Paul Caponigro, Scottish Thistle, Rochester, New York, 1958. gelatin silver print, 13 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches, mounted 22 x 18 inches. Signed on the mount recto. Matted, 24 x 20 inches.

Condition is excellent.

Larger sized print of this iconic Caponigro image. Modernist, graphic, minimal black and white photograph.

Biography:

Paul Caponigro was born in Boston in 1932. After attending public schools, he went to Boston University to study piano, and in 1952 discovered photography. In 1953, he was drafted and stationed in San Francisco as a photographer where he met and studied with Benjamin Chin.

Between the years of 1955 and 1957, he studied with Minor White in Rochester, New York, where he was introduced to various philosophical disciplines. In 1958, he had his first one-man exhibition at George Eastman House. Two years later, he began teaching photography at Boston University. In 1962, he published his first portfolio of original prints. In 1966, he was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and received another in 1975. In 1966, he traveled to Europe, in particular Ireland and England, in order to study the great stone architectural creations there. He received a grant from the Arts Council of Great Britain to photograph in Northern Ireland.

Caponigro's technical genius is apparent in each image; "Technique must serve and not dominate a craft which requires creative movement." His hope is that his viewers will allow the prints to speak for themselves. "One might become aware of suggestions whispered by the interaction of tonalities within each print. It is a silent realm worth exploring."

In recognition of a sustained career spanning nearly seven decades and significant contributions to the art of photography, Paul Caponigro was awarded The Royal Photographic Society Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship in 2001.

Excellent