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photography and styling Jacopo Manfren cover artwork Anna Canavesi model Paula Hidalgo@Boom Milano as “La Primavera di Angelica� hair and make up Sara Del Re vest Jean Paul Gaultier printed silk pants Atelier Versace story shot with Nikon f801 on Kodak Portra 160 film 3
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Director Art Director
Jacopo Manfren
Eric Zamorez
Fashion Editor Public Relations
Viviana Pace Laura Savina (Italy) Quentin Fears (USA)
Illustrations
Anna Canavesi
Graphics
Raffaella Sacco Gloria Pozzoli
Writers
Ermelinda Mostardi Stefano Ferrari Robera Amato Federica Occhi Contributors
Cori Amenta, Valeria Cherchi, David Motta, Domenico Ruggiero, Tomoko Neshigori, Emanuele Sironi, Federica Migliazza, Katja Sonneweld, Travis Steel Sisk, Vins Baratta, Maela Leporati, Etienne Saint Denis, Silvia Bordin, Fabio Mercurio, Giuseppe Reggiani, Paolo De vita, Gianni Albore, Palmer Davis, Giulia Laddago, Riccardo Rosa Special Thanks to
Anne Sophie Berger, Andrzej Lepka and Mariam Sitchinava 9
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INDEX OUR ICON
Domiziana Giordano THE GUY WE LOVE
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Julien Landais
FASHION ON FILM TALES OF AMERICAN STORIES PEOPLE OF PERSONALITY AN ART DOSSIER
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p.32
Palmer Davis
p.90
Gianni Berengo Gardin
p.98
Nicoletta Ceccoli p.104 Martin Wittfooth p.108
THE MOVIE WE WATCHED Motorama A MODERN PHOTONOVELAS THANK YOU
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p.116
p.123
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photo Marcello Zappaterra artwork Anna Canavesi story shot with Olympus OM1 on Film Kodak T-MAX 400
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Domiziana Giordano
THE MUSE, THE VAMPIRESS, THE ARTIST, THE ICON photography and text Jacopo Manfren styling Cori Amenta
I first met Domiziana Giordano in my photographic studio in Milan, with all my team, for this shooting. She arrives on a scooter, her Jack Russell terrier Lola by her side, wearing jeans and a vintage Gianfranco Ferre jacket. Casual yet classy. She looks around, shakes our hands and begins asking about my cameras and our works... instantly we are friends and she has already conquered us.
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The atmosphere quickly changes, from excitement (on my end having admired such a siren since a boy) to comfort. We all are transfixed by her beauty: a tall, elegant woman with white skin, a cascade of blonde hair and a powerful voice: this is Dominziana Giordano… still managing to fascinate me. Domiziana’s career starts in 80’s cinema and soon paralleled by working runways and being the muse of fashion designers and photographers: Helmut Newton, David Bailey, Lord Tony Snowdon, Oliviero Toscani and Antonio Guccione to name a few. Her cinematic and theatrical resume echoes working with only the most important directors: in Europe she stared in masterpieces such as “Nostalghia” by Andrei Tarkovskij and “Nouvelle Vague” of Jean-Luc
pink taffeta cloak Yves Saint Laurent boots Cori Amenta
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dress and hat Dolce & Gabbana
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Godard with Alain Delon, while in Hollywood starring in Neil Jordan’s “Interview with the Vampire”, Nicholas Roeg in “Indiana Jones Chronicles” and many others. More than just entertainment, her interpretations of interesting, strong women can be viewed as art; her name connecting to the highest level of cinematic direction. Today Domiziana is involved in a personal artistry: research she has started since she was young, painting, sculpture, performance and video-art. She sits down with Visionarios Magazine
to discuss her career, her icon and a body of work unparalleled. Let’s begin the shoot! We make her iconic and couture, inspired by famed photographer Steven Meisel and his charcoal grey backgrounds, while her elegance conquests the set, creating its own atmosphere. She wears any kind of garment, glides through every movement with ease and speed, interprets, acts, follows and guides us. It’s an icon, illuminating every frame, is really too beautiful... but it’s the woman in every photo where her personality shines. What are your origins? You don’t look like the classic Italian beauty! My origins are rooted in Rome and Naples but I also say I am from the Isle of Capri because I spent most of my youth there. Beautiful! Let’s start at the beginning; tell me about your early modeling life… (smiling) it has been such a great time! I was really young and beautiful, living in Paris, while fashion was having its best development. I remember I was often a guest of GianFranco Ferrè, such a gentleman, when he was the chief of Maison Dior. I can remember going often to the atelier to try on couture dresses I would wear for special events or runways; they would give me so many dresses as presents! I only took the one that I knew I would wear, so people appreciated me for this side of my personality and it made me feel really good, knowing appreciated not only my looks but my character. Where do you think that character comes from? I attribute that to my family. They instilled in me an education based on respect. Respect in all aspects, all aesthetics – “the taste for the good in life.” They created in me the passion for architecture, fabrics and clothing, history of art and literature, so it was easy for me to fit that ambient… I can say I had learned everything from
my family and from the intellectual society I experienced. I was fortunate to have the possibilities to travel and to live in the most amazing places: Paris, New York, Los Angeles. All these cities gave me great experiences that really created and formed me.
