Paolo Ventura
Paolo Ventura was born in Milan in 1968 and he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera. After working for 10 years as a fashion photographer, he devoted himself to personal projects. He has taken photos for many famous magazines such as The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, Aperture, The New York Times Magazine. His first book, In tempo di guerra (In times of war), has been published by Contrasto (Italian and English edition) and by Actes Sud (French edition). He has made numerous solo exhibitions (FORMA, International Center of Photography in Milan, Hasted Hunt Gallery, New York, Arles, Les Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Photography Festival of Rome). He lives and works between New York and Anghiari in Tuscany, where he turned his studio into a realm of wonders populated by colorful puppets, roads and buildings in miniature. His work has been exhibited at the MART, the Museum of Art and Design in New York, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, the Museo Fortuny in Venice, the Lowe Art Museum in Miami and Fondazione Forma per la Fotografia in Milan . He recently starred solo exhibition at the MACRO / Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome where he presented Lo Zuavo Scomparso. Paolo Ventura is a photographer who uses a special technique to create his images: he does not photograph reality directly but he builds small sets in his studio, often using recycled materials. He enlightens them thanks to a skilful use of light, especially the natural one, and then he photographs them. He's a true "image builder". This technique allows him to reconstruct more or less fantastic landscapes and people, but always remaining on the border between dreams and reality.