Giacomo Brunelli begins walking before he begins making photographs. “Walking is a part of his photography,” he says.
“One needs to walk to create the chance of finding things that are interesting.”
Over the past 15 years, he has famously used animals as inspiration in his work, those he encounters in the natural world as well as in the ultimate man-made environment, the city. Traversing the streets of London and New York, Brunelli’s images transcend time in his trademark film-noir style.
In January 2020, Brunelli walked across the bridges and along the canals of Venice, two months after the city experienced devastating flooding, the result of the worst acqua alta, or high water, in more than 50 years. Having always been fascinated by the city’s vulnerability, he embarked on a project that explores the archipelago’s uniquely intricate landscape, composed of over 100 islands connected by countless bridges and waterways. Shooting with a Miranda camera from the 1960s, Brunelli softens the landscape, as well as its anonymous figures, into black-and-white chiaroscuro. Glimpses of gondoliers and abstract reflections depict an enduring city and quietly remind viewers of what is required to preserve and sustain it.
About Giacomo Brunelli
Giacomo Brunelli (b. Perugia, Italy, 1977) graduated in International Communications in 2002 and has since developed a distinctive photographic practice that has been widely exhibited across Europe and the United States. His work has been shown at institutions including The Photographers’ Gallery and The Barbican Centre in London, The New Art Gallery Walsall, BlueSky Gallery in Portland, Format Festival in Derby, the Triennial of Photography in Hamburg, Nordic Light Festival in Norway, and Fotofestiwal Łódź in Poland, as well as at galleries such as Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica, Robert Morat Galerie in Berlin, and Galerie Camera Obscura in Paris.
Brunelli is the recipient of several major awards, including the Sony World Photography Award, the Grand Prix at Fotofestiwal Łódź, and the Magenta Foundation’s Flash Forward Award. His photographs are held in significant public collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The New Art Gallery Walsall, the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts in Japan, and the Portland Art Museum.
He has published numerous monographs that trace the evolution of his work, including The Animals (2008) and Eternal London (2014) with Dewi Lewis Publishing, Self Portraits (2017) and Hamburg (2021) with Editions Bessard, New York (2020) with Skinnerboox, and Venice (2022), self-published by TantoPress. In 2012, he was commissioned by The Photographers’ Gallery to produce the series Eternal London, and in 2015 by Deichtorhallen to create the body of work Hamburg. [Official Website]
