El León Literary Arts: draite a u méure, Frank Dituri

About Frank Dituri

Frank Dituri is a photographer who transforms the everyday, the recognizable, and the obvious into images that border on the surreal. His play on rich black and white tonalities and composition heighten the mystery of often somber images, giving his work a unique aesthetic and style.

Mr. Dituri's art is exhibited in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Twenty books of his images have been published, and his work can be found in numerous public and private collections. He is currently in the art departments at C.W. Post, Long Island University, Libera Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy, and is a teaching artist for the LTA/Guggenheim Museum Program.

Frank Dituri è un fotografo che ama trasformare il quotidiano, il riconoscibile e l'ovvio in immagini al confine col surreale. Il suo gioco compositivo di tonalità bianche e nere esalta il generale mistero delle sue immagini spesso cupe, e dà alle sue opere un effetto estetico unico ed il suo stile personale.

Le opere di Dituri sono permanentemente esposte negli USA, in Europa e in Asia. Ha pubblicato numerosi libri delle sue opere ed è stato recensito in molte pubblicazioni di prestigio. Le sue opere fanno parte di molte collezioni pubbliche e private. È attualmente impegnato nel dipartimento d'arte della Long Island University, alla Libera Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze e quale artista insegnante nel Programma del Guggenheim Museum.

Critical Praise

The images (of Frank Dituri) seduce you on two levels: aesthetically in the beauty of its forms and psychologically in the uncertainty they elicit. When we see the back of a person's head, we wonder and are interested in the mystery—we are forced to ask what's going on. The viewer must get involved or participate in the composition,' says Dituri. The varying shades of gray or tonal contrast present in his images are sensual, often abstracting the subjects to geometrical forms, while at the same time capturing a fragile moment in time—of spirituality, of stasis, of foreboding, of transcendence.

—Cristina Colasanto, la Repubblica (New York Edition)

In this latest series of low-lit, matte textured landscapes and solo figures usually set outdoors, the geographic location is of relatively little importance though the Italian-American photographer spends considerable time in the Tuscan countryside as well as in the leafy suburbs hugging New York City. In a fascinating way, he can transform a gritty American street of an old industrial river town into a fantastic and neo-surreal Italian city, as if shot in black and white by Roberto Rossellini.

—Judd Tully, Introduction to Lux Lunae