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(1961 onwards)
Antoine prefers to be non technical in his approach, and should he become too familiar with the workings of his camera, he has been known to change it for an unknown model / make. His early images are full of atmospheric shapes and black and white grittiness. His choices of composure and exposure are instinctive, "I avoid defining beforehand, what I am about to photograph. The shots are taken randomly, according to chance meetings and circumstances". Meanwhile his obsessions remain constant; the streets, fear, obscurity, and sexuality. This resulted in his first book - 'De Mala Muerte' (1998), which was well received.
Unlike most photographers, Antoine D'Agata is a latter day anomaly, in that he only began using a camera in his thirties. As a born travelling nomad he has spent most of his time seeking out fresh experiences on the edges of society. However once he became interested in photography, he studied with Larry Clark and Nan Goldin in New York, which began his links with Magnum; first as an intern and then as a full member (2008). His work is a personal photographic record of his life and the people he came into contact with and records an earthy realism of life.
D'Agata regularly exhibits and so far, has had several books published, and in 2004, he released his first short feature film 'Le Ventre du Monde' (The World's Belly).
In 2013 D'Agata has a retrospective of his work, literally 'Anticorps' is 20 years in the making. The exhibition held at Le Bal, Paris comes with a comprehensive 560 page book. Anticorps is the distilled spirit of D’Agata’s radical work.
The book, Antibodies, now translated in to english was published in 2014. Checkout the D'Agata interviews at americansuburbsx website and at Dazed Digital, which provided interesting insights into the photographer.
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Here is an interview by Italian Vogue (Aug 2013) with the artist. |
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D'Agata: "My images are not violent images. They are somewhat abstract. They show pain, fear, desire; they speak of things known to all."
Online: Jan 2006 (updated 2017)
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