and pre-planned. His work from this period is associated with the Boston School of photography.{{cite web|title=Emotions and Relations: Photographs by David Armstrong, Nan Goldin, Philip Lorca DiCorcis, Mark Morrisroe, and Jack Pierson |url=http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=TD034&i=&i2= |website=photo-eye |publisher=Taschen |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425162245/http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=TD034&i=&i2= |archivedate=April 25, 2015 }} He would later start photographing random people in urban spaces all around the world. When in Berlin, Calcutta, Hollywood, New York, Rome and Tokyo, he would often hide lights in the pavement, which would illuminate a random subject, often isolating them from the other people in the street.Unfamiliar Streets. Katherine A. Bussard. The Photographs of Richard Avedon, Charles Moore, Martha Rosler, and Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Philip-Lorca diCorcia Analogues of Reality. Yale University Press. 2012. p156. Referenced April 6, 2015.

His photographs give a sense of heightened drama to accidental poses, unintended movements and insignificant facial expressions of those passing by.[http://www.noorderlicht.com/eng/fest99/wonder/corcia/ Philip-Lorca diCorcia: Streetwork] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118042122/http://www.noorderlicht.com/eng/fest99/wonder/corcia/ |date=2010-01-18 }} Retrieved on November 23-2007. Even if sometimes the subject appears to be completely detached from the world around them, diCorcia has often used the city of the subject's name as the title of the photo, placing the passers-by back into the city's anonymity. Each of his series, Hustlers, Streetwork, Heads, A Storybook Life, and Lucky Thirteen, can be considered progressive explorations of diCorcia's formal and conceptual fields of interest. Besides his family, associates and random people he has also photographed personas already theatrically enlarged by their life choices, such as the pole dancers in his latest series.

His pictures have black humor within them, and have been described as "Rorschach-like", since they can have a different interpretation depending on the viewer.{{cite web|url=http://artscenecal.com/ArticlesFile/Archive/Articles1997/Articles1097/PdiCorciaA.html|title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia|website=artscenecal.com}} As they are pre-planned, diCorcia often plants in his concepts issues like the marketing of reality, the commodification of identity, art, and morality.[http://artscenecal.com/ArticlesFile/Archive/Articles1997/Articles1097/PdiCorciaA.html Philip-Lorca diCorcia by Marlena Donohue] Retrieved on November 23-2007.

In 1989, financed by a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship of $45,000, DiCorcia began his Hustlers project. Starting in the early 1990s, he made five trips to Los Angeles to photograph male prostitutes in Hollywood. He used a 6×9 Linhof view camera, which he positioned in advance with Polaroid tests. At first, he photographed his subjects only in motel rooms. Later, he moved onto the streets. When the Museum of Modern Art exhibited 25 of the photographs in 1993 under the title Strangers, each was labeled with the name of the man who posed, his hometown, his age, and the amount of money that changed hands.Arthur Lubow (August 23, 2013), [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/arts/design/philip-lorca-dicorcias-hustlers-return-to-new-york.html Real People, Contrived Settings: Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s ‘Hustlers’ Return to New York] The New York Times.

In 1999, diCorcia set up his camera on a tripod in Times Square, attached strobe lights to scaffolding across the street and took a series of pictures of strangers passing under his lights.Philip Gefter (March 17, 2006), [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/17/arts/17iht-lorca.html Street photography: A right or invasion?] International Herald Tribune. This resulted in two published books, Streetwork (1998) which showed wider views including subjects' entire bodies, and Heads (2001), which featured more closely cropped portraits as the name implies.

Originally published in W as a result of a collaboration with Dennis Freedman between 1997 and 2008, diCorcia produced a series of fashion stories in places such as Havana, Cairo and New York.Cathy Horyn (February 11, 2011), [http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/q-a-philip-lorca-di-corcia/ Q & A: Philip-Lorca diCorcia] The New York Times.

