Mario Giacomelli (1925-2000)

Mario Giacomelli (1925-2000)

STORIE DI TERRA, 1988-1990. Silver gelatin print, image size, 395 x 296mm, photographer copyright stamp verso, stamp with title and description in Italian verso.

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Mario Giacomelli was an Italia photographer. At 13, he left school to work as a typesetter and spent his weekends painting and writing poetry. After World War II, from 1953 he became interest in photography and joined the Misa Group, mainly inspired by Neo-Realist Italian films and influenced by the Italian photographer Giuseppe Cavalli, founder of Misa. This group developed a style characterized by radical compositions, bold cropping and stark contrasts. In 1955 Giacomelli’s work was noticed by the photographer Paolo Monti. He eventually reached fame outside Italy thank to John Szarkowski of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The distinctive Giacomelli’s technique consist in the use a Kobell, a larger coupled rangefinder camera, one of only about 400 made by Boniforti and Ballerio in Milan from about 1952, which he modified it himself. In terms of style, he explores the double-exposure capability of its Compur shutter, soft focus, camera movement and slow shutter speeds. His images are characterised by high contrast resulting from the use of electronic flash, the overdevelopment of his film and compensatory heavy printing.