Mark de Paola is a New York City-based photographer. His pictorialist work as a still and motion artist has been driven by his studies of the neurobiology and cognitive psychology of human vision.
At age 21, de Paola’s first professional assignment was shooting a magazine cover of actor Henry Fonda. Since that time, de Paola has worked in New York, Los Angeles, and Milan, Mark shot countless campaigns, editorials, and covers, including those for Vogue Mexico, Vogue Spain, Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Interview Magazine.
At age 21, de Paola’s first professional assignment was shooting a magazine cover of actor Henry Fonda. Since that time, de Paola has worked in New York, Los Angeles, and Milan, Mark shot countless campaigns, editorials, and covers, including those for Vogue Mexico, Vogue Spain, Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Interview Magazine.
De Paola's storytelling style quickly translated to directing television commercials where he directed and shot several hundred spots including those for Anheuser-Busch (aired on Super Bowl), Giorgio RED Perfume worldwide launch (exhibited in Museum of Modern Art N.Y.), Donna Karan, Neutrogena, English Ideas Cosmetics, Sony Cybershot, Ford Motorsports, Toyota, Ducati Motorcycles, and many more.
After working in commercial photography and film, de Paola turned his focus solely on the pursuit of fine art exhibition, monograph publication, commissions, and international education around the world. De Paola’s fine art work readily garnered critical acclaim and he was established as a reputable artist at the forefront of the conversation.
De Paola’s first fine art photographic series, 60 Seconds, was premiered at the Leica Gallery San Francisco, Leica Gallery Los Angeles, Leica Gallery Boston, and the Leica Gallery Ginza in Tokyo. 60 Seconds delves into a realm of abstract figures, fluidity, and
poetic forms, challenging and seducing the limits of motion contained within still image. Each photograph was taken with a handheld 60-second exposure. The limited edition signed 60 Seconds maquettes were released in Fall 2017.
De Paola debuted his second fine art series Art of Backstage, documenting the primal backstage environment of New York, London, and Milan fashion week. The series has since been exhibited at the Leica Gallery Ginza Six in Tokyo, the 7th Dali International Photo Festival in Dali, China, Caelum Gallery NYC, and the Leica Gallery Soho in New York City.
His third fine art series Recent Work debuted at PhotoFairs SF alongside Fred
Lyon, Ralph Gibson and Danny Wilcox Frazier with the Leica Gallery San Francisco in Winter 2018. Created over several years, the series includes portrait, nude, landscape, and inanimate object, and narrates de Paola’s memories of people, places and objects. The series premiered at the Leica Gallery Porto Fall 2018, opened in Summer 2019 at The Gallery at Leica Store San Francisco. The series then traveled to Milan, Italy in Fall 2019 for a solo exhibition at the Leica Gallery Milan as a part of the Triennale Museum’s Time of the Woman exhibition.
Lyon, Ralph Gibson and Danny Wilcox Frazier with the Leica Gallery San Francisco in Winter 2018. Created over several years, the series includes portrait, nude, landscape, and inanimate object, and narrates de Paola’s memories of people, places and objects. The series premiered at the Leica Gallery Porto Fall 2018, opened in Summer 2019 at The Gallery at Leica Store San Francisco. The series then traveled to Milan, Italy in Fall 2019 for a solo exhibition at the Leica Gallery Milan as a part of the Triennale Museum’s Time of the Woman exhibition.
Alongside the Recent Work series debut in Porto, de Paola launched the Recent Work book published by Alex Ramos Press in collaboration with the Leica Store San Francisco. The Recent Work I & II books have since been added to the permanent collection libraries at Museum of Modern Art in New York City, The Getty, Los Angeles, The San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts, and the TOP Museum in Tokyo. Recent Work III is slated to be released in December 2021 to conclude the Recent Work series with all three monographs in a limited edition fabric slipcase.
Coinciding with de Paola’s pursuits as a fine art photographer, educating a new generation of artists came to the forefront of his artistic mission. Mark has become a highly sought after guest speaker and professor. He has given master classes around the world including a discussion “The Truth” with Alessia Glaviano, Senior Photo Editor at Vogue Italia, “Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition” at the Contemporary Jewish Museum San Francisco, "Leica M Panel" with Ralph Gibson and Leica Camera at Photoville New York City, and de Paola's Masterclass “Photography Wide Open” at the Leica Store San Francisco, the Leica Gallery Los Angeles, the Leica Store Boston, the Leica Store Tokyo, and the New York Film Academy. De Paola often teaches in Asia and has completed a private master workshop at the Great Wall of China, a three-day intensive in the ancient town of Dali, as well as masterclasses in Tokyo and Kyoto. In 2020, much of his instruction moved online allowing de Paola to continue to give lectures around the world. Recent lectures have included a masterclass on optics in Tokyo with Peter Karbe and Leica Camera Japan, a lecture on editorial fashion and art direction in Florence, Italy with Polimoda, and a masterclass in Paris with the Ecole Internationale Bilingue.
In 2021, Mark released his limited edition monograph Five Years and Sixty Seconds published by Brilliant in Exton, Pennsylvania (Sally Mann, George Tice, Mark Seliger, Ralph Gibson, etc). The monograph encapsulates 400 pages and five years of Mark’s fine art work in both a trade edition (9x12 inches) and a collector’s gallery edition (20x27 inches).
COLLECTIONS
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The J. Paul Getty Museum
The TOP Museum, Tokyo
The San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts
Notable private collections around the world