Sante D'Orazio, Barely Private

A decade after his sizzling debut A Private View, Sante d’Orazio returns with a second volume of photo-diary-scrapbook, covering 1997 to 2008. Uncensored and provocative, d’Orazio’s shots are mounted in collage-style entries framed with candid, handwritten observations. All-night parties and day-long photo sessions provide the light and shade of d’Orazio’s jetset lifestyle—celebrities, models, musicians, actors and artists all feature, in various states of dress and undress. Informal images contrast with posed shots, color with black and white, and outtakes are shown along published photos from the likes of Playboy and Interview. With a keen eye, d’Orazio creates a dynamic tableau of moods and styles. Access to this demi-monde is rare; capturing its essence in words and pictures, rarer still. Sante d’Orazio succeeds on both counts.