Italian photographer Gianni Berengo Gardin has died

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format
Great Italian photographer Gianni Berengo Gardin died yesterday, age 94.

Could only find an Italian article. Hopefully there will be some in French or English.

Morto Gianni Berengo Gardin, il maestro dei reportage: «Ritoccare le foto è inammissibile, pretendo di vedere quello che ha visto il fotografo»

Tra i più grandi fotografi italiani, è scomparso a 94 anni. Con la sua Leica e il riconoscibile bianco e nero ha raccontato la società, l’architettura e l’ambiente
www.corriere.it


Toscana, 1965

 
OP
OP

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format
OP
OP

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format
A few works...

 
OP
OP

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format
 
OP
OP

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format
 
OP
OP

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format
Perhaps his most famous

 
OP
OP

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format
 
OP
OP

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format
More can be seen on the Peter Fetterman Gallery site:

Gianni Berengo Gardin - Works

Works by Gianni Berengo Gardin: Gran Bretagna, Great Britain, 1977 (Printed 2023) , On The Ferry, Venezia, Venice, 1960 (Printed 2020) , Tuscany, 1958 (Printed 2023) , Tuscany (Two People Walking), 1965 (Printed 2023) , Lido di Venezia, Venice, 1959 (Printed 2020) , Break During Workday, Milan...
www.peterfetterman.com
 

nikos79

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2025
Messages
700
Location
Lausanne
Format
35mm
I have one of his big retrospective books. Great photographer, sad news
 

albireo

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
1,520
Location
Europe
Format
Multi Format
Thank you Alex for these beautiful samples.

His work on the state of Italian mental hospitals in the late 60s is also legendary. I'm not sure it is still being printed however.
 

Andrew O'Neill

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
12,272
Location
Coquitlam,BC Canada
Format
Multi Format
Although his name is new to me, I'm sorry to hear this. I will educate myself about him and his work. The images posted look fantastic.
 

Sirius Glass

Subscriber
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
50,543
Location
Southern California
Format
Multi Format
I was not familiar with him, so RIP to him.
 

nikos79

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2025
Messages
700
Location
Lausanne
Format
35mm
This image of Gardin received a lot of praise by HCB and voted one of the top 80 photos ever

"The co-presence of eyes and frames within a single image makes it an exceptional montage of different spaces and human forms in front of the camera, reminiscent of Velázquez’s illusions and suggesting the multiple artistic influences of this photographer: the French school (Doisneau, Boubat, Ronis) and the group of Venetian photographers called La Gondola […] and the powerful black-and-white photographs of Eugene Smith."

Henri-Cartier Bresson

 

snusmumriken

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 22, 2021
Messages
2,597
Location
Salisbury, UK
Format
35mm
One of my favourites. I know nothing about him, beyond reading the foreword and interview in the book I have, but the photos themselves give me the feeling that there was a humble and likeable man behind them.
 

nikos79

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2025
Messages
700
Location
Lausanne
Format
35mm
Although member of the Gondola he is very different than Paolo Monti. I consider Paolo Monti more complex but also more drawn into formalism and experimentation. Gardin on the other hand, has these "humanism" elements in his photography very particular to him, perhaps taken by his major photographic influences such as Eugene Smith
 

emeraldcity_grain

Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
69
Location
Pacific NW
Format
Multi Format
Sorry to hear the news.
There is a 2016 documentary about him. Look for it if interested.

Gianni Berengo Gardin: My Life in a Click​

 
  • nikos79
  • Deleted
  • Reason: Wrong thread

snusmumriken

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 22, 2021
Messages
2,597
Location
Salisbury, UK
Format
35mm
emeraldcity_grain said:
Sorry to hear the news.
There is a 2016 documentary about him. Look for it if interested.

Gianni Berengo Gardin: My Life in a Click​

Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads-up. I've had to pause it for later enjoyment, because I got to the bit where he said "Today I have an archive of 1,350,000 shots", and felt depressed. That's 37,500 36-exp films. What have I done with my life?
 
OP
OP

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format
snusmumriken said:
Thanks for the heads-up. I've had to pause it for later enjoyment, because I got to the bit where he said "Today I have an archive of 1,350,000 shots", and felt depressed. That's 37,500 36-exp films. What have I done with my life?
Click to expand...

Well, you do have 2,526 posts on Photrio since July 22, 2021, so it's not like all of it is a waste .

Kidding aside, 37,500 rolls is indeed a phenomenal output. It's the output of a man madly in love with, and fascinated by, his country and its people. He probably had an immense pleasure going out every single day with camera in hand, and obviously had absolutely no problem finding something interesting to photograph every time.

I can't find much biographical information about him, so I wonder how much of this output was from commissions.
 

albireo

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
1,520
Location
Europe
Format
Multi Format
snusmumriken said:
Thanks for the heads-up. I've had to pause it for later enjoyment, because I got to the bit where he said "Today I have an archive of 1,350,000 shots", and felt depressed. That's 37,500 36-exp films. What have I done with my life?
Click to expand...

Well he published more than 250 books and was known to never go anywhere without his Leica hanging from his neck.

This is not unusual - Winogrand comes to mind.

Here's a good monograph/starting point - by the Italian publisher Contrasto. Should still be available here and there

Gianni Berengo Gardin

Gianni Berengo Gardin possiede il dono di riuscire sempre a sorprendere per la sua capacità di raccontare in fotografia il nostro paese e il nostro tempo. Ne...
contrastobooks.com
 
OP
OP

Alex Benjamin

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
2,748
Location
Montreal
Format
Multi Format

I've been hunting for that one at a reasonable price for a while, to no avail. Cheapest found so far...



Out of my league. Thankfully, as you mentioned, there are many other books to choose from.
 

albireo

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
1,520
Location
Europe
Format
Multi Format
Alex Benjamin said:
I've been hunting for that one at a reasonable price for a while, to no avail. Cheapest found so far...

View attachment 405442

Out of my league. Thankfully, as you mentioned, there are many other books to choose from.
Click to expand...

Oh no! Pity. Well I hope Contrasto will reprint it perhaps on the wake of renewed interest in Gardin following his death.
 

snusmumriken

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 22, 2021
Messages
2,597
Location
Salisbury, UK
Format
35mm
albireo said:
Oh no! Pity. Well I hope Contrasto will reprint it perhaps on the wake of renewed interest in Gardin following his death.
Click to expand...

That is a pity indeed. I bought mine new on Amazon only last year, for about £45. Never occurred to me that it was a limited run. Lovely book, almost a comfort read.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…