• Philip-Lorca diCorcia. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1995; 2003. {{ISBN|0870701452}}. With a text by Peter Galassi.
• Streetwork, 1993–1997. Spain: Centro de Fotografía and Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 1998. With texts by JoséLuis Brea and diCorcia. Exhibition catalogue.
• Streetwork. Mexico City: Galeria OMR, 2000. Exhibition catalogue.
• Streetwork. With a text by Thomas Weski. Hannover: Sprengel Museum, 2000. Exhibition catalogue.
• Heads. Göttingen: Steidl, 2001. {{ISBN|3882434414}}. With text by Luc Sante. Exhibition catalogue.
• Rencontres 6: Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Paris: Images Modernes, 2001. With a text by Jeff Rian.
• A Storybook Life. Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 2003.{{cite web|accessdate=2021-02-10|title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia on 'A Storybook Life': Circular Narratives, Dream States and Doing What You Like|url=https://americansuburbx.com/2015/08/philip-lorca-dicorcia-a-storybook-life.html|date=13 August 2015|website=American Suburb X}}
• Lucky Thirteen. New York: PaceWildenstein, 2005.
• Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Steidl/Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 2007. {{ISBN|3865213855}}. With a text by Bennett Simpson, a foreword by Jill Medvedow, and an interview with diCorcia by Lynne Tillman. Exhibition catalogue.
• Thousand. New York and Göttingen, Germany: SteidlDangin, 2007.{{cite web|accessdate=2021-02-10|title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia Discussing 'Hustlers' & 'Thousand'|url=https://americansuburbx.com/2010/03/interview-philip-lorca-dicorcia-on.html|date=5 March 2010|website=American Suburb X}}
• Eleven. Bologna, Italy: Freedman Damiani, 2011. Edited by Dennis Freedman. With text by Mary Gaitskill and an interview with diCorcia by Jeff Rian.
• Hustlers. New York and Göttingen, Germany: SteidlDangin, 2013. {{ISBN|978-3-86930-617-9 }}. With a text by diCorcia.{{cite magazine|accessdate=2021-02-10|title=Trade: Philip-Lorca diCorcia's Hollywood Hustlers|url=https://time.com/3803327/trade-philip-lorca-dicorcias-hollywood-hustlers-drug-addicts-and-drifters/|magazine=Time}}{{cite web|accessdate=2021-02-10|title=Richard Kern on Philip Lorca-diCorcia's 'Hustlers'|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/3b7bdy/richard-kern-on-philip-lorca-dicorcias-hustlers|website=Vice}}
• Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Edited by Katharina Dohm, Hendrik Driessen, and Max Hollein. With texts by Dohm and Geoff Dyer, and an interview with diCorcia by Christoph Ribbat. Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt; Bielefeld, Germany: Kerber. Exhibition catalogue.
• Philip-Lorca diCorcia: III Premio Internacional de Fotografía/III International Photography Award. Madrid: Centro de Arte Alcobendas, 2014. With texts by Martinez de Corral, Ignacio Garcia de Vinuesa, Luis Miguel Torres Hernandez, and Christoph Ribbat. Exhibition catalogue.

• 1993: Museum of Modern Art, New York{{Cite web | url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/394?locale=en |title = Philip-Lorca diCorcia: Strangers}}
• 1994: Centre national de la photographie, Paris{{Cite web | url=http://www.art-of-the-day.info/e16806-dicorcia.html | title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia - Centre national de la photographie - Art of the day}}
• 1997: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid{{Cite web | url=https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/exhibitions/philip-lorca-dicorcia-hustler-streetwork |title = Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Hustler/ Streetwork | Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía}}
• 2000: Sprengel Museum, Hannover{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=USXolwEACAAJ | title=Philip-Lorca DiCorcia: Streetwork| isbn=9783891691519| last1=Dicorcia| first1=Philip-Lorca| last2=Weski| first2=Thomas| year=2000}}
• 2000: Art Space Ginza, Tokyo{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31VsBgAAQBAJ&q=philip+lorca+Art+Space+Ginza,&pg=PA390 |title = Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, 3-Volume Set|isbn = 9781135205362|last1 = Warren|first1 = Lynne|date = 15 November 2005}}
• 2003: Whitechapel Art Gallery, London{{Cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2003/jun/12/art.artsfeatures | title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Whitechapel Gallery, London| newspaper=The Guardian| date=12 June 2003| last1=Mahoney| first1=Elisabeth}}
• 2009: Thousand, David Zwirner Gallery, New York. One thousand actual-size reproductions of diCorcia's Polaroids.{{cite web|first1=Cora|last1=Fisher|accessdate=2021-02-10|title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia: Thousand|url=https://brooklynrail.org/2009/04/artseen/philip-lorca-dicorcia-thousand|date=6 April 2009|website=The Brooklyn Rail}}
• 2014: The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK. His first UK retrospective.{{cite web|accessdate=2021-02-10|title=Rent boys and pole dancers – the photographs of Philip-Lorca diCorcia|url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/feb/14/rent-boys-pole-dancers-philip-lorca-dicorcia-photographs|date=14 February 2014|website=The Guardian}}
• 2015: Roid, Sprüth Magers, London, 2011. A series of diCorcia's Polaroids.{{cite news | url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/11/philip-lorca-dicorcias-ro_n_872687.html | date = 11 June 2011 | access-date = 11 October 2015 | work = The Huffington Post | title = Philip-Lorca diCorcia's 'Roid' At Sprüth Magers London}}{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/8512604/Philip-Lorca-diCorcia-Roid.html | access-date = 11 October 2015 | publisher = The Daily Telegraph | location = London | title = Philip Lorca diCorcia: Roid}}

• Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort traveling exhibition organized by Museum of Modern Art, 1991{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• 1997 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• Cruel and Tender, Tate Modern, London, 2003{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• Fashioning Fiction in Photography Since 1990, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2004{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• Carnegie Museum of Art's 54th Carnegie International exhibition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania{{cite web |url=http://www.lslimited.com/dicorcia/pl.html |title=Leslie Simitch Limited |accessdate=2007-11-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119184421/http://www.lslimited.com/dicorcia/pl.html |archivedate=2007-11-19 }} Leslie Simitch Limited - Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Retrieved on November 23-2007.