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Do you have a funny memory of your fashion career? Of course! I won’t ever forget one time, during a fashion show; I was wearing an amazing black dress that was entirely transparent! I had nothing under the dress, some ruffles were covering the intimate parts, but I didn’t consider that when walking! All those ruffles were moving as I walked down the runway; the day after I saw my picture showing everything on the front page of the fashion magazines! (Laughing) Doing runway gives you a lot of satisfaction: you have make up, dresses, people look at you, say how gorgeous you are! But they also laugh at your jokes! It’s better than a psychoanalytic therapist! (laughing) I saw that picture and I remember thinking how amazing and elegant you looked! Let’s talk about cinema. I imagine the first time is always unforgettable? My first leading role was in Nostalghia, an interesting and experimental movie, shot around the Roman countryside and Tuscany. It was a really visionary movie with a sort of religious mystic/aesthetic... the director, Andrej Tarkovskij created a story based on the saving role of the Art for the Man, taking inspiration from the iconography of the ancient religious medieval wall paintings and the flemish Madonnas. You lived in Los Angeles and worked with Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Banderas and other top celebrities. Do you consider that time so important to your career that it made you famous? In those days I was lucky to be inside the “cultured Hollywood”. I can’t say cinema is a bad world; every work has good and bad elements. One evening the italian director Bernardo Bertolucci took me to dinner with Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Carrie Fisher and Warren Beatty; they were all really elegant and educated, so intelligent, the conversation was interesting, various, there was no vulgarity at all. Meryl Streep is such a spectacular woman, so witty, and Warren lace dress, cloak and earrings Dolce & Gabbana shoes Cori Amenta
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Beatty was extremely beautiful, dashing and charming! It was love at first sight! At least from my part! (laughing) Your acting talent is so natural; we see it even from you in photographs. What is some of the most important advice these great directors gave to you? The most fundamental thing I was taught? Humility; those full of themselves have understood nothing. Those who have humility naturally shows intelligence. You said you were fortunate to travel. What would you say of Los Angeles and New York? I have lived in both these cities during the 80’s, while in the 90’s I was in Paris; they are gorgeous places and I was fortunate to live at the highest levels, so in this aspect I appreciated them much. Just for going out in the evening we dressed up so avant guard with gloves, hats, long dresses…there were always parties, it was always fun! How do you feel about contemporary cinema? Today there are many interesting movies and directors, both young and old ones; obviously the market has enlarged. The offer is much more from ten years ago, so the good movies have to be found and discovered between the others, but surely they exist! You love photography; you have some large format cameras in your home… Yes, I definitely do, but I’m not too restricted to analog photography, even if it’s an amazing thing I admit! I gravitate to the easy and practical things and the important it’s not about the medium but in the end, more so the result. Now I’m using every camera or video camera I find comfortable; but I still remember one lovely time in Capri, with my husband, we took a large format camera up on a hill and saw the entire landscape on the frosted glass of the camera… how amazing! My next purchase will be a steady-cam. How did you approach the art world? I started to study photography when I was thirteen; for me it was just a normal education and we had a habit of talking about art at home. Are there any “masters” in your artistic education? Yes, all the teachers I studied under, the books or the artists I met in real life left an impact on me; both good and bad. I have developed my personal taste even looking at less fair things.
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I have seen your uncle’s paintings; could you tell us something about him? He was an architect and a painter, I have many of his pieces at home and they have a great affective value to me. They are all landscape and still life reflecting his time, the 50’s and 60’s in Capri.
dress Avaro Figlio shoes Cori Amenta
While we talk I flip handmade jewels with corals, crystals and various colored stones through the books she has brought with her; portfolios and collections of her past work, from the 90’s until today. There are hand-made jewels, “I decided to create them by myself when I wanted something different to wear and I couldn’t find anything”; beautiful photographic portraits of people –all artists, writers, designers - “They knew I was found of photography so they asked me to shoot them, I did so in my own style, I was and still am really instinctive, even if I know the technique…” The portraits she took are great in fact; single shots or sequences, where subjects pop up from the picture on the streets, in subway garages or beaches. I notice even Polaroid’s and nude self-portraits, a research on body shapes and their languages, sequences of movement, gestures, collages, mixing photography with painting, performance and even video art. Domiziana’s portrait I have always believed was a symbol; more than an Italian Icon of cinema and style. And now I can say she remains a warm and friendly woman; a beauty (timeless I would dare say). I realize it is not her work that confirms this for me as I had once thought...but her heart which she shares so openly. The interview comes to an end, and I’m grateful for the time she dedicated to us. Thank you Domiziana!
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make up Martina d’Andrea @ Close Up Milano hair Paolo Saffiatti @Close up Milano story shot with nikon f801 e Zenza Bronica ETR on film Kodak Portra 160
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Julien Landais
the boy who became king text Ermelinda Mostardi, Viviana Pace and Jacopo Manfren photography Valeria Cherchi styling David Motta
We interviewed Julien Landais in an early march afternoon after he realized the shooting for Visionarios Magazine. Julien is a french model, actor and director. He has a very versatile and eclectic personality and during his career he worked with many strong personalities like Sharon Stone, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, David La Chapelle, Ellen Von Unwerth and Daphne Guinness. We talked with him about his work, in particular about his debut as a director with the short film “Shakki”.
