Francesco Zizola
Data and contact details

Biography

Francesco Zizola (Rome, 1962) has photographed the main crises and conflicts that have occurred in the world for over thirty years.  A strong ethical commitment and a personal style characterize his photographic production. Francesco has received numerous awards, including ten World Press Photo and six Picture of the Year International. In 2003 Henri Cartier Bresson included a photograph of Francesco among his 100 favorites. This collection was turned into an exhibition - Les Choix d'Henry Cartier Bresson- and a book. Among other volumes he has published, "Mare Omnis", Foto-Forum editions 2022," Aguanta", Ediuni editions 2022, "Sale Sudore Sangue",Postcart 2020, "Uno sguardo inadeguato" Fiaf 2013, "Iraq" Ega 2007 and "Born Somewhere" Delpire 2004.

In 2015 Francesco Zizola began a new artistic project, Hybris, which explores with a deliberately non-documentary language the relationship between man and nature. In addition to photography, he has extended his narrative experimentation using the moving image by making a short film that won the 2018 SIAE award for "creative talent" as part of the Venice Biennale, Film Festival.

 Francesco is artistic director of the World Press Photo exhibition in Rome and Ferrara since 2016 and curator of the project Collezione Roma 2020-21-22 for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome Palazzo delle Esposizioni .

 

In 2007 Francesco founded together with ten other colleagues the agency Noor Images, now also Noor Foundation.

Since 2008 he is Nikon Ambassador in Europe. With the NOOR Foundation  he is concerned with the encouragement and support of young  photographers around the world and particularly in areas where access to photography education is scarce. We facilitate educational initiatives – workshops, masterclasses, seminars, lectures, mentorship, school visits and other educational activities – in close collaboration with educational institutions, sponsor partners and NOOR’s professional photographers, all experienced teachers and lecturers. Through our ongoing partnership with Nikon we have offered Masterclasses around the world since 2009. To realize our projects we seek the collaboration of NGOs and foundations, and the financial support of grants, subsidies and sponsor partnerships.

Since 2009 NOOR and Nikon have partnered on education programs encouraging and supporting young photographic talent around the world. We have built strong collaborations with an international network of young photographers, photography professionals, cultural organizations, journalism and educational institutions. NOOR-Nikon educational programs have successfully trained more than400 students from more than 80 different countries and counting.

 

World Press Photo Awards

Second Prize, Contemporary Issues, 2016

Third Prize, Nature Singles 2012

Second Prize, People in the News 2008

First Prize, Portraits Singles 2005

Second Prize, Daily Life Stories 2002

First Prize, General News 1998

Second Prize, General News Stories 1998

First Prize, People Stories 1997

World Press Photo of the Year, for witnessing the tragedy of landmines in Angola 1996

First Prize, People in the News 1995

 

Other Awards and Recognitions

SIAE Award for Creative Talent, Venice Film Festival 2018, "As if we were tuna, 2018

Lady Wilmar Fotografia.Doc Award, SalinaDocFest, "As if we were tuna", 2018

Picture of the Year, Recognition for the Enviromental Vision Award, "The last sustainable tonnara," 2018

Pictures of the Year International, first prize Multimedia News Story, In the Same Boat 2016

First and Second Prize, NPPA the Best of Photojournalism, United States 2008

Honorable Mention, 16th LeadAwards, Germany 2008

Honorable Mention, Hansel-Mieth Prize, Germany 2008

First Prize, One Vision European 2007

NPPA the Best of Photojournalism 2007

Jury Prize, DAYS JAPAN International Photojournalism Awards 2007

Annual Web Winner for Photo District News, United States 2006

Hansel-Mieth Prize 2005, Germany 2006

Pictures of the Year International, United States 2006

Born Somewhere, Photo District News Best Book Selection 2005

Second Prize, NPPA Best of Photojournalism, United States 2005

Special Recognition, Alexia Foundation for World Peace for "Frontline: the Nuba in Sudan," United States 2004

Honorable Mention, Hansel-Mieth Prize, Germany 2004

Pictures of the Year, National Press Association for "Killing Fields" in Iraq published in U.S. News & World Report 2003

Honorable Mention, Hansel-Mieth Prize for "Pearl fishermen" in Indonesia, published in Mare, 2001

Second Prize, Eugene Smith 2000

Pictures of the Year, National Press Association for "Underneath China's Boom" published in U.S. News & World Report 1998

Pictures of the Year, National Press Association for "Burn Victim in Iraq," published in Life Magazine 1997.

Visa d'Or, International Festival of Photojournalism 1996

Ruas, best book, MIFAV Prize, awarded by the School of Photographic Images and Visual Arts, University of Rome, 1994.

 

Books

 

Mare Omnis, Foto-Forum editions 2022

Aguanta, Ediuni editions 2022

Salt Sweat Blood, Postcart Publishing House, 2020

Luna, notes for dreamers, Quaderni FIAF 2020

100% Made of Italy, Edizioni Silvana Editoriale, 2017

Women of Cocoa, Edizioni Silvana Editoriale, 2016 

Uno Sguardo Inadeguato, FIAF Collana Grandi Autori, Italy 2013

Iraq, Gruppo Abele Italy 2007

Né Quelque Part, Delpire Editeurs France / Born Somewhere, Fusi orari Italy 2004

Etats d'enfances, Photo Poche France 1999

Ruas, Gruppo Abele Editions Italy 1994

 

 