DiCorcia's work is held in the following public collections:

• Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris{{Cite web|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/id/cpgXX76/r5LMxA/fr|title=Brian | Centre Pompidou|website=www.centrepompidou.fr}}
• Museum Folkwang, Essen{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• Museum of Modern Art, New York{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/artists/7027|title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia - MoMA|website=www.moma.org}}
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• Victoria & Albert Museum, London{{cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/photographs-by-philip-lorca-dicorcia/|title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia|last=Victoria and Albert Museum|website=www.vam.ac.uk|date=30 March 2011}}
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York{{cite web|url=http://collection.whitney.org/artist/5427/PhilipLorcaDiCorcia|title=Whitney Museum of American Art: Philip-Lorca diCorcia|website=collection.whitney.org}}
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art{{cite web|url=https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/Philip-Lorca_diCorcia|title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia|website=SFMOMA}}
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York{{cite web | url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/266421 | title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia | Auden }}

• 1987: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship{{Cite web|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/philip-lorca-dicorcia/|title=John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Philip-Lorca diCorcia}}
• 1998: Alfred Eisenstaedt Award, Life Magazine, Style Essay{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• 2001: Infinity Award for Applied Photography, International Center of Photography{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• 2013: III International Photography Award Alcobendas, Spain{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• 2021: Induction into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum{{Cite web |title=Philip-Lorca diCorcia |url=https://iphf.org/inductees/philip-lorca_dicorcia/ |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=International Photography Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}

{{Main|Nussenzweig v. DiCorcia}}

In 2006, a New York trial court issued a ruling in a case involving one of his photographs. One of diCorcia's New York random subjects was Erno Nussenzweig, an Orthodox Jew who objected on religious grounds to diCorcia's publishing in an artistic exhibition a photograph taken of him without his permission. The photo's subject argued that his privacy and religious rights had been violated by both the taking and publishing of the photograph of him. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the photograph taken of Nussenzweig on a street is art - not commerce - and therefore is protected by the First Amendment.[http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2006/2006_50171.htm NY Courts.gov - Nussenzweig v DiCorcia (February 8, 2006)]. Retrieved on May 3, 2008.

Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Judith J. Gische ruled that the photo of Nussenzweig—a head shot showing him sporting a scraggly white beard, a black hat and a black coat—was art, even though the photographer sold 10 prints of it at $20,000 to $30,000 each. The judge ruled that New York courts have "recognized that art can be sold, at least in limited editions, and still retain its artistic character (...) [F]irst [A]mendment protection of art is not limited to only starving artists. A profit motive in itself does not necessarily compel a conclusion that art has been used for trade purposes."[http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=4094 American Journalism Review - Giving Offense]. Retrieved on May 3, 2008.

The case was appealed and dismissed on procedural grounds.[http://www.clancco.com/art_law/featured_update_on_nussenzweig_v_dicorcia_case.html Clancco - Update on Nussenzweig v. diCorcia Case (July '07)]. Retrieved on May 3, 2008.[http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/16/case-over-heads-photo-is-dismissed/ The New York Times - Case Over ‘Heads’ Photo Is Dismissed]. Retrieved on May 3, 2008.[http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1139565912319 Law.com - 'Art' Photo Is Not Subject to Privacy Law, Judge Finds]. Retrieved on May 3, 2008.

{{reflist}}

• Unfamiliar Streets. Katherine A. Bussard. The Photographs of Richard Avedon, Charles Moore, Martha Rosler, and Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Philip-Lorca diCorcia Analogues of Reality. Yale University Press. 2012. p. 156. Referenced April 6, 2015.

• [http://www.lacan.com/frameXIV9.htm The artist interviewed by Josefina Ayerza]
• [http://www.oturn.net/probe/streetwork.html Philip-Lorca diCorcia: choice, non-event and truth]
• [http://www.3ammagazine.com/artarchives/2003/aug/whitechapel.html Review of The Whitechapel Art Gallery Exhibition, London, by Greg Whitfield]

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Category:1953 births

Category:Living people

Category:Photographers from New York City

Category:Yale School of Art alumni

Category:20th-century American photographers

Category:20th-century American male artists

Category:21st-century American photographers

Category:21st-century American male artists

Category:American people of Italian descent

Category:School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni

Category:Artists from Hartford, Connecticut

Category:Photographers from Connecticut

Category:Yale University faculty

Category:People of Abruzzese descent