Philip-Lorca diCorcia

Photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia is best known for reconstructions of reality that exist between honesty and manipulation. After carefully selecting a setting, diCorcia orchestrates the scene as though it were a candid moment. Using his models as archetypes within his larger vision, each image is deliberately heightened in drama and detail. The effect is a double recognition. On one hand, the image is a fiction existing purely for its own purpose. On the other, these scenes resonate with the viewer at an intimate level. In Sylmar, California (2008), diCorcia places a faceless cowboy in opposition to the enormity of nature. As a fantasy composed from reality, this quintessential rendering of the American Dream is all the more poignant.