Joseph Desler Costa
Influenced by his training as a commercial photographer, Joseph Desler Costa praises elements of consumerism through an artistic photography that draws from principles of his commercial practice. Stylistically and ideologically his work is referential to the decades of the 1970s and 80s, with images imbued with an essence of sensational glamour. This nature of flamboyance is contrived from the acquisition of material objects that seem to promise the attainment of, or transformation into, a better life. As Desler Costa vehemently believes in photography’s ability to elevate mundane and ordinary objects, his images not only affect consumer’s desires but generate a craving for re-invention. His highly aestheticised images, which emulate qualities found within magazines and film, strive to display the capability of the photo existing purely as its own object.
Costa has exhibited his pictures and films at venues including the Aperture Foundation in New York, Baxter St. Camera Club of New York, Arsenale di Venezia in Venice, Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, Mana Contemporary in New Jersey, and the International Center of Photography in New York. Recent solo exhibitions have been displayed at galleries including the Foley Gallery in New York and Book Dummy Project Space in Jersey City. …
Influenced by his training as a commercial photographer, Joseph Desler Costa praises elements of consumerism through an artistic photography that draws from principles of his commercial practice. Stylistically and ideologically his work is referential to the decades of the 1970s and 80s, with images imbued with an essence of sensational glamour. This nature of flamboyance is contrived from the acquisition of material objects that seem to promise the attainment of, or transformation into, a better life. As Desler Costa vehemently believes in photography’s ability to elevate mundane and ordinary objects, his images not only affect consumer’s desires but generate a craving for re-invention. His highly aestheticised images, which emulate qualities found within magazines and film, strive to display the capability of the photo existing purely as its own object.
Costa has exhibited his pictures and films at venues including the Aperture Foundation in New York, Baxter St. Camera Club of New York, Arsenale di Venezia in Venice, Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, Mana Contemporary in New Jersey, and the International Center of Photography in New York. Recent solo exhibitions have been displayed at galleries including the Foley Gallery in New York and Book Dummy Project Space in Jersey City. His works are included in the permanent collections of the Estée Lauder/Leonard Lauder Collection, the Cleveland Clinic Art Collection, BNY Mellon Collection and the collection of the International Center of Photography. His photographs have appeared in various publications and online including The New York Times, Self Publish Be Happy, Vice, Visual Studies Workshop Journal, and Musee Magazine.
