| Born January 23rd, 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, American-Italian Sante D’Orazio has captured the imagination of wide-ranging audiences. Glamorous fashion photographer and pioneer icon-maker, D’Orazio’s work is often listed as art, but why? “Photographs,” which ran at the independent art space Kunsthauswien in Vienna, highlighted what it called “a retrospective of the superstar” by exhibiting 160 of his color and black-and-white photographs created between 1986 and the present day. |
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D’Orazio at the KunstHausWien – Henry Estraenges
Born January 23rd, 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, American-Italian Sante D’Orazio has captured the imagination of wide-ranging audiences. Glamorous fashion photographer and pioneer icon-maker, D’Orazio’s work is often listed as art, but why?
“Photographs,” which ran at the independent art space Kunsthauswien in Vienna, highlighted what it called “a retrospective of the superstar” by exhibiting 160 of his color and black-and-white photographs created between 1986 and the present day.
D’Orazio’s fashion photography has included many Hollywood A-listers, subjects like Pamela Anderson, Johnny Depp, Eva Herzigova, Cindy Crawford, Anthony Keidis and Mickey Rourke. Most of his images were commissioned for the front covers of glossy, high fashion magazines like Vogue or for even more commercial settings like Victoria’s Secret or Cover Girl ads. Although a veritable photo album of models, rock stars and actors, D’Orazio’s photographic oeuvre has been termed art almost from the start of his career, even though some would pin it as a lowbrow hodgepodge of popular culture’s easy-on the-eyes media influences.
With his works’ exhibition at the Kunsthauswien, however, they enter a very different world. Each piece here becomes subject to the consideration of gallery-goers and art critics alike. It might be said that the artistic clout of his work rests in the sensuously glamorous finesse that creates icons out of his models; D’Orazio allows his work to disengage from the everyday showcasing of fashion revelry to a heightened form of eye-catching and soulful intrigue that transforms his images into three-dimensional experiences. The impact of this, to the viewer, is truly artful.
Looking at the photographs in “Photographs” is an exciting experience. Each frame usually depicts one person only, with little background imagery to speak of, and with the subject in a simple and expressive pose. It is clear that D’Orazio wants you to focus on that individual only—to examine them. He wants you to give each model a level of attention that seems almost too close for comfort—perhaps even to begin to idolize him or her. There is the feeling in his works that the audience is provided a window of opportunity that few achieve: to view the flawless beauty of his models in piercing proximity, and with focused allure.
With the attention to visceral detail exposed in the consistent magnetism of each shot, what ends up on display is each model’s almost shocking beauty and charm. In this way, the image depicted becomes more of a vision, something grand to behold. Perhaps what we see in the “Photographs” may well be the awe D’Orazio revels in when it comes to his subjects, and less so our own.
It seems worthwhile to ask: is it the audience that is fascinated by the celebrities, or is it D’Orazio? Is the artist providing the audience with a filled-in template of how to feel about and view his subjects? With this in mind, perhaps D’Orazio already knows how his images will be seen before they are even viewed. And, if so, perhaps he is the one who turned his subjects into icons before anyone else was able to see them that way.
By creating unashamedly flawless images of his subjects in their prime, D’Orazio cultivates a powerful narcissus-effect about his muses. But, what makes this effect art? Is it the magnetic charm of his models’ delicate yet demanding gazes, the perfectly flawless sheen of their tanned skin, some wild pose or their empowering confidence? Or, is it art because of how it is viewed?
If everyone saw themselves and each other in the ambrosia-tinted golden light in which these subjects are depicted, would there be anything worth reveling in? Perhaps the question we should be asking is not why is D’Orazio’s work art, but who makes it art. Is it the viewers, the subjects or is it the artist? Regardless of where his photography belongs—in art houses or in corner shops—his work certainly raises some artful questions.
D’Orazio is world-renowned as a fashion photographer, having exhibited at international festivals of fashion photography since he graduated from the University of Bologna in 1986. His work has traveled to Italy, New York, Los Angeles, Spain, France and Germany on several occasions.
D’Orazio’s photography is wonderfully unique, soulful and powerful with its place firmly set in fashion history—forming what we today regcognize as the glamorizing process of “iconizing.” D’Orazio implements his own style and form in how his marvels at his subjects. There is no doubt that there is a depth to his work and a firm character that demands attention given his unpretentious heralding of complacent prettiness—something simply made for contagious viewing.
Maybe the celebrity creates the icon, or maybe it is the glamour of being viewed as an icon that creates the celebrity. Either way, D’Orazio’s work forms a pivotal part of the process along the way. With his high-fashion productivity and professionalism, and original artistry in the visions he captures, as well as the intrigue that he provokes, is it any surprise that D’Orazio’s work captures the imagination of such wide-ranging audiences—that it is present in Austrian art spaces as well as on the magazine covers lining corner shops?
