John Divola- Three acts

John Divola is a contemporary visual artist, who works primarily in photography. I like his work because he takes a different approach to the theme of community. Instead of photographing portraits he has captured environments or settings. I think this idea is very clever and unique because it offers another perspective of community. I particularly like this photographer because he focuses on environments and settings opposed to people and landscapes.  In my previous post I wrote about the idea of environments having an effort on our memory. Simple objects it being a sofa or the material of a curtain can bring back memories we once had forgotten. I think this is very powerful and influential, therefore the photographs Divola’s produces show a different and unique approach to the idea of community and memory. I like the rawness of the image it shows destruction and anger in the way it has been composed. But then the elegant and peaceful scenery of the sea makes it calm, which confuses the photographs with mixtures of emotions. This is very clever because it invites the viewer into seeing the image as a typical room but there is so much more going on then what appears making it intriguing. 

The second image also has the same effect, it has graffitied walls yet in the centre of the image is a beautiful coloured sky. I think the colour of the sky contrasts with what looks like red shattered and broken glass. I think the environment and minor details are incredibly important for an image especially one which is a narrative.