Jesse Rieser: Souvenirs from Paradise – LENSCRATCH

For his exhibition titled Souvenirs From Paradise, Jesse intertwines divergent narratives from his works A Vanishing America Folklore and The Changing Landscape of American Retail in his search to find meaning in the meaningless. I have always been a big fan of Jesse Rieser’s way of seeing. We’ve featured his humorous and quirky series focused

via LENSCRATCH: http://lenscratch.com/2022/12/jesse-rieser-souvenirs-from-paradise/

I have always been a big fan of Jesse Rieser’s way of seeing. We’ve featured his humorous and quirky series focused on the holidays, Christmas in America Happy Birthday Jesus, numerous times and it always makes me laugh. He is a great observer of not only human behaviors but continues to look hard at what is disappearing in our cultural zeitgeist.  Rieser recently opened the exhibition, Souvenirs from Paradise, at the The Gallery at Mountain Shadows in Paradise Valley, Arizona that is on view until January 6th, 2023

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[contentcards url=“https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/2019/11/22/photographing-retail-apocalypse/”]

The Photographer Who Stalked a Serial Killer

In October of last year, some three months after the last reported shooting, Phoenix photographer Jesse Rieser made the forty-minute drive to Maryvale and spent a little more than a week in the neighborhood. Joining him was the French journalist Emmanuelle Andreani-Facchin of Society Magazine, who spoke with residents and detectives about the case. Their story ran in the magazine on the week of the US election, as part of the “America” issue.

Christmas in America: Over the Top, Close to the Heart

A chance meeting with a synthetic, 40-foot-tall, somewhat disturbing Santa guarding a Christmas tree lot made Jesse Rieser realize the strange ways Americans show their love for the holiday season. Since that fateful encounter in Glendale, Ariz., in 2010, Mr. Rieser has dedicated himself to finding the most over-the-top home light displays, outlandish Santas and overworked elves, as well as sincere displays of religious devotion.

Link: L E N S C R A T C H: Jesse Rieser

You might call Jesse Reiser a Young Gun, at least the Art Director’s Club said so when they selected him as one of the top 50 Emerging Creatives.  The 2012 Magenta Foundation also felt he should be a Flash Forward Winner, and Communications Arts gave him a nod in the the 2012 Photo Annual.  Plus it doesn’t hurt that he was one of Center’s Review Santa Fe 100 last year and works with clients such as Publicis World Wide, M&C Saatchi, Cramer Krasselt, the NFL, Ritz Carlton, Warner Brothers, The NBA, Proctor & Gamble, The John Paul Getty Museum, and ESPN Magazine. There is a reason for all of this fan fare.  Jesse is a seer and seeker, looking inward and outward at our world and culture, as evidenced by this range of imagery and ability to tell a story

L E N S C R A T C H:

Initially inspired by the absurdity of a five story inflatable Santa who appeared to be guarding a tree lot, I have launched this survey of uniquely American Christmas traditions. “Christmas in America” is an unvarnished examination of the ways people mark the holiday’s meaning.