Paul Caponigro

December 7, 1932-November 10, 2024

I don’t recall exactly when or where it was that I first saw the work of Paul Caponigro. It was probably in a darkened photography classroom during a slide lecture at RIT in the early 1970s. I do remember the image projected on to the screen that opened my mind to the evocative power of a photograph, Paul Caponigro’s black and white image; Apple, New York City, 1964.

My first impression was that I was looking at a galaxy, deep, dark and starry night sky. And as I looked again, I saw that this was a closeup view of an apple. To this day I look at this image and see the ethereal galaxy and the spotted apple simultaneously. Paul Caponigro’s work opened a new way of seeing and the mystical and poetic possibilities in photography. 

Apple, New York City, 1964.