Thursday 15 January 2009

In Focus with Ghirri

Lucerne,” 1971-72, from Paesaggi di cartone. Luigi Ghirri ©

Few weeks ago on the In Focus section of the New York Times i found the work of Luigi Ghirri. Being one of my favorite italian photographer it was worth mentioning. I believe there is also a show at the Aperture Foundation in NY.

Earlier this year, the Aperture Foundation published “It’s Beautiful Here, Isn’t
It…,” the first U.S. monograph of the Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri (1943-1992). Hardly known outside Italy, Ghirri’s work will now be the focus of an exhibition at the Aperture Gallery opening Nov. 7. His strange and whimsical photographs center on mundane Italian society and recall, in some ways, the snapshot approach of Stephen Shore, Lee Friedlander and William Eggleston, who wrote the book’s preface. However, unlike his American counterparts, Ghirri’s visual style is painterly and often more absurdly surreal.


Rimimi,” 1985, from Paesaggio Italiano. Luigi Ghirri ©