Service by PAUL SOLBERG
CASA DE COSTA
11 Stone St, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10004
Casa de Costa gallery is pleased to announce Service, a solo photography exhibition by artist Paul Solberg. The body of work, completed in 2010, consists of 20 portraits of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. The exhibition at Casa de Costa’s penthouse gallery in Lower Manhattan opens to the public on March 7th and runs through April 18th.
During the 2010 “Fleet Week” in New York City, Solberg captured a series of austere portraits on vintage Polaroid SX 70 film. In a flurry of activity, the artist met and photographed literally hundreds of young service members. Working tirelessly for days, Solberg bicycled in and around Times Square creating the portraits. What he didn’t know at the time was that something truly unexpected would happen: the unstable vintage film stock began to deteriorate within days. The images began a rapid degeneration and most were lost entirely. Of the hundreds of portraits, Solberg was able to scan and salvage this small selection.
The faces in Service look almost as if haunted by experience, by innocence lost too soon. In their world, courage and fear, invincibility and vulnerability are close companions. The fading, ephemeral quality of Solberg’s images speaks to the often-unseen trials, sacrifices made, and burdens borne in the name of service to country.
“In this exhibition, Paul has created a series of portraits that evoke a sense of the fragility of life, and encourage us to reflect on the motivation to serve,” said Jason Costa, founder of Casa de Costa. “This body of work simultaneously honors our men and women in uniform, and also encourages us to reflect on the realities of sending our young people to war.”
“Photographing these young people was a moving experience, and I definitely gained a deeper understanding of their world, and respect for their dedication to service,” said Solberg.
