Dante first named his epic work "Visions", which has informed my making of these 45 photographs for the Divine Comedy. It is a truly modern story; an autobiographical, contemporary journey through the social, political and moral climate of Italy in the 13 th century. It is grounded in Dante's intimate knowledge of his times and the people of Italy. The Divine Comedy was written over twenty years when Dante was in exile from Florence and facing a death penalty for treason and sedition. He brilliantly uses friends and enemies as the living cast of characters in his writing, excoriating or praising those who were tormenting or supporting him. Dante was immersed in the politics of his day, and became a superb statesman often called upon to carry out diplomatic missions and serve as a mediator. It was the perfect public role for an artist whose command of language set him apart.

Since its publication many, many visual artists have been inspired to illustrate the Divine Comedy, and because of brilliant precedents, it was a challenge to undertake. For me, it must be grounded in my authentic response to the work. I found tremendous humor, passion, social commentary, and above all a descriptive evocation of the real world Dante lived in. It is utterly modern and of its place.

So the Divine Comedy for me is not an allegorical presentation that called for literal illustrations of the scenes in the story. I did not want to illustrate the circles of hell, the levels of purgatory, and the spheres of paradise. Rather I sought to refer to the states of mind Dante presents us with.

This meant finding contemporary sources which reflected my own journey, here and now in Los Angeles. It had to reflect my personal process of individuation and seeking knowledge. Like Dante, I came to this project having found myself in a 'dark wood'. I leave it feeling slightly redeemed. Because I am sure this is what happened for Dante in the years he wrote the political Inferno, the psychological Purgatorio, and finally the transcendent Paradise. He came into consciousness as an individual and perhaps attained a peace with life.

Dante could have been a Buddhist. There is a great parallel between the 'ten worlds' of Buddhism and the progressive states of mind in the Divine Comedy. In the Buddhist 'ten world' scenario we are continually experiencing states of being that operate at a level far below the conscious mind. The worlds, from the lowest to the highest are; hell, hunger, animality, anger, humanity, rapture, learning, realization, compassion, and enlightenment. The first six qualities are the six lower worlds, (the inferno), where we stay trapped, moving from one state of being to another incessantly, none of them lasting. These are reactive states of mind, unlike the next three, which are proactive, as is purgatory. You can actually do something about your predicament, and you take action. The final state, like paradise, is difficult to describe because we do not often experience it, but we know it's there.

My portfolio of 45 photographs is of the here and now, my Los Angeles of 2005. I have made images which are 'referrals', rather than literal illustrations of Dante's work. The photographs for the 'inferno' were created by shooting at the Los Angeles Erotic Convention. My intention is not to moralize on eroticism, but to look at people who have lost a core sense of themselves as they create different masks or personas to wear, and then disappear completely into these artificial personas.   Herein is the kind of suffering, never knowing oneself, that is at the heart of the Inferno.

Purgatorio is a series of self-portraits. It is about the struggle to come to terms with a glimmer of consciousness, a beginning awareness that heaven and hell are not far away mythic places but are really part of me. The metaphor of a priest as mediator, dealing with the seven deadly sins, has numerous levels of meaning for a contemporary world suspicious of religious interlocutors yet desperately needing some kind of faith. It is difficult to leave purgatory without some kind of faith.

Paradise, the place we cannot fully apprehend but only retain a dim memory of, became an approach to   the heart of Beauty. The images for this section were shot in Los Angeles' Forest Lawn Cemetery, literally a theme park for the dead. Throughout the park hundreds of faux neo-classical sculptures have been placed as a way of creating the theme of paradise. It is so particularly 'American', to create an enormous folly in the pursuit of a dream, yet there is nobility in the attempt, as well as beauty, nature and compassion in the effort, and the best way to conclude the return from paradise to the earth.

Clayton Campbell, August, 2005