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It is a very beautiful and singular story and it is shot with a rare and exceptional attention to details and locations are chosen with a great ability, they create a constant dialogue between past and future. Through these conversations, we discovered a very kind and interesting person. He has a vast knowledge of both the classical and the contemporary world. He is dressed as a college student, like a good guy. He speaks fast running his hand through his hair, ranging from Greek mythology to contemporary photography, from classical music to Photoshop. He always talks about himself with simpleness and sincerity and with great enthusiasm. He captivated us with his grace and intellectual liveliness. There aren’t many information about you on web. How did you start working? It was in New York, actually. I moved from France to the US when I was eighteen to study performing arts in NYU and I met a modelling agent through friends of mine. Three days after I had arrived in NYC I shot with David Lachapelle. That was an amazing experience...
Armour stylist’s studio
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Working as model needs interpretation and change of personality. How much do you think it has influenced your perception of yourself? As for the model’s work. It has actually influenced the perception of myself in so far as you just learn to detach yourself totally from other people’s opinion. You meet thousands of people that tell you you’re beautiful and amazing ans as many people that loathes what you are and criticize you. So in order to survive you just learn detachment. But that’s human, you have to learn to cope with prejudices. When I was in high school I was not very popular . I was the “nerd”, that had A grades. The paradox is when I started modeling I had to fight against the exact opposite reactions, prejudices. People automatically think you’re stupid and just relying on your physical attributes. It was one way or another, you couldn’t be a bit of both. I think people and particularly in France, Voltaire’s cynicism country, people try to shove you back inside narrow rooms. If I like directing it’s really because you can mix culture and entertainment, mix music, art, light, psychology and popular entertainment. But at the same time modeling taught me to adapt very quickly and just look for the best in life, discover different universes, different people, different culture, never stop learning from people. In the period that goes from 10 to 17 of everybody’s lives, a man put the bases of what he will be in future. What has been important for your “growing older” process? And which artists have influenced your artistic process? Franz Liszt’s personality always fascinated me. He was the “Mick Jagger” of the Nineteenth Century. He created the one man show concert. Crowd were hysterical. He travelled all over Europe. Reading about him and playing his music definitely influenced my teenage years.
You have worked with top level of fashion photographers. Is there any photographer or artist you dream or have dreamt to work with? I love photography. When I was younger, I admired the work of JeanBaptiste Mondino and Ellen Von Unwerth. And, as a coincidence, I happened to work with both of them and I learnt a lot from observing their work: create universe. Jean-Baptiste is a master of lighting, creating strong meaningful images or music videos. His work inspires me a lot even for films. There are other photographers I’d dream to work with: Mert&Marcus, I think they’re geniuses. The first picture I saw was a cover from “Pop” with Madonna in 2001 and I was fascinated by the radical modernity of that picture. They are masters of Photoshop, their work is sometimes considered artificial but for me it’s really strong and propels you into the future. The second one is Steven Klein. I love his mix of sex and violence, those desaturated images, 24
shield stylist’s studio wings Gabriella Marina Gonzalez
those sci-fi atmospheres mixing history and future. There are many people, mainly artists, that changed my life. I haven’t been much influenced by my family or teachers. I started reading tons of books about history, biographies when I was very young and that changed my life. The only cartoon I watched as a kid was “Saint Seiya” that I still love and would love to adapt on screen, ‘cause, it’s beautiful, full of references to Scandinavian, Greek mythology and when I was 8 that lead me to do researches and learn a lot about our civilisation...in an entertaining way! What do you think about the fashion system of today? Has it changed from the past? Are you a “nostalgic” for the past? I’m nostalgic of certain things in the whole human history but mainly to understand humanity today. I totally believe in the future. We will live drastically different lives in a few decades. 25
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I can’t wait to see what stem cells and nanotechnologies will bring to humanity. And I think video and virtual environment really are the future. I’m writing a script on those subjects. I’m definitely looking forward to the future. I like change, I like discovering new things, new music, new movies, new creations. So to answer you: I’m not nostalgic for what the fashion world was before. I loved everything Tom Ford did for Gucci, Hedi Slimane for Dior, they are the epitome of an era and they were perfectly connected to their time. But I think there is still better to come. Though I think humankind can be very cruel, I’m a fundamentally optimistic person!
metal chain Simon Aronson The Making Space trousers Alexander McQueen shoes Christian Louboutin necklace Gillian Horsup at Gray’s Antiques Market earring BJORG glasses Becca K
We saw your film “Shakki” and we think it’s wonderful. It’s a deep analysis on aesthetics and physical changes you can make. Did you choose to talk about that issue because you knew well the fashion system? Shakki is about a character that has the ability to enter other people’s bodies. t’s a kind of Faustian deal. Daphne’s (Daphne Guinnes, Ed)character Judith is Mephistopeles, the Devil that will give that man the power to change bodies. It’s about those people that want to be some one else, psychological vampires. I have been always fascinated by people, and thought it would be a shattering experience to feel what they feel, see what they see, through their eyes. That’s what fascinated me in history when I was a child, understand the human being, feel what people were feeling in different settings, different bodies different eras. I think you feel and see the world in a totally different way wether you’re tall or thin, if you’re a man or if you’re a woman. That’s why I choose to talk about it.