Solo Exhibitions

Mare Omnis , Galleria del Cembalo, Roma,Italia 2022

Mare Omnis, Foto-Forum gallery, Bolzano, Italy 2022

Salt Sweat and Blood, Hotel de Sauroy, Paris, France 2022

Mare Omnis,X gallery Sharjha Dubai,United Arab Emirates 2022

Inadequate Glance, Klarisky Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia 2019

Mare Omnis, Church of San Giuliano, Ferrara, Italy, 2018

Der Wall, Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia, Italy, 2018

Salt Sweat and Blood, EXMA', Cagliari, Italy 2017

Le donne del Cacao, Triennale di Milano, Italy 2017

Solo exhibition at the International Center of Photography in Palermo, Italy2016

A Noor Journal of the Changing Planet , Fotografia Europea , Reggio Emilia , Italy 2015

Hybris, Castello di Corigliano Calabro, Corigliano, Italy 2014

Born Somewhere, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Turin , Italy 2013

Uno Sguardo Inadequato, Centro Italiano della Fotografia d'Autore, Bibbiena, Italy 2013

An Inadequate Look, Museo di Roma in Trastevere, Italy 2013

South Sudan on the Eve of Independence, 10x8 Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2013

Shadows, MART - Museum of modern and contemporary art of Trento and Rovereto, Italy 2010

Francesco Zizola, Sao Paolo Brazil 2010

Onda Carioca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2010

Modos de Olhar , Arte Plural Galeria, Recife, Brazil 2010

Born Somewhere, Hatachana Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel 2009

Consequences, Dask gallery, Copenhagen , Denmark 2009

Worlds at the Limit, Francesco Zizola for MSF, Festival of Internazionale, Ferrara, Italy 2009

Voices from the Heart, Enel Cuore Onlus, Rimini, Italy 2008

Act of Faith, Noorderlicht Photofestival, Holland 2007

Born Somewhere, Museum of Rome in Trastevere, Italy 2006

The hundred faces of children, Palazzo Magnani, Reggio Emilia, Italy 2006

Obiettivo Uomo Ambiente featuring Born Somewhere, Viterbo, Italy 2005

To Live, Koroska Gallery of Fine Arts, Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia 2005

Shadows, Scuola Romana di Fotografia, Rome Italy 2004

Heirs of 2000, NRW Forum, Dusseldorf, Germany 2000

Etats d'enfances, Galerie Fait & Cause ,Paris, France 1998

Gallery FNAC, Paris, France 1998

Heirs of 2000/Unicef, Arengario of Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy 1997

Heirs of 2000/Unicef, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy 1997

Visa pour l'image, Perpignan, France 1995

 

Group Exhibitions

Civilisation: the way we live now. Musei san Domenico, Forlì, Italia 2022-23

Noor Pulse, Museum of Photography in Charleroy, Belgium 2022

Civilisation: the way we live now. Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerraée (MUCEM) Marseille, France 2021

Civilisation: the way we live now.National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia 2020

Civilisation: the way we live now.  Auckland Art Gallery Tot o Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand 2020

Civilisation: the way we live now. Ullens Center for contemporary Art, Beijing, China 2019

AKAA Paris Art Fair , VisionQuestT 4rosso, Paris, 2019

2:56am / To The Moon And B . Photolux festival in Lucca,Italy 2019

Civilisation : the way we live now. National Museum of Modern and contemporary art, Seoul, Korea 2019

Photo London Art Fair,Ilex Gallery,UK 2018

Like a Samba, Ilex Gallery, Rome, Italy 2017

The dark side of the (honey) moon, group exhibition, Ragusa Foto festival, Ragusa, 2017

Photo London Art Fair,Ilex Gallery, London 2017

Extraordinary Visions. Italy looks at us, Museo Arti del XXI secolo, MAXXI, Rome, 2016

Abandonments, group exhibition Palazzo Cosentini, Ragusa, Italy, 2015

The Sweet and Sour Story, Noorderlicht International Photofestival, Netherlands , 2013

Vivid Festival , Sydney, Australia, 2013

The Sweet and Sour Story, Instituto Moreira Salles , Sao Paulo, Brazil 2013

The Sweet and Sour StoryLanggeng Art Fundation, Jakarta, Indonesia 2012

The Sweet and Sour Story, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Netherlands 2012

Solutions by NOOR, 10b Photography Art Gallery, Rome, Italy 2011

Consequences by NOOR, 10b Photography Art Gallery, Rome, Italy 2011

Consequences by NOOR, Laif Photogalery, Koln , Germany 2010

Witnesses of Our Time, Rome, Italy 2010

Witnesses of Our Time, Scavi Scaligeri Art Museum, Verona, Italy 2010

Consequences by NOOR, DASK Art Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark 2009

Consequences by NOOR, COP15, Copenhagen, Denmark 2009

One Noor in New York, CVZ Contemporary Art, NY, United States 2007

Les choix d'Henri Cartier Bresson, Paris, France 2003, Barcelona, Spain 2003

 

Istitutional Collections 

Le Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saone, FranciaMaison Européenne de la Photographie, Gentilly, FranciaBibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, FranciaCollezione Farnesina, Rome, ItalyFondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris, France


Events at Rome Art Week
2023
Image not present
28 Oct 2023 | 18:00-21:30
Open studio @ 10b photography
Gianmaria De Luca and Francesco Zizola work in progress
Free access
Event
10B Photography
Via San Lorenzo da Brindisi, 10b
2022
A talk with Francesco Zizola on his photographic project Mare Omnis
28 Oct 2022 | 18:00-19:30
A talk with Francesco Zizola on his photographic project Mare Omnis
Event with the photographer who will talk about his experience in the Sulcis Sea
Event on Reservation
Event
Galleria del Cembalo
Largo Fontanella Borghese, 19
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