Phoenix
(excerpt)
Whatever it was, for me these images leapt out, distinctive and compelling, ranging from drop-dead simplicity, to dense multi-layered images, some of which almost suggest some trickery, and yet they weren’t. Rather a well-tuned mind/eye, seeing what is there which for most of us, most of the time, sits hiding in plain sight. It’s what all good photographers do, in whatever manner they do it.
Everything has composition; light and tonality are always there – the matter is whether it is “good” or not, and words can’t explicate that. Only instinct and innate talent and understanding can do so. There are no rules, no “right” ways. Joe shows this when he extracts something engaging out of an empty drainage canal, or a litter-strewn street, or a bland stucco facade. He does so when an open garage door becomes a renaissance magic cabinet, or his son Michael floats as a mirage-angel in a liquid envelope, or a delicate reflection multiplies space and perspectives into a mysterious jumble.
Joseph, while not abandoning his pencils, has taken up the camera to most wonderful effect, though I hope nowhere near the end of his career.
The images here are exceptional, engaging in their sometimes-deceptive simplicity, ravishing in their sense of color, demanding in their dense complexities. Together they make a varied and rich collection, and provide a revealing portrait of his adopted city.
Jon Jost, Sept 20, 2014