1. Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating  with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.

Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s photobook tells multiple ambiguous stories with a series of different people. The genre of the book is a type of contemporary art , ‘Operating in the gap between postmodern fiction and documentary fact, between slick convention and fresh perception”. The beginning of the book starts with ‘enigmatic domestic scenarios’ which featured diCorcia’s family and friends. He then goes on to photograph Hollywood drifters and hustlers in cryptic scenes, with moody yet vibrant lighting.

2. Who is the photographer? Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, reviews, awards, legacy etc.)

Philip-Lorca diCorcia made these images in the photobook to display an alternative side to ‘American life’, and showing those who are usually hidden as to not ruin the reputation of ‘The American Dream’, such as male prostitutes. diCorcia payed the prostitutes the amount they would charge for their service in order to take their photograph in their work-life setting and atmopshere. The book is rated 4-5 stars across websites such as Amazon and ‘Goodreads’.

3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering:

The book is a hard-cover book with a dust jacket protecting the outside. The two inside pages are made of a grey cardboard-like paper, the rest of the paper is photographic printer paper.

Majority of the text is written in the same two fonts and in black, however some texts are coloured in red, such as Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s name on the inside of the dust jacket.

All of the images are displayed in the book in landscape. The images are all the same size, with a thick white border and the title and date of the image underneath. Pages without images are plain white. There is 55 pages with diCorcia’s images.

The cover of the book is made using a plain red linen with no image on the front. There is an image on the dust jacket, which is coloured a mustard yellow. It has Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s name on the front of the dust cover written in red, and the text ‘The Museum of Modern Art, New York’. The title of the book is literal.

The repeated saturated yet gloomy colour palette of the images help to identify diCorcia’s narrative for the images. The narrative is told simply through images and their titles, which leaves a portion of the narrative for the audience to decide themselves.

The essay on the inside of the dust jacket, written by Peter Galassi, tells us about the images taken by diCorcia, as well as his personal life of university and living in New York. There is also text at the back of the book explaining the prints and sizes of the images and the camera that the images were taken on. On the next back page there is multiple lists of diCorcia’s education, acheivements, exhibitions and books.