Daphne Guinnes is a main character in Shakki and she is also one of the most interesting figure in the fashion and artistic world. Why did you choose her for your film? Why did you collaborate with Daphne Guinness? When I was writing the script of Shakki. I really wanted to create a universe close to movies like “Blade Runner”, “The Hunger” with David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve, that kind of mysterious symbolical universe, a future that mixes elements from the past like in Gattaca that’s why I shot the first half of the movie in Oscar Niemeyer’s seventies futuristic environment and the second part in the 19th century Rotschild castle. For the main character, I really wanted someone that would fit those universes and Daphne Guinness came to my mind. I had met her at parties and I was struck by her charisma, her futuristic look. Back to Shakki: characters and styling are very precise. How much important and necessary is it for you to express yourself by dressing? I think it’s very important and expresses a part of your personality, it helps creating a persona, shade a different light on you, it makes you feel different, move differently... I love people that express themselves through dressing in a refined way like Daphne though I think it has actually as much to do with charisma, as much as fashion. If you’re charismatic, you can wear anything and that’s definitely beautiful... 27
As a director I love fashion too as it defines characters. I think like Visconti, that it is as important as any aesthetical elements of a movie. With Daphne and my sister (Clementine Landais, Ed) who was the stylist of the movie, we selected pieces from different designers like Gareth Pugh, Yves Saint Laurent, some pieces of Alexander McQueen from Daphne’s own collection. What about the title? What does it mean? My movie title “Shakki” means the sound of the needle piercing through the skin in Japanese tattoo vocabulary, hence the scorpion, the whole regeneration symbols of that guy changing bodies and getting reborn like the phoenix. That’s actually how I feel all the time. I love changes, and changing my outer appearance (that’s what I like in modelling too, and acting of course). What about your cinema choices. Favourite movies? Is there one who changed your life? I had a shock when I watched “The Piano” by Jane Campion which is my favorite movie ever, for its beauty, its violence, its passion... That’s definitely me... and all Stanley Kubrick’s movies that never stop inspiring me for their technical virtuosity, their radicalness. He is for me the master of all.
Armour Becca K headpiece Gillian Horsup at Gray’s Antiques Market
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You’ve been an actor in two films (Nous Trois, 2010 and Polisse, 2011). What about your first approach to the cinema? I’ve been studying theatre and performing arts for six years. When I got back to Paris I got an acting agent and one of the first person I met in the movie industry was Nous Trois’s director Renaud Bertrand who was looking for an actor which also was a pianist for the movie “Nous Trois”, so I fitted perfectly. I’ve been playing the piano since I’m eight and I keep playing everyday. So I auditioned for it I got my first part. Music is my second passion. And I’m actually doing movies because it allows me to mix music, art, architecture,psychology... It’s very rich and you never stop learning on everything. I’m a workaholic. I’m working on two film projects and a music video music for a French electronic group, Revolte that will release their EP “Stars are Falling” in september. Their music is very french touch, close to Justice. I’m currently editing the video that will be a tribute to Hollywood’s golden age and America...
metal chain Simon Aronson The Making Space headpiece stylist’s studio make-up Justyna Ilczuk hair Tomo@Earthhairdressing story shot with Canon 100 on film Kodak Portra 160NC
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swimsuit Gucci bomber Christopher Kane
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photography Domenico Ruggiero styling Tomoko Neshigori
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jacket Vivienne Westwood boots Salvatore Ferragamo bracelet Stylist’s own 34
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shirt Moschino
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dress Viktor & Rolf scarf Alberta Ferretti
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dress Urban Outfitters
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make up and hair Celestina Mavrouli model Emma @ Ace Models Athens story shot with Nikon F3 on Fuji Provia 100 film
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The hitchiker photography Emanuele Sironi styling Federica Migliazza
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dress Parosh skirt on the neck Mangano bracelets Sharra Pagano shoes Cinzia Araia 41
dress Leila Hafzi white skirt Laura Mancini bracelets Pellini pink pendants’ necklace Vitti Ferria Contin green necklace Parosh 42
dress Lorenzo Riva shoes Ash necklace and bracelet Tarina Tarantino
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top Mirko G. di Brandimarte pants London in Paris
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top Massimo Crivelli tights Stylist’s Studio earrings Vitti Ferria Contin bracelet Tarina Tarantino
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dress Stylist’s Studio shoes No.Nu hat Borsalino 47
top Stylist’s Studio skirt Renfang Hu boots Alice Starck
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model Querin @ Why Not Models Milano hair & make up Rosario Belmonte story shot with Canon EOS3 on Kodak plusx 125 and Fuji superia 400 xtra film 49
photography Katja Sonneweld styling Travis Steel Sisk
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white jacket Metropolitian Opera Costume pants Vintage (in the opposite page)
necklace worn as hair tie Haus of Topper kimono Alexander McQueen skirt Vintage
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brassiere La Perla necklace Haus of Topper shoes Model’s own
