Bidspirit auction | Paolo Ventura

Paolo Ventura - Paolo Ventura (1968) - War Souvenir #9, 2007. Inkjet print cm 88 x 70 | 34.6 x 27.6 in. Artist's Proof Edition 1 of 2 (from an edition of 10 + 2 AP) Numbered, dated and signed in black feltpen on the verso Framed LITERATURE P. Ventura (edited by), War Souvenir, Contrasto, Milan, 2006, cover Paolo Ventura (Milan 1968) son of a well-known illustrator of children's books after his studies at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts worked for a long time and successfully as a fashion photographer, but when he moved to Brooklyn, he discovered a new and original vocation that enhanced his manual skills. He builds, and then takes photographs of them, dioramas where he evokes atmospheres by creating costumes, scenes, objects, and details with meticulous philological precision. He moves from historical situations (the 1940s) to fantasy subjects where circus characters and puppets appear or imaginative settings where he and his family members appear. He then combines painting and collage with a masterful use of digital.  Appearing on the cover of the volume “In Tempo di Guerra” published by Contrasto in 2006, this photograph illustrates very well the photographer's work, which starts from a careful study of every detail: the heavy clothes worn during the war in winter by the protagonists, the bicycle in the foreground, the posters a bit torn that cover the wall, the theatrical gesture of the couple in love. Making everything even more realistic is the study of lights that here wraps the scene as livid as the times that are recounted here. There was a time when traveling photographers went around with their scenes proposing to potential clients to be filmed in unusual situations such as this one in which a young man pretends to drive an unusual airplane. This is a tribute to those ingenuous enactments, but also a reminder of the potential falsity of which photography is capable. Indeed, Michele Smargiassi used this image for the cover of his essay “Un’autentica bugia. La fotografia, il vero, il falso”.