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ALBERT RUSSO: Poet as photographer / photographer as poet.
Albert Russo
– novelist, essayist, short story writer, poet .....
photographer.
Of some fifty-five book publications to-date, eighteen of
Russo’s books are photographic essays. These titles include
impressions from travels around the world, quirkiness and humour
in human experience, studies of sculptures, autobiographical
essays with photography as the medium, and more. Had Russo not
had such a passion for art and literature, he would surely have
had a fine career as a photojournalist for commercial publishers
of travel books, travel guides and travel magazines. However,
Russo’s inclination towards the artistic and social elements of
human predicament and expression, coupled with his love of
poetry, has resulted in a myriad of publications which
effectively express poetic and literary curiosity through
poetry’s modern-day “first cousin”: photography. I use the word
“curiosity” intentionally as Russo never forces his impressions
upon us as an expression of “truth”, but rather guides us
through his own personal experiences and thoughts through visual
exposés. Sometimes the progressive order of photographs in some
of his books can seem somewhat illogical as Russo presents us
with his own “connections” between impressions as he sees them
as an artist – rather than grouping photographs in an order that
an advertising executive or commercial travel book might choose.
This is Russo’s prerogative, his perspective .. and an important
aspect of his own unique poetic expression.
Some of his photography books are combinations of texts and
pictures, and others are without texts. The absence of titles is
a bold artistic statement in itself, relying upon the strength
and the progression of photographs themselves to tell the
author’s/photographer’s personal story. Personally, I prefer the
books that consist of photographs alone as I do not always
relate to the accompanying texts and find them sometimes to be
as annoying as I find signatures on the front side of paintings
(when the signatures not only do not add to the overall work of
art, but actually detract from the viewing experience). But this
is a question of personal taste. Having a background both within
visual art and poetry, I – like Albert Russo – am capable of
understanding the “poetry” in the photographic presentations
without explanation or added literary decoration. I think this
is true for many (if not most) persons who enjoy photography
books as works of art.
Russo’s photographic essays to-date include: “A poetic
biography”, “Brussels ride”, “Chinese puzzle”, “City of lovers”,
“Granada”, “En / in France”, “Israel at heart”, “Italia nostra”,
“Mexicana”, “New York at heart”, “Pasión de España”, “Quirk”,
“Rainbow nature”, “Saint-Malo”, “Sardinia”, “Sri Lanka”, and his
newest: “Body glorious” and “Norway to Spitzberg” (both released
in 2007). These are almost exclusively full-colour photos .. a
medium which Russo plays with combining childlike naiveté and
curiosity for the unusual aspects of the “banal”, and exciting
excursions into the nature and the planet’s overall cultural
diversity, with a broad palette of professional techniques.
Russo goes to great pains to mix traditional images with their
contemporary partners and counterparts, and to play with
exposure, light, filters and clarity/non-clarity in order to
exaggerate aspects of the culture and to communicate his own
personal experiences and sensations. I would like to see a
photographic essay by Albert Russo, in which he translates his
interactive communication between photographer/poet and subject
to the medium of black and white photography. I am certain that
Russo would find even more exciting nuances and enigmatic
photographic puzzles through the usage of light, shadows, layers
of greyness etc., which would even further enhance his natural
highly-effective ability to penetrate beyond picture-taking ..
and far, far into the inner energy forms and thoughts of his
photographic subjects/objects and their surrounding
environment/conditions.
Perhaps the most unusual photographic essay is his “A Poetic
Biography”, published in 2006. The book is exactly what the
title suggests: a collection of photographs of Russo, his family
members and friends in various situations and environments, and
over a period of several decades. Here Russo includes both
photographs of people (colour and some black and white),
photographs of letters and telefaxes, telegrams, articles on
Russo as an author etc. – all without explanation or commentary.
In this way, Russo uses the classic “first person” style of
prose-writing to create an almost surrealistic glimpse into the
inner reaches of Russo’s personality, history, personal life,
ambitions and self-identity. The book leaves us with a yearning
to discover that personal aspect which Russo has not commented
on, but which most other artists and authors usually make no
bones about proclaiming ad nauseam: namely, his dreams .. and
what his life might have been like otherwise.
Another fun and beautiful photographic exposé is Russo’s latest
book: “Norway to Spitzberg”. I have previously reviewed this
book and commented:
“Albert Russo's photographic essay illustrating a cruise ship
voyage with the Costa Atlantica («La città ideale») along the
coast of Norway, from the city of Bergen (birthplace of composer
Edvard Grieg) to the top of the globe (Spitzberg) is fascinating
not only because of his realizing the full circle of
«post-post-realism» in modern photography, but also because Mr.
Russo transforms the tourist «photo-stalker» experience into the
creation of a professional visual compendium – combining
dramatic and magnificent seascapes, fjordscapes and landscapes
with the intimacy of still lifes, the humanity of people at work
and play and in their quiet, alone moments, as well as the
extremities of fauna, and indigenous peoples and their cultural
expressions and living environments. It is not difficult to
understand that Mr. Russo is also an accomplished poet and a
master of prose-writing. The stories he tells in this
photographic essay are not a mere show of proficiency as regards
each individual work of art, but rather a dance of images as
vivid as an operatic performance – full of passion, drama,
silences, humour and music. Mr. Russo has employed a Canon
digital Ixus 55 - 5.0 megapixels camera, with 3x optical zoom.
His «eye» for discerning, and his talent for capturing the
«photographic moment», the mastery of light and clarity vs.
slight distortion etc. is a testament to his delicious sense of
artistry as well as his empathy for the experience of being
human.”
Out of curiosity, I took contact with Albert Russo to ask him to
comment on his love for photography. Here is his comment:
“In response to your question: I've always liked photography,
from my adolescent years in Africa; actually I loved filming too
and my 8mm or super 8mm films looked more like stills than
films. People would complain telling me: “Oh God, five minutes
on the same object, flower, trees, landscape, whatever, enough
already!” Ever since my African days I've been taking photos
with all kinds of cameras, from the standard Kodak box, to the
famous German Minox, to the Fujica ST-605 (wonderful camera that
accompanied me everywhere) - often using the Rexastar lens for
close-ups) (1:3.5 - f- 135mm) alternately with the smaller but
very friendly Minolta 70W Riva zoom, and now with the Canon
digital Ixus 55. I have probably forgotten a few other cameras I
had. Oh I used to take many colour slides in Africa (which I
still have tucked away somewhere, and should think of printing
the best). Poetry and photography? They are always closely
related. A good picture tells a thousand things to the beholder
if he/she pays attention to it, and the 'right' word suggests a
thousand other things, that is why I never like to simply write
captions under my photos. Actually now I do not wish to write
anything at all, the photo must speak to you on its own.”
In conclusion, I would recommend that art photography and poetry
enthusiasts take note of this talented artist. As one who has
reviewed his collected poetry and read many of his novels, short
stories and essays, I can attest that his literary talent
complements his photographic expression. Albert Russo is
artistically self-integrated in all of his creative disciplines.
Copyright 2007,
Adam Donaldson Powell.
Skyline Magazines
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