The deeply inspiring black & white photography of Paul Caponigro
lesser-known photographers to check out vol. 1
I think it was in 1992 that I bought a photo book called ‘Seasons’, by the photographer Paul Caponigro. I’d never heard of him at the time, but the photos instantly had an impact, although their size in the book was quite small. I would keep picking up this book again and again, and the photos grew on me. There was something in them that touched me deeply, which I only started to understand better when reading (in the book itself) what Caponigro said about them, with a type of humor that reveals a tremendous seriousness underneath, a longing to express subtly but clearly how inspired he really was, mainly by nature, which he got to know in places he went with his family on holiday trips.
[source: https://www.museoreinasofia.es/]
His early photography, and love for music
Caponigro was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1932. The best way I can tell about his early days in photography, is to let the photographer himself speak about it, in a way we can all relate to (from the book ‘Seasons’):
“My first roll of film was anxiously delivered to the drugstore. On getting the pictures back, I saw that although I felt alive when using the camera, the resulting prints were dead. I tried this procedure a few more times hoping the prints would ‘come out’ better, but then decided to visit the camera shop for a booklet on How to Develop and Print Your Own Pictures.”
Caponigro was also constantly in love with music, and at times it was hard for him to focus on one or the other of his passions. We see the same thing when we read about Ansel Adams, but he seemed totally sure of his choice; he never returned to his predestined, but not continued career as pianist.
[scan from the book ‘ Seasons’]
Influences
Looking at his work, you might see influences of that same Ansel Adams (when he first saw Adams’ prints, he was absolutely stunned) and Minor White, who put so much emotional power into his work, and he actually interacted with both of them. He was even White’s assistant for a while. I liked the work of these two photographers prior to discovering Paul Caponigro’s photos, but his had a possibly even greater impact on my way of seeing.
[scan from the book ‘ Seasons’]
Polaroid?
He worked for a long time as a consultant for Polaroid. We usually associate that name with the small square-shaped analogue prints you can see seconds after you’ve shot them (what an invention!), which have become an art format in themselves, but he helped to develop their 4 x 5 high quality film material he also used to shoot the photos in the book. He was, as you will also hear him say in the video I linked below, a strong believer in printing photos, the finished product of the negative. Glad that his son would have his own career in digital photography, which meant he didn’t have to learn a new process, made him say “I’m going to slowly melt away with silver”. Paul Caponigro died in 2024.
[scan from the book ‘ Seasons’]
To me, Caponigro is one of the greatest. To this day, I feel indebted to him for what I know about making photos in a mindful way. He taught me so much about seeing rhythm, structures, patterns and tonal nuance in what’s around us.
Links
This is such a short introduction, and there’s so much more to know. Read and experience it yourself by clicking these:
Transcript of an interview Susan Larsen with Paul Caponigro in 1999
Website of John Paul Caponigro son of Paul, who is a gifted and successful photographer in his own right
The photos from ‘Seasons’ have been scanned in high quality and slightly tinted to approach their appearance in the book as closely as possible, with an Epson V 850 Pro
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