"Since the late 1970s, diCorcia has pursued a distinctive photographic style that blends documentary fact with narrative fiction. His lush color photographs, carefully staged and lit, imply unfolding stories. “They are like frames from unforgettable movies that were never made—arrested dramas in which people play their more mysterious selves,” states Peter Galassi.
The pictures exhibited in Philip-Lorca diCorcia: Strangers were made in the vicinity of Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, California, in an area frequented by male prostitutes and other hustlers. There diCorcia approached men and offered to pay them to pose in settings he had arranged for them in motel rooms, or parking lots, or on the street. Each photograph is titled with the name of the man who posed for the picture, his age and place of birth, and the sum diCorcia paid him."
