Born in 1984, I grew up in Rionero in Vulture, in the South of Italy. I live in Rome where I work as a photographer, journalist and photo guide and I teach in courses of photography for adults and children. I'm the owner of il FotoStudio, a photo studio where I organize also exhibitions and courses.
I got a three years Master in Photography in Rome at Scuola Romana di Fotografia and a two years Masters in Journalism at Università della Basilicata.
There are many worlds interconnected with ours, they are very close and yet intangible. Art for me is a mean of exploring these alternative universes, not for seeking clear explanations for their mysteries, but for gathering new questions and spreading divergent thoughts.
Photography is the main ingredient that I use, but I hybrid it with painting, sculpture, collage, video art, in a constant illusory game. My works could seem distant from each other, but looking carefully you can see the lines that connect them represented by themes such as the fascination for mystery, the relationship between superstition and religion, the perceptions of reality and our relationship with the virtual as the new frontier of our conquest of space.
I'm the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards winner in Still Life category.
In May 2015 I won an artist residency in Northern Italy with Magnum photographer Alex Webb to document the Langhe area and there the project “Il Libro del Comando” started. This work was among the finalists at the 2015 Lensculture Visual Storytelling Awards. The dummy of the book was among the finalists of Cortona on the Move dummy award; DOCfield dummy award Fundació Banc Sabadell; Vienna Photobook Festival dummy award.
With the dummy of "The Rome guide for terrorists" in 2013 I won the "Open your books" Award for the best self-published book at Sifest in Savignano sul Rubicone and in 2015 with a new updated dummy I was among the finalists of the Unseen Dummy Book Award in Amsterdam and among the of the Call for Books Award at Encontros da Imagem in Braga, Portugal.
I’ve also participated in several exhibitions not only with my photos but also with my drawings, paintings and sculptures. I’m also interested in writing: I have published two books for children and a a novel for adults.
Awards
Unseen Dummy book award, finalist, 2017
Cortona on the Move dummy award, finalist, 2016
Vienna Photobook week dummy award, finalist, 2016
DOCfield Dummy Award Fundació Banc Sabadell, finalist, 2016
Crusade for Art grant, finalist, 2016
Sony World Photography Awards, winner, Still Life category, 2016
LensCulture Visual Storytelling Awards, finalist, 2015
Call for Books Award, Encontros da Imagem, among the eight finalists, Braga, Portugal, 2015
Unseen Dummy book award, among the four finalists, Amsterdam, 2015
EI Award, Encontros da Imagem, shortlisted, Braga, Portugal, 2015
Residency with Alex Webb, Camera center for photography, Piedmont, Italy, 2015
International Photography Award Emergentes DST 2014, shortlisted, Braga, Portugal, 2014
“Open your books” award for the best selfpublished book, Sifest, festival of images of Savignano sul R., 2013
Epson-Le Logge Prize, Toscana Foto Festival, special mention, 2011
Il dettaglio come codice, UBS Bank Prize, finalist, 2011
Epson-Le Logge prize, Toscana Foto Festival, third prize, 2009
Exhibitions - Selection
Let There Be, collective show about the materiality of photography, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
KaleidoCity, AV performance, with musician Stefano G. Falcone, Klang, Rome
Harditi del Pop, Andy Warhol Silver Factory, Contemporary_Cluster, Rome
La ricerca della Vita (personal), Rome Art Week, Roma
Privacy Policy (personal), Rome Art Week, Roma
I volti del Terzo, open air installation, Inside Out Project, Val Melaina Market, Rome, 2019
Il Terzo Occhio, Third Municipality city hall, festival Open House, Rome, 2019
Unseen Dummy Award 2017 exhibition, Moscow Photobookfest, Moscow, Russia, 2018
Spazio FotoCopia, Magazzini Fotografici, Naples, 2018
Fate Festival, San Potito Sannitico, 2018
Fotografia, Sala 1 - Centro Internazionale di Arte Contemporanea, Rome, 2017
Uncensored Books, Medfestival, Rethymno, Crete, 2017
Raining Stones, Pie Factory, Margate, UK, 2017
Urban Reaction Figure, Spazio Factory, Macro, Roma, 2017
Uncensored Books, Minimum Gallery, Palermo, 2017
Cartoline dall'Aniene, Aniene Festival, Roma, 2017
Esperienze (personal), il FotoStudio, Rome, 2017
Uncensored books, Ozone gallery, Belgrade Photo Month festival, Belgrade, Serbia, 2017
Who wants to be the Mayor? (personal), La Placa Academy, Roma, 2016
Solar night of projections, festival Encontros da Imagem, Braga, Portogallo, 2016
Fascism, Gallery W, Whitney Center for the Arts, Pittsfield, Massachussets, Usa, 2016
Pezzi Unici 3, Galleria Gallerati, Roma, 2016
Any Given Book, White Noise Gallery, Rome, 2016
Sony World Photography Award travelling exhibition, London-Beijing-Berlin-Milan, 2016
Reflexions, Camera Italian center for photography, Turin, 2016
Natale Arte, Galleria Gallerati, Rome, 2015
The Darkroom project 5, Tevere Art Gallery, Rome, 2015
Photobook week, Aarhus, Denmark, 2015
Stripe Art and Architecture Festival, Fermo, 2015
Affordable Art Fair, Stand of White Noise Gallery, Milan, 2015
Any Given Post-it, White Noise Gallery, Rome, 2015
God's Plane (solo show), PhotoLux Festival circuit, Lucca, Italy, 2014
Google Error (solo show), MondoBizzarro Gallery, Bizzarro Festival, Rome, 2014
Emergentes DST Award 2014, Encontros da Imagem, Braga, Portugal, 2014
Balvano Andata e Ritorno (solo show), Balvano (PZ), 2014
Solo un altro paese del Sud (solo show), Rionero in Vulture (PZ), 2014
Roma Foto Festival, Rome, 2013
Metti a fuoco, Atella (PZ), 2013
Photographer at Work, Acquasparta (TR), 2013
Occhirossi, Festival of Indipendent Photography, Rome, 2013
The house of photography of Rome, La Pelanda, Macro Museum, Rome, 2012