{"id":13574,"date":"2020-12-03T23:11:37","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T23:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/diversionsla.com\/?p=13574"},"modified":"2020-12-05T03:44:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-05T03:44:20","slug":"light-and-space-infuse-the-photographic-art-of-alice-esposito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/light-and-space-infuse-the-photographic-art-of-alice-esposito\/","title":{"rendered":"Light and Space Infuse the Photographic Art of Alice Esposito"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"747\" height=\"747\" src=\"http:\/\/diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Portrait.by_.AshleighCastro.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Portrait.by_.AshleighCastro.1.jpg 747w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Portrait.by_.AshleighCastro.1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Portrait.by_.AshleighCastro.1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Portrait.by_.AshleighCastro.1-330x330.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Portrait.by_.AshleighCastro.1-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Portrait.by_.AshleighCastro.1-648x648.jpg 648w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Portrait.by_.AshleighCastro.1-192x192.jpg 192w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><figcaption>Portrait of the artist by Ashleigh Castro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Creating a portrait of people is what inspires photographic artist and filmmaker Alice Esposito but surrounding her subjects with light and space is what informs her work. Calling her subjects her \u201ccommunity,\u201d and explaining her work as a response to and documentation of her life, Esposito\u2019s still images appear visually entwined with her film work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI grew up watching, Italian Neorealism, Nouvelle Vague and Film Noir; they all influence my work greatly in&nbsp; photography and film,\u201d she says. \u201cIn my movies I like more of an experimental approach, exploring existential themes. I\u2019m interested in the&nbsp; change in the psyche and approach of everyday life and&nbsp; its conditions, from social issues, oppression, injustice,&nbsp; especially the use of irony as a tool to&nbsp;&nbsp;explore these themes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"637\" src=\"http:\/\/diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsk_1-1024x637.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsk_1-1024x637.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsk_1-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsk_1-768x478.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsk_1-1536x956.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsk_1-2048x1275.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsk_1-648x403.jpg 648w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsk_1-308x192.jpg 308w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Both bodies of work are poetic and lyrical and evoke a sense of connection with the viewer. \u201cI rarely photograph people without having a conversation&nbsp;with them, I want to understand the person I\u2019m about to&nbsp;photograph, their mannerisms, their posture,&nbsp;what makes them laugh, cry, and think. I love to see the&nbsp;place where they live, to know what they&#8217;re passionate&nbsp;about, what kind of energy surrounds them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"875\" height=\"887\" src=\"http:\/\/diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_1.jpg 875w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_1-296x300.jpg 296w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_1-768x779.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_1-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_1-648x657.jpg 648w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_1-189x192.jpg 189w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 875px) 100vw, 875px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Viewing one\u2019s home as a personal \u201ctemple,\u201d&nbsp;she frequently uses this setting in her work, saying this is where her subjects are most comfortable in expressing themselves, and revealing an intimate sense of their spirits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen you understand the soul, the essence of a person, it becomes easy to capture their attitude and presence&nbsp;with the camera,\u201d Esposito explains. \u201cHaving and using a camera should be seen as an honor,&nbsp;you are put in an extremely privileged position. It\u2019s like&nbsp;having a friend that will never abandon you, and it has a&nbsp;special gift to see things that otherwise you could not.\u201d&nbsp; She adds \u201cIt&#8217;s basically like having a superpower, when the shutter goes&nbsp;down inside the camera, you don\u2019t actually see what\u2019s&nbsp;going on, everything can happen in 1\/1000 of a second.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She terms the best photographs \u201chappy accidents\u2026you can set up at the scene perfectly and try to control all&nbsp; the elements of it, but you need to be ready for things to&nbsp; go wrong and play with it, you need to have a sense of&nbsp; contingency, you need to be willing to transform your&nbsp;expectations and reshape your initial idea.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"822\" src=\"https:\/\/diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsky_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsky_3.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsky_3-300x241.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsky_3-768x617.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsky_3-648x520.jpg 648w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sasha.Tivetsky_3-239x192.jpg 239w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That sense of spontaneity, her love of light, and her engagement with her subjects is vividly present in her work, as is her love of storytelling. \u201cI want the full life experience of the person in front of me. Sometimes,\u201d she admits, \u201cI become obsessed with this method, before taking a portrait of a person it takes me days,&nbsp;weeks, to find the perfect moment, or sometimes, it\u2019s after 5&nbsp;minutes. It depends when I see what I want to capture,&nbsp;then I\u2019m ready to get behind the camera.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From a personal standpoint, Esposito admits \u201cI think camera offers me some kind of protection, but it&nbsp;also gives me courage. I don\u2019t only appreciate and love&nbsp;the camera as a tool for my work, but also as an&nbsp;instrument for me to come out of my shell without being&nbsp;too scared, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_2-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_2.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_2-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_2-330x330.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_2-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_2-648x648.jpg 648w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_2-192x192.jpg 192w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As an admirer of Fellini and Antonioni, Goddard and Truffaut, Diane Arbus and Nan Goldin, both her films and photographs have a quality of dreamy imagination; they are tinged with both a touch of magic and the surreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI want to create a unique and bizarre&nbsp;atmosphere, I love using both natural light and stark artificial lighting effects, to achieve a particular feeling. I often play&nbsp;with double exposure when using film\u2026I want to navigate between the reality at&nbsp;the surface of life and bring a dreamy nostalgia [to it].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As her process has become more methodical over time, she says today she\u2019s most interested in expressing allusions and subtle meanings, creating a more analytical approach to her work \u2013 while still welcome the unpredictable moments, she asserts. Her work itself has been a spiritual evolution, she adds \u201cPhotography gave me a freedom to be who I am without&nbsp;being scared or worried.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"999\" height=\"999\" src=\"http:\/\/diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13581\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_3.jpg 999w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_3-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_3-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_3-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_3-330x330.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_3-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_3-648x648.jpg 648w, https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The.Aurelian.Anthropologist_3-192x192.jpg 192w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 999px) 100vw, 999px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That openness of self-expression has not changed due to the pandemic, though certainly her subjects have. \u201cI haven\u2019t had many chances to see people, apart from a&nbsp;window of social distancing.&nbsp;This has been the chance for me to complete or reprise some unfinished work, and in my&nbsp;editing work, I\u2019m spending a lot of time on the computer and I\u2019m building a huge&nbsp;archive, conceptualizing ideas I could apply now to my work now or later, when I\u2019ll be finally free to leave my studio.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Esposito recognizes that when she does so, it will be as if emerging into a changed world, altered in terms of many intimate relationships, as well as through pandemic restrictions and changes. Undoubtedly she&#8217;ll capture it all through her camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Genie Davis; photos from Alice Esposito <\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Creating a portrait of people is what inspires photographic artist and filmmaker Alice Esposito but surrounding her subjects with light and space is what informs her work. Calling her subjects her \u201ccommunity,\u201d and explaining her work as a response to and documentation of her life, Esposito\u2019s still images appear visually entwined with her film work. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/light-and-space-infuse-the-photographic-art-of-alice-esposito\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Light and Space Infuse the Photographic Art of Alice Esposito<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13574"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13629,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13574\/revisions\/13629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversionsla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}