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skirt worn as top Helmut Lang pants Alexander McQueen necklace Starstyling
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jumpsuit Diego Montoya jacket Vintage necklace and earrings Stylist’s own
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dress Helmut Lang necklace Haus Of Topper shoes BCBG
make up & hair Sasha Alekseyeva model Isabel @ Wilhelmina story shot with Polaroid Image Camera on 1200 Softtone Film (Paul Giambara Edition) 57
photography Vins Baratta styling Maela Leporati
dress LeitMotiv socks american Apparel 58
shirt Andrea Incontri overall Dark Level shorts Cristina Miraldi
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top Sessun skirt Suzanne Susceptible socks American Apparel
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dress Girl By Band of Outsiders cardigan Aimo Richly
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top Cristina Miraldi pants Suzanne Susceptible hat SuperDuper Hats shoes Carven for Robert Clergerie 62
pants Au jour le jour top Emiliano Rinaldi jacket Girl By Band Of Outsiders
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top Suzanne Susceptible pants Susanna Cornet hat SuperDuper Hats shoes Carven par Robert Clergerie
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top Vivetta skirt Emiliano Rinaldi model Oksana@Why Not Model Management Milan make up and hair Nadine Musacchio story shot with minolta dinax 5 c camera on film Fujifilm 200 iso 65
photography and styling Etienne Saint Denis 66
vest Blue Bird coulotte American Apparel 67
t-shirt Urban Outfitters bra e coulotte American Apparel
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vest Asos
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shirt Li Cari coulotte American Apparel socks Wolford
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make up & hair Cynthia-Christina Cadieux model Sara @ Dulcedo Models Montreal story shot with Canon ae-1 Camera on Kodak Gold 200 iso films
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Silvia Bordin photography o Mercurio styling Fabi
Carlotta, Italy Fashion Models Milan dress Mirko G. di Brandimarte jacket Andrea Sagrini 72
Barbora, Czech Republic, Joy Models Milan jacket, skirt, Au jour le jour
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Marco, Italy, I Love Model Management Milan suit Gazzarini
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Darya, Russia, Brave Models Milan dress Gilda Giambra shoes Diego Dolcini foulard Gucci glasses Safilo
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Pedro Brazil, Major Models Milan pants Gazzarini
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Susanna, Italy, Elite model management Milan dress Andrea Sagrini
hair and make up Fausto Cavaleri story shot with Nikon f3 on film Kodak TMax 3200 and Fuji Neopan 100 77
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photography Jacopo Manfren & Giuseppe Reggiani make up artistry and hair Paolo De Vita
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models Francesca@Women Direct Milan and Andrea@Independent Men Milan story shot with Nikon F801 and Zenza Bronica ETR on film Kodak Portra VS160
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sandals Ash silk scarf stylist’s own clutch bag Nalì
A PASTEL BLUE MINUIT photography Giovanni Albore styling Viviana Pace
photography Giovanni Albore styling Viviana Pace
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sandals Carbone bel stylist’s own
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bag NalĂŹ
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shoe Schutz silk scarf Emilio Pucci
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necklace NalĂŹ 86
shoes Schutz story shot with Mamiya 645 on film Fuji Professional PROVIA 100F thanks to PLAS Noci - Bari
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American Stories photography by Palmer Davis
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looking glass
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dandelions
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party balloons story shot with Mamyia 7 II on film Portra NC 400
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Gianni Berengo Gardin
the Maestro text Stefano Ferrari and Jacopo Manfren
Gianni Berengo Gardin is 82, (he looks much younger) with a gentle face, he speaks with perfect French “Rs” and he is one of the most important Italian photographers. His work has been documented from 50 years a world in change, published in more than 200 photographic books, his reportages have been showed in the most prestigious galleries and museum around the world (the Museum of Modern Art in New York to say the least) and boasts a personal archive of more than a million pictures - all there, well catalogued in his study, to remind us one day of the people we once were. 98
“I have lived through momentous changes... the fall of Fascism, the Nazism occupation in Italy, the bombings, and then the Paris of the 50’s…” he reveals as we make our way through his Milanese home in a sunny day of march. The walls around us are lined with shelves. Rows of shelves “I have almost 2000 books!” he says “Mostly of friends” – the books are periodically interrupted by travel souvenirs - “some of them are really very kitsch,” he laughs, “Each trip I made, I took something.” The shelves of books and photographs give way, sporadically interrupted by colorful paintings, naïve paintings, so many in fact they are hung from the top of the ceiling to the very ground beneath my feet, “I have too many of them” he reveals smiling “So many I am not able to even sell them!” The paintings only add to the dimension of the attic we find ourselves in, boxes stand in the corners, each marked – tagged with a place “Milan, Venice…” or a calendar date to which it was experienced “Protests of 1968”; reading them is like a ticket back in time each significantly made up of a single man’s life. We sit comfortably around his table while his dog wags his tail. Here is where our interview will take place, amongst his famous photographs of the past, present and future.
