Photography by Giovanni Guadagnoli

Giovanni Guadagnoli was born in Sulmona (located in Italy’s Abruzzo region) in 1966. He lived in the town of Cansano until the age of twenty-one. Cansano, the land he grew up in, is characterized by its poetic character; it is surrounded by nature and dominated by the predominance of simple, yet deeply rooted, family values and traditions. There, at an early age, Guadagnoli began to explore his creativity, experimenting with photography.

Initially, he leaned toward portrait photography, mimicking the conventions, high production values, and glamour aesthetics of fashion photography. Shortly thereafter, he began his first investigation into the image, being drawn toward representations that were surreal in tone. In May 1991, one of these photographs won him the cover of the prestigious magazine, “Progresso Fotografico.”
Since 1992, he has been increasingly drawn toward an exploration of the inherent qualities of the photographic medium. For this reason, he turned to studio work, dedicated toward analyzing the very processes of perception, asking how these in turn constitute themselves as vision. Photographs resulting from this artistic investigation were published in the magazine, “Zoom.”

He graduated from Rome’s Sapienza University with a degree in Contemporary Art History (from the School of Philosophy and Letters). He received the maximum points possible, graduating with high honors. That same year he began work on a project that provocatively revisited the “classic” male nude. This work culminated with a solo exhibition in 2004 at the Babele Gallery in Milano. Shortly anticipating this exhibition, some of these photographs were published in the international magazine, “Blue, Studio Magazine” (November 2003).

In the interim, in 1997, he also had a solo exhibition, “The Light of Memory,” which was presented at the Degollado Theater in Guadalajara, Mexico. This exhibition is comprised of nocturnal images of Rome, suspended between realism and metaphysical magic.

Alongside his artistic enterprise, he also developed his capacity as a commercial photographer. Among the publicity campaigns he shot were three for Armani Underwear. His images appeared both in Italian and foreign magazines, among which were titles like: MarieClaire, Jewelry Vogue, Elle, GQ, ID, Max, Venerdi di Repubblica, and Arena. Presently, Guadagnoli lives in Milan where he continues his photographic practice while at the same time teaching Art History at the specialized High School level.