They portray reality through a photograph. They also tell us what happens around the world, what people feel, and even what we cannot see for ourselves. Let's discover the stories of the IED Alumni who have become successful photographers in Italy and abroad
A look at the world, at people and at things. Photographs taken to give us a personal perspective, revealing hidden realities. This is the magic of photography, conjured by the talent of every photographer, who, according to their personal vision and style, captures in one shot what is in front of them but can’t be seen at a firsts glance by everyone. This is exactly what happens with the photographs of the IED Madrid Alumnus Duarte Amaral Netto, in his "1997-2007" collection, where it is even possible to silently enter into the lives of some people, in the privacy of their homes, or their everyday life, spying on their secrets. For example this is the case of the Balloon man shot. And this is one of the skills possessed by many IED Alumni, who today have become established photographers, in Italy and in the rest of the world.
Among the talents who attended the IED classes and then achieved considerable success, there are the Italians photographers max&douglas, Alumni from the IED Milano School of Visual Arts, who have been collaborating together for more than twenty years. They are the authors of some of the most beautiful photographic shots of celebrities from sports, music and cinema. And, speaking about cinema and movie stars, it's impossible to not remember the career of Manuel Alberto Claro. Originally from Santiago de Chile, he graduated from IED Milano in 1994. After having worked as an assistant photographer in Italy, USA and Denmark, he started working in films with Lars von Trier for films like Melancholia or Nymphomaniac.
But there are also three award-winning IED Roma Alumni to mention: Chamni Thipmanee, Giulio Di Sturco, Davide Monteleone. Thipmanee, besides being a real artist, is also one of the best known Thai photographers, being originally from Songkhla. In an interview with IED Alumni he talked about his work within the Chamni's Eye agency, which has been operating since 1988 in Bangkok. Instead, Di Sturco is a professional photographer who lived between London and Bangkok. He won various awards and for years he has collaborated with prestigious international newspapers (The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times Magazine and The Financial Times), taking an interest in documentary photography on the Asian and African continents and in works related to social issues, with the aim to immortalize the human condition in the face of the technological and environmental transformations of the present. Finally, Monteleone is a photographer and a visual storyteller; his works have won numerous awards, including some World Press Photos. Already after graduation he began to collaborate with important agencies, such as Contrasto and VII, and then he dedicated his attention to the study of social issues, exploring the relationship between power and individuals. He has also developed a specific interest in post-Soviet countries, publishing five books on the subject.
Another young photographer graduated in IED which have had the pleasure of being published in international newspapers, is Davide Bertuccio, IED Milano Alumnus (read his interview). He was included in 2014 among the ten best Italian talents under 25 and, recently, he saw one of his shots published in the Washington Post. “For me, photography is a key to getting to know the world”, tells us the Sicilian photojournalist. Meanwhile, he is working with National Geographic on a project on the new normal, after taking one of the iconic photos of 2020 for the same magazine that last January chose one of his shots for the cover of the special issue dedicated to the Covid-19 emergency. In his photo shot, in fact, Bertuccio portrayed one of the first marriages celebrated during the pandemic, depicting how reality had to adapt to the emergency situation.
Satisfaction also for Vito Fusco (read his interview), who attended IED Milano and who won the documentary category of the Sony World Photography 2021. The prize was received by the photographic project The Killing Daisy, realized in Kenya and aimed at telling about the deadly power of a flower, a daisy called "Flower of death", capable of killing insects, and used as an organic insecticide. And about his new project, he confesses: "I would like to realize a work on the cloister or on the prisons. Why? Because like all my projects, I try to investigate things, feeling of which I do not kown or can understand the feelings".
In a historical moment like this, on the subject of feelings that we dramatically know, to remember is also the work of Viola Pantano, IED Roma Alumna, who was among the protagonists of "IED Factory 2021: Displacement". An all-round artist, ranging from dance to performance, from installation to photography to video art, she was included by Exibart among the "222 emerging artists to invest in" and she has been active on the international scene since 2008. In recent times, Pantano has been asked to reflect on the theme of "emptiness" in the classic places of social gathering, such as the stadium. The photographer has thus created a work that symbolically was able to enclose the void, made up of lack of laughter, hugs not given, victories never celebrated, thoughts not shared and unspoken applause. Our First Million work was born from this reflection.
