Mimmo Jodice

Afterimage, March-April, 2004 by Bruno Chalifour

MIMMO JODICE

BY ROBERTA VALTORTA Milan: Motta, 2003, and Arles: Actes Sud, 2003.

Mimmo Jodice, the book edited by Roberta Valorta is dedicated to the works of the Italian photographer of the same name. Mimmo Jodice was born in Naples in 1934 and ahs been working in black and white, acquiring an international reputation through several projects and books since the mid-1960s. This particular book was concurrently published in Milan (Italy) by Motta Editions and, in its French version, by Actes Sud in Arles (France). With 382 pages and close to 300 duotone-looking reproductions of Jodice's black and white photographs, this 1.5-inch-thick book is structured in seven thematic chapters that overlap in their chronology. The body of the book and each chapter are introduced by texts signed by Roberta Valtorta, an Italian photo-historian and critic in Milan, a city where she lives and teaches.

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Jodice only decided to become a full-time photographer at the age of thirty years old. Thence this short (7" high) but thick book starts in 1964, and ends in 2003. The seven chapters ("Experimentations, 1964-1978," "Social Portraits, 1969-1977," "Reconsiderations, 1978-2002," "Invisible Cities, 1989-2003," "Mediterranean, 1986-1995," "Eden. 1994-1997," "Sea, 1998-2002") are pervaded with a deep "sense of atmosphere" and strangeness whose recurring elements, except for the documenting of poverty in Naples, are obvious signs of entropy and an eerie sensation of being out of place, as well as, now and then, out of time. In other words, many a timeless photograph by Jodice seems to address the concept of time. Mainly self-taught, the photographer shows obvious traces of various influences. From the Bill Brandt-looking high-contrast portraits and few cityscapes (such as in pages 46-47) of the 1960s, to images reminiscent of some icons by Robert Frank (the covered car in Naples, 1980) or Henri Cartier-Bresson. Sometimes names of Italian photographers such as Ghirri, Gardin, Olivieri, or Basilico also come to mind but Jodice always manages to infuse his images with a fascinating appeal that draws on their enigmatic content. Although his late style vastly has depended on a particular process consisting in slightly blurring the majority and sometimes the totality of the photograph--as if a consequence of camera shake (which it is sometimes due to hand-held slow shutter speeds) or zooming (most probably achieved in the darkroom)--Jodice's creative mind always manages to successfully walk the thin line between artistic experimentation and crafty gimmickry.

Roberta Valtorta's clever editing points out the photographer's strong stylistic approach to black and white photography and succeeds in making of this retrospective a learning and entertaining experience. Available at the very reasonable price of 19.90 Euros (around $22), this book stands as an ideal reference work on one of the most prominent photographer of the Italian contemporary art scene.