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In your biography it says you started to take pictures at twenty four, but you become a professional photographer later, at thirty five? Yes. I am in debt to Romero Martinez. He was the author of the magazine, Camera and was in Venice at the time to organize the first Biannual Expositions of Photography. He was the first person during a walk with me and my wife at Lido of Venice who pushed me to become a professional photographer. Did you ever feel discouraged at all? I’m lucky I can say I had no problems really finding work. It was from the beginning a kind of industrial work more than journalistic… I started off as a freelancer for companies like Pirelli and Olivetti. Then you started to work for prestigious magazine like Epoca, Le Figaro and Time; your pictures travel around the world and they are exposed in galleries, books and museums but you have never considered yourself an artist? I can proudly say that I am just an artisan who makes his work; I shoot pictures that develop to be a testimony of how we are, how we live. Some of my pictures actually can reach an “artistic” quality but I can’t define them as artistic…let the critics have 100
that role. In today’s standards it’s so easy to define oneself as an “artist”. The proof will be only if the work will stand the test of time. Within the photographs you take you love to make a clear distinction between “beautiful” pictures and “good” pictures, can you explain that? (laughs) Yes! Ugo Mulas told me that! I was at his house and I was looking at his pictures, calling them all “beautiful” but he said he didn’t like that word. I was so young at the time and a bit frightened by his tone so I asked ‘What kind of word should I use?’ and he replied, ‘Good’. ‘Good pictures speak for themselves, while a beautiful picture has just one aesthetic: to be simply beautiful.’ I understand now that there is so much that goes into a good picture – angles, colors, moments, timing – but a beautiful picture can sometimes remain just that; beautiful. You have shot mostly in black and white then color. Do you find that B&W film has more, “poetry” than color? I have never been interested in the “poetry” within pictures, even if everyone tells me there is a great sense of “poetry” in my own. (Laughs) I just think its better for reporting, and architectural shots in many ways. Color sometimes distracts the observer. You like to define yourself a “witness” to reality. But, when you shoot a picture don’t you ever feel like a protagonist to it? I always try to not be a protagonist but to be as honest and neutral as I can. Sadly in the end it’s impossible because you always are inside the pictures somehow…your ideas, your reality “contaminates” it. Why sadly? Because the picture, the report should be the most honest as possible! Do you think that everything should be documented? Or can I ask, do you have any unpublished pictures, things that might be regarded as…to provocative or for any moral demerit within societies standards? Many people have argued about this, such as during a tragedy; should a photographer shoot or not? In some occasion, I just couldn’t bring myself to but it was a mistake. Everything should be told. The pictures during war for example, it’s true many of them are cruel; it’s really important however that a photographer respects and shows respect to the subjects he shoots. The atrocity of war can be a discovery to move the public’s opinion in the most enlightened way. In 1968 you traveled by bus through the United States, what was that like? Yes! In the United States I came to find a really interesting youthfulness; and a more open respect for it than by Italian standards. But throughout my travels my most important discovery was of India. I have visited India much more than any other country: particularly its countryside. Gandhi once said we Occidentalize most cities, but the real India is in its country. There was great misery for that country at the time more so than 101
today, but the simplicity of these people I came across, though poor were so appreciative of life. And your favorite subjects to shoot? I have always been interested in Man, people. Though I have worked and loved architecture; within still life my favorite was of the painter Giorgio Morandi. I have never shot nor been interested in fashion. What about reporting on the fashion system as a business? Yes I would like it I think but now it’s not the time. It requires so much work and sacrifice and it doesn’t make you rich! I’ve arrived at my age doing the work I have always loved, the subjects I am interested in. Just out of curiosity: you have spent your life portraying others, but what about your life? The life of your family, have you ever documented it? I once read your wife has always been the family photographer, because you never took pictures of your life? (laughing) Yes! I don’t have many pictures of my sons or even my wife. I simply don’t feel the need. And I have even fewer photos of my parents; I prefer to remember them as I lived them, as I experienced them in life. We are coming to the end of our time, can you tell me the most important changes you have witnessed in society in the past 50 years? It’s difficult to say! (Laughs) Think of the fridge and how much impact it has had in everyday life! A long time ago people were buying ice; a few days ago I reprinted pictures of women washing clothes at the river! Today’s generations can’t even imagine that. I was born in an “old world”, my books tell me that. Literature has always been my most important inspiration; when I was younger I read mostly Steinbeck, Dos Passos and Hemingway…maybe in 200 years they will speak even more to inspire others to keep looking back. Just one more question: We are living today full of too many images; television, magazines, social medias; constantly attacked by images everywhere. What will be the future of photography as an artistic value? How will it be measured? I think a good picture still holds its power and will succeed to emerge in this violent stream of images, but it will be appreciated only by the culture and by the people who are cultured and visually understand through artistic education and appreciation- though sadly today we are losing that appreciation, there remains less of these people because standards have become so diluted.
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My time to go has come, we stand up and I thank him for the time he dedicated to us; Gianni Berengo Gardin walks me to the door. I find myself trying to process all of this; we stand silent in the hallway while the elevator slowly rises to take me downstairs, away from the past and now into the future. A minute passes, maybe a little more, but Gianni Berengo Gardin waits with me kindly
until the end, I am a little embarrassed by this courtesy; an “old world” gesture for a man who has seen so much change, remains… thoughtfully the same. This is Gianni Berengo Gardin, he’s 82, (he looks much younger), he speaks with perfect French “Rs”, he is one of the most important Italian photographers and much more.
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Nicoletta Ceccoli
Deep in the candy woods text by Roberta Amato
To have an interview with Nicoletta Ceccoli has been a pleasure and an honor for me, and, even more, a rare experience because she is gentle and bashful, like one of the little girls she paints. She reaches me dressed like a little elf - she described me her clothes on the phone to be recognized - electric blue fusaeux, red skirt and a disarming smile. I wish to point out that we had a nice talking rather than an official interview; we both are shy girls and we would have felt unconfortable to ask or answer question in a grave pitch or structured tone. Our conversation has gone on for all the time - six hours - while sitting in a café or in the streets of Rimini. Unfortunately the reader will not be able to feel that sweet atmosphere completely.
We choose a place to stay, after finding Nicoletta’s the favourite one closed... They didn’t resist to the crisis - she says with regret. What was your education? I went to the Institute of Arts of Urbino (a little italian town), in the first years there you experimented all the kinds of arts and crafts such as illustration, engraving, decoration and painter’s drawing; I choose this last one and I did other two years of specialization school. Were they a prosecution of the Art Institute? Yes it was a sort of Art Academy, even if it was made in two years. Which artists are you interested in most? (she peeks at my notebook for this question) Yes I can see some names you have noted are 104
close to me (she smiles), surely Leonor Fini and even Balthus, I love them so much, but even Windsor McKay... here you are a book of mine, there are some information about my inspirations at the end (we look through the pages). Talking about books... why did you choose illustration for children? When I was at Secondary School teachers took us at the Internation Fair of Book, in Bologna, don’t know if you have ever been there ( I nod ); well it’s considered a real exposition of little pieces of art, and there I have seen the best authors and drawers of the world. After my studies I made a portfolio of my works, showing them to editors, it was about 15 years ago when I illustrated my first book of fables.... I have drawed a lot of them but my favourite ones are definitely Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland.
