Opera by David Leventi

Opera records the interiors of world-famous opera houses. Architecturally meticulous, this body of work serves to historically document these national and cultural landmarks. The opera houses in Opera stand as symbols of their nations’ wealth and grandeur, their dedication to the promotion of the arts and to bringing communities together.

..." I have photographed each house systematically from the spot at centre stage where a performer would stand. In the same manner as which the voice of each famous singer projects and bounces off ornate private boxes and resonates under painted trompe l’oeil ceilings, the light in the opera house strikes each of these features and returns to the camera, affixing them to film. The photographs in Opera freeze for eternity the instant before a performance takes place.

Viewers are invited to pour over details, to feel the potential energy in a space where it is all just about to happen. The actual performance is just a part of the overall awe-inspiring experience of going to the theatre – I believe that the space itself can be the event."... [David Leventi]

(b. 1978, US) Leventi is a fine-art photographer based in New York City. He received his BFA in Photography from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and has been published in TIME, the New York Times Magazine, ESPN The Magazine, FT Weekend Magazine, and Condé Nast Traveller.  Leventi is represented by Rick Wester Fine Art in New York, Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans, Bau-Xi Photo in Toronto and Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta.

Why 1%: Privilege in a Time of Global Inequality... Little aimed to choose work that spoke the same language as the wealthy. "The show is about exclusivity; it's about privilege, and so I'm using that language of privilege and wealth to critique privilege and wealth," he said. Aside from its incredible decadence, Little loved the idea that this opera house in Monte Carlo was also located inside a casino, a place of "high risk and lots of money." [Myles Little]