Mario Giacomelli

Crawford, Alistair, Mario Giacomelli (London: Phaidon, 2001) RAE2008

Born in 1925, Mario Giacomelli died in November 2000. He trained initially as a typographer and his early interest in graphics became a central part of his later photographic work. Winner of numerous medals and prizes, he was intimately involved with the preparation of this volume, which was the last major project he undertook. This survey demonstrates Giacomelli's highly personal and striking visual style. Each chapter is a sequence of photographs on a particular theme (some with accompanying poems which inspired the sequence). A life-long preoccupation with the life and landscape of his native Italy gives Giacomelli his subject matter - landscapes, rural townscapes, streetscenes, still-lifes and portraits of everyday Italian life. There are over 600 duotone photographs, displaying the photographer's understanding of his country and people, and a mastery of form and effect.