Candy Forest, acrylic on paper
These two fables cast the theme of thepassing from Childhood to Adolescence, if not from childish freedom to adaptation: your little girls are portrayed in the moment just before to cross the threshold of Adolescence, I suppose the almost prefer to stay in this condition instead growing up more. Yes it’s true, and this has to do with to me, as if I have never really grown adult; I have mantained an innocent way of looking at things, even if their understanding is one of an adult. It happened that I receved a message by someone saying I was encouraging paedophilia... I don’t think so and I would have never thought of this if I had seen drawings like mine. Maybe that interpretation, that hurted me, comes from the experience of that person... But was it a woman or a man who wrote this? A man... (she takes her book) These drawings are
suave (she shows me a drawing of a little girl, like a little Amazon, her hair to the wind, but riding a rocking elephant (“The elephant’s journey”). But the inspirations and remindings are a lot! Alberto Savinio for the toys, Bosch for the objects with little legs... Yes (she laughts) I love Hyeronimous Bosch! He’s a surrealist painter “ante litteram” (I point my finger at a little boy with old toys around on the pages of her book) He’s my father, when he was a child, I have included in this book a picture of my mother, she was beautiful like a doll, with a big bow and the pinafore she had for the school, oh look (smiling again), this is my little brother, so cute like a little toy of Mirabilandia (a luna park near RImini); my family has been really important in my education, my father was a carpenter, he took me in his workshop when I was young 105
Teardrop Pearls, acrylic on paper The Elephant Journey, acrylic on paper
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Octopussy Girl, acrylic on paper
and I played with wooden objects, creating my own toys... he is the creative soul in the family, while my mother was a school teacher for kids, so our house was full of childrens books!
And what about the revisited myth? (I ask looking at a not very canonical Leda) Classic Art has not really been one of my references; galleries usually choose titles for my pieces.
And what about the city of Urbino? Even its Ducal Palace looks like a castle of fables, with all the great magnificent towers... Yes definitely, I think my “out of time” imaginatios has stopped in Urbino; we had lessons in the Ducal Palace and you felt a real princess in the castle(she states the titles of pictures I don’t know): Small Nemo in slumberland of Windsor McKay, Antropomorph Vegetables of Grandville... Domenico di Gnoli‘s button... there is an exasperated attenction to details and it becomes a character itself! I see here my references and I recognize Melies, Escher, Windsor McKay, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Fellini (Casanova), Gustav Dorè, Fussli.
Do you mean you don’t draw with a theme? Usually not, but now I’m starting to giving a theme and a path to follow... I usually draw recurring images. What are your plans for the near future? Recently a gallery asked me for some pieces and I choose candies and sweet as the main theme. We pass by a candy shop, buying coloured sweets, marshmallows and little chocolates, she talks about her approach with the food and we go to lunch... we laught, we have good time together and at the end we say goodbye... Thank you Nicoletta! 107
Martin Wittfooth
The end of the days text by Federica Occhi
Martin Wittfooth, a Canadian Artist with a great sense of elegance, puts the observer inside apocalyptic scenarios that are quivering with color, yet silently introspective. He is an active member of the contemporary art scene with a personal show in the Layons Wiers Gallery, New York, and several other collectives in the USA, Germany, and Italy. Martin, we wish you a good showing, and thank you for this interview. We are sure of the best results.
Martin, your work makes use of several symbolic cues and imaginary of classic art, “to fill the gap between classic art and contemporary art”.How do you merge the difference between the two? Much of my work makes references to classical artwork, in technique and concept, and in it’s use of allegory to explore ideas. What I hope to do in my paintings is to play with these original classical underpinnings and inspirations but to infuse them with a reflection on contemporary issues and current topics. The dimensions of your paintings are quiet in opposition to the use of large canvases. Can this choice be subsequent of a review of past time or to the exaltation of the pictorial performance? I’ve started to become very aware of the scale of my paintings as they are intended to relate to the physical space in which 108
they are viewed. This has led me to make a point of creating my canvases as large as required to make the scenes in them be as close to life-sized as possible. I want my audience to feel as if they can walk into the scenes I’ve created; that the animals that inhabit them are there in the room with you. In regards to iconology, your paintings are pervaded by several allegories connected to the Flemish tradition of 1500 -’600 and to Christian martyrs. Your work in regards to nature shows the active knowledge of painters such as Bruguel, and I would dare say Hieronymus Bosch (who I will continue to discuss). Referring to the analogy of Flemish flowers, their birth and death in your paintings does your work hold that same vital metaphor that it does in the Flemish Tradition, or is it a pure iconographic reference?
Emissary, 14” x 11”, oil on panel, 2009 Private collection
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Sanctuary, 48” x 36”, oil on panel, 2010 Private collection
Bacchus, 48” x 36”, oil on panel, 2010 Collection of Robert Luterbach
My attraction to the old Flemish painters stems from their acute awareness of, and playfulness with, the suggestive power of visual allegory. In a single bouquet of flowers painted by a master such as Jan van Huysum we are presented with more than just an object to be admired for it’s beauty: if one cares to look, one will be confronted with various elements that suggest a deeper plot. The changing of the seasons, vanity, mortality and so on are all themes that are “hidden” in the form of visual clues and symbols. The same goes for such a piece as Brueghel’s “Netherlandish Proverbs”, a painting which celebrates the concept of the human mind being able to extract a broader meaning from visual triggers. I’ve always been attracted to this type of image-making, and am interested in conveying ideas using similar devices.
