Romano Cagnoni is one of the world's great photographers in the reportage tradition. Notably, Romano has for the most part created and researched his own assignments, preferring to retain full control of his work when he has sold them to the top register of international magazines. He is the recipient of the USA Overseas Press Award, the German bronze medal Art Directors' Club, many Italian Prizes and, most recently, this year the Werner Bischof Silver Flute. He has had 41 solo exhibitions, including Biafra at Trafalgar Square and Witness at the Photographers' Gallery, London, in 1969 and 1971 respectively, and the retrospectives The world in focus and Chiaroscuro in Milan from 2003 to 2004, as well as participating in 42 group exhibitions. The color photograhs of the warriors seen here were taken in Chechenya in 1995, the first time a photographer set up a studio in a war zone during fighting. Romano answers to some questions……. Photography, particularly in black and white, seems to me to be the most ideal, new and extraordinary form to bring into the foreground the affairs of men with all their individuality and contradictions. I think that the story of personae is the story of all the stories. To photograph world events allowed me to be present in situations where people were obliged to reveal themselves, therefore I could, in terms of content, avoid any rhetorical posed photography. Certainly in this visual process, I remembered the golden section   Apologies for my references to the old masters. After all, though we live in the 21st century, a great number of modern painters like Mondrian used in their work these classical studies on visual proportions. I had number of exhibitions in the last few years. The one I am most satisfied with is a retrospective held in Milan at Arengario Palace in the year 2004. My title was "Chiaroscuro." Beside the international use of the word in its meaning related to the visual arts, chiaroscuro also means  an alternation of changing fortunes from painful to good humour. This title portrays the essence of my work. I have often looked at life with an amused eye, perhaps to compensate for so many years spent in photographing pain. If you can't cry, you can't laugh.

From: http://thefreemanview.com

Curriculum Vitae

© Romano Cagnoni