Flushing photographer grapples with being ‘out of time’ in new QC exhibition
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An example of work on view at the exhibition. Photo courtesy of Simone Caprifogli.
By Victoria Merlino
A new photo exhibition made its debut at Queens College last week, marrying ideas of nostalgia, change, community and what “home” can really mean.
“Out of Time, Senza Tempo,” by artist and photographer Simone Caprifogli, features photos of two important locations in Caprifogli’s life — his hometown of Bologna, Italy, and New York City, where he has lived since 2005. By juxtaposing the photos in the same exhibition, Caprifogli fosters connections between the two, exploring how these communities change over time, and yet stay the same. Caprifogli intentionally tried to make the images difficult to place, giving them what he hopes is a “timeless” feeling.
The idea, Caprifogli told the Eagle through email, came to him after making a mistake while developing a photo as a student at Queens College. Instead of the black and white he was aiming for, the photo was yellowish and the paper looked wrinkled.
“Despite being upset about the waste of time and money, I thought it actually looked cool the way it came out, and that gave me an idea to give an old look for photographs almost as if you found the photographs in your grandma’s attic: looking through these amazing old pictures, you wonder what year that might have been, or where the picture was taken,” Caprifogli wrote.
The title, “Out of Time,” holds dual significance for Caprifogli — a nod to both the nostalgic past and the uncertain future.
“I also chose to call it Out Of Time as a sort of play on words to describe my own current situation: running out of time as my work visa is expiring for good, and facing the prospect of leaving my adopted home and returning to a home that I no longer know,” he wrote.
Caprifogli, who works as a graphic designer and photographer for Queens College, initially lived in Greenwich Village when he first moved to New York, though now he lives in Flushing. His recent projects besides the exhibition include taking promotional photos for a safari company in Kenya, and working on branding for a tea company his friend is starting up. He is also working on a project honoring one of his favorite decades: the 1980s.
“I want to travel around the US before leaving and take pictures that explore and pay homage to 80s America,” he wrote.
“Out of Time, Senza Tempo” is on view now until August 15. It is located at Queens College Art Center, the Rosenthal Library, 6th Floor at 65-30 Kissena Blvd. in Flushing, open from Monday to Thursday each week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for free viewing.
