Power of poetry and suggestion in the photography of Dalton Portella

Dalton Portella’s photographs make you wonder. Could that picnic table be floating in the ocean? Are those kids really playing in a junked car graveyard? Do people frolic seaside while a tank sits on the beach nearby?

The ability to combine unlikely scenes into a credible narrative lies at the heart of Mr. Portella’s art. His aim is to create compositions that make people pause while looking at them. While viewers are in mid-thought, the Montauk artist also hopes stories begin to bubble into consciousness.

“It’s like poetry,” Mr. Portella said. “There’s a lot of meanings in a few words.”

Asked about meaning, Mr. Portella preferred to let his photographs speak for themselves while he offered some insight into his aim as an artist and the techniques he employs. His photography is featured in his solo exhibition, “path,” on view at Solar Contemporary Art and Design in East Hampton. The show features eight photographs that aim to take visitors on a “path” to meaning.

“They’re not one narrative,” gallery director Esperanza Leon said. “Different interpretations are possible. Like all fine art, the viewer brings the meaning to what they see.”

Surrounded by his photographs, Mr. Portella explained that he works to create artworks that will “hold up over time.” To reach through the ages, Mr. Portella relies on current digital know-how he learned in the marketing world. For decades, Mr. Portella helped meld and blend image clips into movie poster designs for Miramax. Some recognizable images include “Pulp Fiction,” “Scream,” “Halloween,” and “Life Is Beautiful,” among others.

He now applies these technical skills to push surreal scenarios into plausible ones. The subtle details and seamless blending of elements allows the image to resemble a faithful reproduction of a strange event.

To accomplish this realism, shadows are coaxed into place, color blending melds mix-and-match imagery. A soft painterly wash of color adds beauty to each work.

While a tank might actually be parked on a beach, the scale of the outsize girl in the foreground offers a hint that this is probably not a real scene. Picnic tables that appear in or near the surf in multiple images beg the question of how they came to be there.

There is a painterly aspect to each photograph, adding to the sensation of uncertainty about the issue of fact versus fiction, Mr. Dalton explained. This effect is achieved by painting digitally with a stylus tool. When not making digital images from photographs he makes, Mr. Dalton is a painter and surfer. He brings his love of both to his imagery.

“I’m working digitally instead of with paint,” he said. “I’m making art—the only difference is the tools I’m using.”

It was the combination of the painterly qualities, the surrealistic aspects and the unsettling emotional characteristics of his images that caught the eye of Ms. Leon. The way ordinary items are juxtaposed and set amid vaguely threatening environments and moods captivated the gallery director’s imagination.

“There is a painterly aspect to them,” she said. “I love the way he juxtaposes scenes that seem like they’re documenting a moment in time. The photographs are complex and there’s an element of something dark that makes them interesting.”

The mood in each photograph is purposefully developed, Mr. Portella said. In the photograph, “At Play in the Fields of Men,” the clouds in a sunset sky are darkened to enhance their beauty and render them slightly ominous. The sky was photographed on a perfect day in Montauk, he said. The decaying and broken cars were also found beneath sunny skies—only those were found in Mexico.

The cars were darkened nearly to black and their edges blurred so that the broken vehicles seem to cradle a trio of girls running in a circle. The playful girls were photographed on an East End beach. Combined, the photograph forms an unsettling image of childhood innocence set among destitution and danger.

No matter what composition he’s developing, Mr. Portella finds fun making his digital artwork. It also suits his high-energy personality. When not photographing or painting, he can be found playing guitar and singing with his Latin rhythm-inspired rock group, the Bastards of Boom.

The “path” exhibition will remain on view through November 30 at Solar, 44 Davids Lane, East Hampton. For information or to view the exhibition online, visit www.artsolar.com. Mr. Portella’s art can also be viewed at www.daltonportella.com. His art is part of the show, “The Hamptons and Beyond: An Artistic Journey” at the Great Neck Plaza Municipal Building through December 2. The show is curated by Irwin Levy of East Hampton and includes other East End artists Grant Haffner and Terry Elkins; see www.artsolar.com for details.