NEW YORK, NY.- The Robin Rice Gallery presents “episodes (without a real order)”, the first solo photographic exhibition by Leonardo Pucci.

The delicate sensuality and voyeuristic feeling in Leonardo Pucci’s work allows his photographs to act as indefinite episodes, stolen moments in the lives of individuals or couples caught unaware. But the narrative Pucci is most interested in, is the stories his photographs elicit from the piece’s observers rather than the story of his subjects themselves.

Shot mostly at dusk or at night, Pucci’s imagery creates a vague tension in his observer: “the idea that you are looking at something you shouldn’t be seeing provokes a feeling of curiosity and emotion, paired with a subtle discomfort or shame”. “However, this turmoil is temporary as the observer’s personal memories take over in the desire to have his/her own story told.

Through the artist’s use of strong geometric compositions and his almost three-dimensional contrasting colors, the photographs reveal moments that are usually secretive and hidden eliminating the distance between the observer and the subject. The exhibition’s invitational image “Paris 9:33am” demonstrates Pucci’s synthesis of composition, color, and narrative. In essence, the fine and detailed arrangement of Pucci’s subjects and their environment - the placement and color of a distant window and the stranger therein create a theater in which the observer can play out their own dreams and impressions.

Describing his episodes, which have been installed against a dark grey wall, Pucci states, “They are crystallized instants and therefore appear strangely like a canvas that everyone recognizes, adding their own meanings, tales and emotions which go beyond the image itself.”

Leonardo Pucci is a self-taught photographer born in Pisa, Italy. He is currently living between Paris and Rome. He was able to nourish his eye for beauty and narrative through his work in fashion at Italian and French “Maisons”, supervising creative and development processes. Leonardo Pucci links his first memories of photography to his father, who would record every moment of their family life. Among his influences, Pucci lists Franco Fontana, Saul Leiter, Merry Alpern, and Philip-Lorca di Corcia.