Eschewing the special effects and emotional ambiguity that are hallmarks of photography today, the photographs of Phillip Pisciotta hark back to another era. Underlying them is a question: do still, straight photographs made with handheld cameras have anything left to say?
Pisciotta's pictures convince us that they do. In bringing the improbable into the realm of the communal, Pisciotta guides us through his intimate encounters with the jumble of modern life with an empathy that prompts us to look and not stare. To accept these pictures however, we need to reconcile with their darkness - a darkness that is illuminated often by a light that serves only to deepen each scene's inherent mystery.
What makes Pisciotta's work especially rewarding to view is his exuberant sensibility and precision of approach. These qualities extend to his handling of color, which, married to compositions of such restless inventiveness, seem to consistently defy expectation. By exploiting what photography does best, they manage to pulsate with a vitality reminiscent of life itself.
Josh Chuang
Yale University Art Gallery
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