At the Italian American Museum John's Family
Andrea Lodico

Photography is an intensely intimate art form, with the final product existing as a tangible link between the artist and his or her reality. Both historical and personal, photography captures what is both ordinary and extraordinary in our lives, often discovering the extraordinary within the ordinary. The work of contemporary photographer John Milisenda presents a personal story that is both exceptional and familiar through simple black and white images that depict the complexities of family life and love.
Exhibited from January 10 – February 8, 2005, Milisenda’s striking “Dennis, Rose, and Sal: Family Portraits” will be the Italian American Museum’s second showcasing of a contemporary Italian American artist, a continued exploration of the current nature of Italian American art and artists as it relates to American culture.
“Dennis, Rose, and Sal: Family Portraits” exists as the culmination of over thirty-five years of endless photographing and documenting of Milisenda’s own mother, father, and brother, Dennis. The eternal observer, Milisenda’s photographs illuminate the universality of complex familial interactions while depicting the unique love and struggles of his family due to Dennis’ developmental disability.
The exhibit focuses on the remarkable bond between Dennis and Milisenda’s mother, Rose. The two were not separated until Dennis moved into a residence at fifty-four years old, a close physical proximately captured through Dennis’ mimicking of his mother’s gestures and stance throughout the photographs that comprise “Dennis, Rose, and Sal: Family Portraits”. A simple picture of Rose and Dennis taken after the death of Milisenda’s father, Sal, illustrates their bond, even as the family’s dynamics and relationships shift and change. Sal’s absence is tangibly felt within this black and white moment. Dennis walks a few feet behind Rose in an empty parking lot, assuming Rose’s slouching stoop of old age, as if mother and son are one in the stark landscape that highlights the figures and their inextricable bond.
Milisenda’s simple black and white creations utilize a balance between darkness and light to depict an amalgam of feelings of closeness and isolation, as a simple portrait of a solo Dennis contrasts with a joyful, playful photograph of Sal and friends.
“Dennis, Rose, and Sal: Family Portraits” highlights familiar moments of family life: a family get-together, a smiling mother and son, a mother caught unaware by her photographing son; moments that could otherwise fade and combine with other endless forgotten moments.
Photographs, and specifically Milisenda’s photographs, celebrate the significance of the lives captured within their frames. Milisenda, who describes Dennis as one who “hates to talk about himself,” celebrates his brother, his parents, and their lives together, giving them a singular voice and history.
Milisenda’s very personal “Dennis, Rose, and Sal: Family Portraits” simultaneously inhabits the universal nature of family life and relationships, especially as a portrait of Italian American life during the 20th century.
As curator Dr. Joseph Sciorra, Assistant Director for Academic and Cultural Programs at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute emphasized when asked of Milisenda’s work, “Milisenda’s “Dennis, Rose, and Sal: Family Portraits” resonates as an urban, New York story.” Sciorra believes Milisenda’s depictions of his family will resonate for many viewers because of their intimate objectivity.
Milisenda’s “Dennis, Rose, and Sal: Family Portraits” has been displayed in over 125 photography exhibitions. His work comes to the Italian American Museum on January 10, 2005 - February 8. Milisenda’s current project is researching his paternal ancestors’ history in the lower east side and Racalmuto, Palermo.
The Italian American Museum, which is in transitional residence at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute and is affiliated with the City University of New York, is located at 28 West 44th Street, 17th floor, Manhattan. The Museum is dedicated to exploring the rich cultural heritage of Italy and Italian Americans and its influence on contemporary culture.