In Conversation With... David Corio
In the new series ‘In Conversations With…’ Elliott Gallery asks the photographers—represented by the gallery—about their work, inspiration and future plans.
David Corio talks about his latest body of work produced during the pandemic, the ways he was affected by it and the inspiration behind his work.
1. Taking into consideration your long & well-established, incredible career in music photography, why did you decide to experiment with something so different, such as cyanotypes?
I have always processed and printed my own black and white photography. I like to complete the whole process of photography, rather than just clicking the shutter and then leaving it in the hands of other people. I’ve experimented with different cameras and film formats before and extensively printed with platinum palladium and tried wet-plate collodion printing. So, having several enlarged negatives already, I thought I would try cyanotypes. Some of the images seem to lend themselves to being printed in a blue and white style that I hadn’t thought of before.
2. What was the inspiration behind your new work?
I lived in NYC for 16 years, I always loved visiting and photographing Coney Island and have photographed several circuses and unusual performers over the years. They combine an old world, slightly disheveled charm that is harder to find these days, as everything gets gentrified and homogenized. My partner Lai Ngan and I have collected various old toys in various states of repair for a long time and I felt they worked in a similar theme as the funfair. The photos of skulls, mummies, megaliths and Mayan temples all represent some of my other interests in history as well and they all seemed to combine together quite naturally as cyanotypes.
3. Why did you choose the cyanotype technique?
I am interested in the history of photography and cyanotype printing is one of the earliest forms of photographic processing, developed by John Herschel in 1842. There is a natural organic form about it as you can use sunlight (or UV light) to expose the emulsion. Using a fine Japanese brush to coat the emulsion makes the image very personal and also, makes every image unique. There is a wide variety of watercolour papers to use which give a nice tactile feel to the prints, which isn’t the case with conventional black and white papers. A major benefit is that you also don’t need a darkroom to produce the prints, which has made it easier during these current times.
4. How did the current situation with Covid-19 affect you as an Artist?
Usually, I would be photographing live music events through the year, but those avenues of work - and many more - have been cut off completely. The inability to travel is frustrating but I am lucky that I have a large archive to fall back on, so I have been re- evaluating some of that. The current situation has given me the time to go back through my archives and rediscover work I had forgotten about. Also, the cyanotype process has made me look at some of the old imagery and work on new ways of presenting the work too. I like making triptychs in cyanotype and some film strips or contact sheets work better using this more painterly technique, in my opinion. So, the period hasn’t all been negative. (excuse the pun!)
Interview by Eirini Alexandrou (Elliott Gallery) February 2021
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