"Riverrun"
Ray Carafano
“Riverrun" Photographs of the LA River, by Ray Carofano.
"Riverrun" is a suite of photographs, of the Los Angeles River,
capturing seldom seen images of the fifty-one mile storm drain. Forsaken for so long and fenced off from
the very communities it once sustained, the river is now primarily a flood
control channel and conduit for urban waste. Taking 'less-picturesque' portions of the river as his
subject, Carofano's carefully framed images reveal the not-so-hidden majesty of
the concrete, the smooth lines of the river's channel. Sophisticated geometry, atmospheric
light and color, and rightness of scale give these images a painterly quality
that requires close observation in order to determine that they are indeed
photographs. Conditions that could be considered appalling, on the contrary,
appear alluring and serene - each image pays homage to the intersection between
nature and the designed environment.
Ray
Carofano’s career in photography spans over fifty years,
with
his education beginning at Quinnipiac College, Southern
Connecticut State College and the Paier School of Art. Carofano’s photographs
have been shown extensively throughout the United States, with several
exhibitions abroad as well. His work can be found in the permanent
collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, Santa Barbara, CA., Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA., Fototeca
de Cuba, National Archives, Havana, Cuba and other private and corporate
collections. He lives and works in
San Pedro, CA. This is his first
solo exhibit at dnj Gallery.
