By Bondo Wyszpolski, Contributor
Ray Carofano has pointed out different subjects in Faces of Pedro, his most recent publication, which highlights 56 black-and-white images of San Pedro’s denizens, past and present.
“It’s not really about the homeless, although there’s a number of them in the book because they’re in town here and I find them interesting, interesting in their lifestyles and what they’ve gone through and how they’ve survived,” Carofano said.
Carofano began this series in 1998.
“Shortly after moving to San Pedro, I became aware of the many different cultures and interesting people surrounding me,” he noted elsewhere. “I befriended many of the locals here and began taking photographs of them in my studio, sometimes long after the bars have closed.”
It should be clear by now that Carofano hadn’t set his sights on high school cheerleaders, gym rats or ballerinas. Coco Chanel has been quoted as saying, “Nature gives you the face you have at twenty, but it’s up to you to merit the face you have at fifty.”
Speaking of 50, it turns out that 39 of the subjects depicted in Faces of Pedro have crossed that rubicon, with 18 of them younger.
“A lot of these people look older than they really are,” Carofano pointed out.
He added that the median age is about 60. Of course, by that point in life, nature has already scraped away some of our initial, rosy-hued beauty and begun laying in the wrinkles, the gray hairs and the liver spots that will make us almost as generic at 80 as we were as infants.
That’s not to suggest that this is a collection of unattractive people. And what do we mean by “unattractive” anyway? These are, rather, weathered faces, some a great deal more than others, but what draws us to these portraits — apart from the exquisite use of the camera and Carofano’s skillful lighting — is that each visage
seems to convey a life story, a short autobiography in code.
“If you look at somebody’s legs or arms it doesn’t really tell you anything about the person,” Carofano said. “But the face. We can look at somebody and go, That guy looks like a toughie or looks like a nice guy or a nice lady. Looks tell you a story (although) it might be wrong in certain areas. Still, you’re going to find out the most
about that individual probably by looking at them closely.”
A pause in the action
Ray Carofano and his wife Arnée own and work out of Gallery 478, on Seventh Street near Pacific Avenue.
For the past several years, and especially during the San Pedro Art Walks — remember those? — anyone from the merely curious to the connoisseur who wandered into the gallery would almost always single out the wall
where Carofano has been displaying some 40 images from his Faces of Pedro series (images which he rotates periodically). It’s been the Rembrandt in the room, so to speak, the parts congregated into the whole that was for many the highlight of their initial visit. People would regularly comment on them, perhaps compliment them
is a better word, but Carofano reveals that nobody has ever laid out a few bucks in order to buy one.
“There’s a reason behind that,” he said. “When you look at the faces, a lot of them are a little spooky and I can’t imagine somebody bringing one home and hanging it up in their bedroom or even over their sofa.”
But to own a book or a portfolio of these images? Well, yes; people have responded positively to that idea.
Now, they’ll have a chance to respond with their billfolds. However, if it wasn’t for the pandemic, it’s likely we’d still be talking about the prospect of a publication rather than the volume itself.
“You’re not bringing people in here who we don’t know,” Arnée made clear.
So, the indoor photography came to a sudden stop. Theaters call this “the great intermission” and for Carofano, as for many artists of whatever medium, blocks of time became available that simply weren’t there before. And thus, Carofano was presented with a golden opportunity — although who doesn’t wish these
opportunities didn’t have to come at such a great economic cost to the entire country.
Don’t hold that pose
Some people may ask, “Where does Carofano find his subjects?”
After all, these men and women tend to have distinctive facial features that for better or worse elude the normal person.
In years past, Carofano found many of them hanging out in the neighborhood or in San Pedro’s dive bars. He’s always been affable and he’d strike up conversations with the regulars, many of whom met his criteria, people whose faces revealed or suggested a story.
“That worked out pretty well in the old days,” he said.
In more recent years, during his walks or his bicycling around town, he’d spot folks out on the streets or he’d skirt the homeless camps.
“I can find people there or talk to them,” he said.
And, that led to additional subjects for his portfolio.
“If they’re homeless I usually offer them some money to help them out, and it helps me out, too,” he said.
Back in the studio, the lighting setup would already be in place if Carofano was expecting to shoot and it’s a process that takes him a few hours to get just right.
“If you look closely on the floor there [are] little circles that tell me where the light’s going to be, where the diffusion’s going to be,” he said. “I’ve got it all written down, the power of each strobe, it’s all set up. I have a piece of tape on the floor and I like them to stand on that position because I don’t hold the camera, it’s on a
(tripod).”
As for getting a “pose,” Carofano said that he doesn’t really tell them what to do, but it’s evident that he wants them to be natural and relaxed and then engages them in conversation. What he’s looking for is a candid shot and not one where someone has put on their best but artificial smile. “When you look at some of those
faces, somebody’s got their mouth open because they’re talking to me and I’m talking to them, and the camera’s rolling while we’re doing that,” he explained. “I like that look; It’s not fake; it’s the real McCoy; it’s what that person looks like when they’re having a conversation.”
Early on, Carofano often reveled in the stories he heard, but he didn’t write them down.
“Then I bought a pocket recorder, and we’d sit around and talk, either before or after [a shooting session],” he said.
Later he began video recording, which further documented the occasion.
“When I photograph you that means you’re going to be around for a long, long time,” he explained to them.
“Long after you’re gone and I’m gone you’re still going to be around.”
And I believe the new volume will back him up on that!
The final touch
The effectiveness of the portraits resides in the detail, the veritable landscape, of each face along with the tonality and the lighting that enhances it all. Of course, as Ron Linden writes in his introduction to the book, it’s also a collaboration between photographer and subject. Linden refers to it as a negotiation, with “the photographer searching for the essence that words can’t describe.”
It’s there, we all have an essence and if you want to liken Carofano to a miner he’s chipping away until he finds the diamond in the rough. Maybe it’s taken 20, 30, or 40 clicks of the shutter, but find it he does and the conclusive proof is now waiting, between the covers, for everyone who ever admired them on the wall, but never wanted one above their sofa.
Faces of Pedro by Ray Carofano, hardbound with 57 images on premium paper is $60. California residents add sales tax. Shipping and handling, U.S. flat rate is $15. Book with 8×10 archival paper print is $160.
Details: ray@carofano.com