The obituary below will help reflect the life of a good friend and wonderful photographer PAUL CAPONIGRO.
The photo was taken in 1978 on a workshop when Paul was showing me(beard) and participants his 5x7 camera.
He was one our early workshop leaders at The Photographers Place in Derbyshire where he lead workshops in 1978 and 1980. I was also involved with an exhibition of his work at The Watermans Art Centre in the 80s, and was chair of an accompanying seminar with Paul and Thomas Joshua Cooper. He was a generous human being, great teacher and his seminal photographic art speaks for itself. I first met him in 1975 at his home in New Mexico with his wife Eleanor. He and Eleanor, who worked at a museum in the area, were wonderful hosts to Tom Cooper and me. We were compiling interviews for Dialogue with Photography and he wanted to know if we were going to interview him. "No, you're far too young - you're only 8 years older than me!" I told him much to Tom's amusement.
But it is always the amusing and quirky anedotes that reveal much more than eulogies and dates. Fay Godwin came to Bradbourne to watch Paul print in my darkroom and was delighted that he confirmed that her approach and technique in the wet darkroom matched his. Cream teas featured heavily on our field trips in the Peak District National Park, but it was one episode that I and the participants will remember on Stanton Moor near an ancient stone circle. He genuinely believed in wood nymphs, but I digress. I pointed out three abandoned round millstones and he was away. Out came his 5x7 former New York press camera (he liked it because it had a cartridge for dark slides that tumbled into it after use) and tripod and dark cloth. The millstones were under the branches of a silver birch, but one fell over the top of the upright stones. In a flash he marched over to the tree and snapped off the branch. One of the more sensitive nature-loving participants, who had been enthralled watching his hero, exclaimed: "Why did you do that,Paul?" "I was just improving on Nature," he replied, which proved that despite his legendary spiritual credentials he was more a photographer than an environmentalist. After all, we know that the photograph is the event and the experience, and will last longer than the tree if you tone and wash the print properly.....😉
Obituary
Born in Boston in 1932, at a young age, Paul Caponigro displayed dual passions for photography and music. He studied at Boston University College of Music in 1950 with Alfonso Fondacaro before deciding to focus on photography. Caponigro remained a dedicated classical pianist, and his music influenced his photography. You can hear him play here - https://bit.ly/4bZEBQ8 .
One of America’s foremost landscape photographers, Caponigro is best known for the spiritual qualities he revealed in natural forms, landscapes, and still lifes. His subjects include the megalithic monuments of the British Isles, Scotland, Ireland, and France; the temples and sacred gardens of Japan; and the woodlands of New England. His photographs are featured in more than a dozen monographs, including Sunflower, Landscape, Megaliths, New England Days, and The Wise Silence.
He had his first solo exhibition at the George Eastman House in 1958 and went on to be widely exhibited internationally. Caponigro's work is included in countless collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian America Art Museum, and The Getty.
He received two Guggenheim Fellowships and three National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants. He consulted with the Polaroid Corporation. In recognition of a career spanning nearly seventy years and a sustained, significant contribution to the art of photography, Caponigro was awarded The Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship in 2001, was the Honoree for the Achievement in Fine Art presented by the Lucie Awards in 2020, and inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame in 2024.
First visiting Maine as a boy with his father, he later spent many summers as one of the first teachers at the Maine Media Workshops, before moving permanently in 1996 to be near his son in Cushing, Maine. Son of George and Mary Caponigro, he is survived by his ex-wife Eleanor; son John Paul; daughter-in-law Arduina; and granddaughter Gwen. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider making a contribution to the Paul Caponigro Scholarship Fund at Maine Media Workshops - https://www.mainemedia.edu/.
Details about memorials, both in-person and online, will be forthcoming and can be found on his son’s website - johnpaulcaponigro.com.
Comments
I listened to his piano playing on the link. The Debussy Arabesque is particularly good,perhaps due to the composer's famed synaesthetic qualities.
A link to him speaking about his work in later years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRR0h1uc1rgs:
And, another:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGgzT_gsrDE
legendary photographer! RIP.