Bosch once said, “the fool is the one who can stay outside reality making jokes of it”. Is the observer that fool or is he just a spokesperson, talking about the disquietness of what he sees? I paint animals as my protagonists exactly for the reason that I want the viewer to feel unable to affect the outcome of the scenes presented, but forced to confront them regardless. There is no human figure acting a role in these scenes who could play the part as a sort of agent or avatar for us: nobody else is shouldering the presented burdens. Often the animals also act as portraits of ourselves. What I hope my work can instill by being presented in this manner is a contemplation of the collective role that we all play in affecting the events that shape the world around us.
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Symphony, 80” x 70”, oil on canvas, 2011 Private collection
Ancient Greek Philosophy speaks of words such as Chaos, Cosmos, and Being. Christianity changed the conversation with words such as Passion, Suffering and Hope. You talk in your paintings about a perversion of the natural laws... how did you arrive at this point? My paintings largely deal with the intersection of industry or “civilization” and the natural realm to tie in with the notion of the uneasy “progress” that is the pursuit of mankind. With most of the livable planet becoming urbanized and developed, the human psyche has lost it’s connection to it’s environment; there is a permeable confusion and disconnect for most modern people and the land. This could be regarded as an overarching theme within much of my work, yet I often seek to explore other ideas and topics with that theme as the backdrop. 112
What themes can we expect you to examine in future projects? I am currently working on a solo show at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles which opens in September 2012. The show consists of a series of very large works. This will be followed up by a large collaborative piece with my friend Jean Labourdette (Turf One) destined for a museum show in Paris in the early part of next year. I have another solo show scheduled again in New York in the fall of 2013. In other words, it’s going to be a very busy time in the studio for the next while, so new ideas are constantly being conceived. My overall goal is simply to keep challenging myself, to continue pushing my technique and my concepts, and to discover new things about myself and my work with each new painting, and each new series.
Memento, 24� x 18�, oil on panel, 2010 Collection of Richard Neill
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No Road For Young Men (1991) by Ermelinda Mostardi Director Barry Shils offers us a visionary tale of contemporary America: Motorama remains an art-house classic; a road movie with a strong pop-trash flavor! The script written by Joseph Minion (After Hours, Vampire’s Kiss) is the only realistic feature to the first sequence. The film opens to Gus, a 10 year-old boy, who runs away from home because of the terrible situation he’s living in. The boy has a dream: to collect all the stickers to compose the word “Motorama”, his prize: win five hundred thousand dollars awarded by the Chimera Gas Company. This is the driving force behind the movie, pushing the young boy along his adventure. Gus steals his father’s Mustang for a journey across 6 different imaginary states, driving in the desert landscape of the Grand Canyon, stopping in isolated gas stations, eating in ill-famed cafes. As the trip starts, everything becomes surreal. Characters spread over the paths become more than irrational, they are unreal, like the banknotes Gus uses or bets or steals during the movie. There’s nothing comedic about the film, neither in the childish madness of adults nor in the grown-up behavior of Gus. He seems to be the only reasonable person. Although he’s a child and suffering all the abuses and angaries without any possibility to counteract, rarely we share Gus’ banes. He carries on because he has one and only target blinding him: complete the “Motorama” puzzle. And so he bears passively every situation he faces; the only important thing is to come back on the street and achieve the next station. The mad race to the easy gain becomes more tragic; the victim of the fake promise is still an adult-masked child. He cannot rebel against the antagonists (the riders who tattoo
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his arm after he loses a gamble and has no money to pay the debt), or escape from the old couple who abducts him because he is stealing their fuel; Gus even loses an eye. (This is the most vicious scene of the film). There seems to be no transfer between the public and anyone of the characters, nor with Gus or the adults he encounters ( only the woman who has kidnapped him is the only character who has a realistic surge of pity); in the middle of the night she sets him free. In the path to become a man, free and independent, in pursuit of the sparkling American dream, at each filling station, the young Gus loses another little shred of his innocence. He wants us to remember that the innocent cannot stay clean crossing a whole slew of shit.The beauty of vivid and dense colors enlightens the anguished landscape. It seems as if Edward Hopper personally painted each frame, as he left for 90 minutes the boring petty bourgeois solitude to paint on the film, instead, the normal mad life of godforsaken areas. Scenery is full of brightness made by gloomy neon signs of cafes and motels. The daily brightness glides into darkness as Gus walks through his challenges to become an adult. Because the path to becoming an adult is hard; full of traps and disenchantment. There are many recurring symbols, most undecipherable, other didactic. Much like the truck which, like a divine axe, hacks up all greedies and their coveted rewards. We run through the mind of a 10 year-old boy: everything is filtered through his eyes and through the crossed allegorical named states, adults give unfitting answers, or they are easily mislead by Gus (like the cook in one cafe) that believes the boy to be the health inspector just because he’s wearing a fake mustache! In the end, the boy becomes an old man, his hair turning white, expression lines shatter his face along with his dreams. His arrival at the Chimera Gas Company building is the wipe-out of the rest of his youth but it is also the moment he redeems himself. He will not follow the American dream any more, for his second chance he will choose a more prudent way to become self-standing and free.
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www.vivetta.it
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