A photographer's eye isolates a “slice of life” to carve out the essence of the American experience. Some call the product of this vision “Americana.” Local photographer Kevin Rivoli calls it “Rockwellian.”
Rivoli's new book, “In Search of Rockwell's America,” illustrates Rockwell's conceptual connection to his own today, dispelling the charge that Norman Rockwell's America is a myth. In the book, Rivoli juxtaposes 68 of his own black-and-white images with paintings by Rockwell.
“Life - real life - is about looking at, appreciating and embracing the simple things right in front of us,” Rivoli said on his book jacket. “Rockwell was a man who made it his mission to celebrate the ordinary.”
The idea for a book of pairs came to Rivoli on a visit to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. It began with one pairing and mushroomed as he and his wife Michele researched the paintings over a period of two years, finding more and more similarities.
“The America he painted is alive and well today,” Rivoli said. “As a news photographer, generally the news isn't that good. I've always been attracted to making slice-of-life pictures.”
While Rivoli used some of his news photos, most pictures for the book came from his forays into small towns, where he captured American life at its best.
“The photos were taken on my own time, cruising around and looking for pictures,” he said.
Rivoli didn't set out to imitate Rockwell, but said he had always liked his paintings.
Rivoli tapped into photos he had been taking over a period of 15 to 18 years. He captured scenes that had a “Rockwellian nature, a Rockwellian feel.”
“When I come across it, I'm able to capture it,” he said. “It's so easy to miss these moments - simple, quiet moments.”
Rivoli spoke affectionately of his upbringing by a widowed mother, crediting her with imbuing in him a sense of “all the things that mattered, that I consider today a kind of Rockwell feeling.”
Rivoli said he created this book as a legacy for his twin sons, Jack and Nick, now 3.
“May the message of this book - hope, faith and embracing the simple things in life - stay with you always,” he told them in the book's acknowledgements.
Photos and illustrations in Rivoli's book are interspersed with quotations from Norman Rockwell and celebrities, including news anchor Brian Williams, former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca, singer Andy Williams, former editor of “The Saturday Evening Post” Ben Hibbs, Dick Clark, Ed Asner, Valerie Harper and Dr. Phil McGraw.
“The pictures are so clear and detailed, so precisely and simply there in front of us, that they seem to present the story innocent of artifice. We can encounter the picture directly because it shows us a physical reality that we do not doubt,” said Peter Rockwell, Norman's son, in an excerpt from “Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People,” which is included in Rivoli's book.
Rivoli is finishing his second book, an extension of his first, pairing more images with different Rockwell reproductions.
Kathleen Barran
253-5311 ext. 238
kathleen.barran@lee.net
If you go.
What: Kevin Rivoli presents “In Search of Norman Rockwell's America”
When: 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16
Where: Creekside Books & Coffee, 35 Fennell St., Skaneateles
Cost: Free
Info: Call 685-0379
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19
Where: Bisgrove Community Theatre, Cayuga Community College, 197 Franklin St., Auburn
Cost: Free
Info: Call 255-1743
“Life - real life - is about looking at, appreciating and embracing the simple things right in front of us,” Rivoli said on his book jacket. “Rockwell was a man who made it his mission to celebrate the ordinary.”
The idea for a book of pairs came to Rivoli on a visit to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. It began with one pairing and mushroomed as he and his wife Michele researched the paintings over a period of two years, finding more and more similarities.
“The America he painted is alive and well today,” Rivoli said. “As a news photographer, generally the news isn't that good. I've always been attracted to making slice-of-life pictures.”
While Rivoli used some of his news photos, most pictures for the book came from his forays into small towns, where he captured American life at its best.
“The photos were taken on my own time, cruising around and looking for pictures,” he said.
Rivoli didn't set out to imitate Rockwell, but said he had always liked his paintings.
Rivoli tapped into photos he had been taking over a period of 15 to 18 years. He captured scenes that had a “Rockwellian nature, a Rockwellian feel.”
“When I come across it, I'm able to capture it,” he said. “It's so easy to miss these moments - simple, quiet moments.”
Rivoli spoke affectionately of his upbringing by a widowed mother, crediting her with imbuing in him a sense of “all the things that mattered, that I consider today a kind of Rockwell feeling.”
Rivoli said he created this book as a legacy for his twin sons, Jack and Nick, now 3.
“May the message of this book - hope, faith and embracing the simple things in life - stay with you always,” he told them in the book's acknowledgements.
Photos and illustrations in Rivoli's book are interspersed with quotations from Norman Rockwell and celebrities, including news anchor Brian Williams, former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca, singer Andy Williams, former editor of “The Saturday Evening Post” Ben Hibbs, Dick Clark, Ed Asner, Valerie Harper and Dr. Phil McGraw.
“The pictures are so clear and detailed, so precisely and simply there in front of us, that they seem to present the story innocent of artifice. We can encounter the picture directly because it shows us a physical reality that we do not doubt,” said Peter Rockwell, Norman's son, in an excerpt from “Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People,” which is included in Rivoli's book.
Rivoli is finishing his second book, an extension of his first, pairing more images with different Rockwell reproductions.
Kathleen Barran
253-5311 ext. 238
kathleen.barran@lee.net
If you go.
What: Kevin Rivoli presents “In Search of Norman Rockwell's America”
When: 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16
Where: Creekside Books & Coffee, 35 Fennell St., Skaneateles
Cost: Free
Info: Call 685-0379
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19
Where: Bisgrove Community Theatre, Cayuga Community College, 197 Franklin St., Auburn
Cost: Free
Info: Call 255-1743
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