Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
Castellana, William |
Title |
Kids on Street Corner/Lee Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn |
Medium |
archival pigment ink print |
Date |
2014 |
Description |
William Castellana (Alessandria, Italy 1968; lives and works in Brooklyn) Kids on Street Corner/Lee Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 2014 Archival pigment ink print, edition of 40 13 x 19 inches Knoxville Museum of Art, 2016 gift of the artist Castellana is an internationally known photographer whose black and white still life images transform ordinary objects such as ice, light bulbs, and bottles into monumental sculptural forms. More recently, he has focused his lens on life in his South Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhood and the shifting fortunes of a community of Hasidic Jews who lead their lives quite separate from the increasingly secular and "hip" Williamsburg community. Castellana provides a glimpse into an American community proscribed by strict rules, customs, and dress codes that originated in early 19th-century Eastern Europe. The transition to street photography forced Castellana to take a different to approach to his subject. Instead of the carefully controlled studio environment he enjoyed in shooting still life images, he had to work with more portable equipment and ready his lens for key moments unfolding in the daily life around him. "Segueing to street photography was a way for me to experience life firsthand, freeing me from the process of making stuff up; life was there in plain view, ready to be extracted and composed out of its frenetic and chaotic flow." |
Catalog Number |
2016.06.02 |
Search Terms |
Black & white photographs Photographs Children Prints |
Credit line |
gift of the artist |