Among the many recurring interests that characterize the vast and varied work of Luigi Ghirri, a particular fascination with travel clearly emerges from his photographs, publications, and writings. A new book curated by James Lingwood and published by Mack explores Ghirri’s photography during the period from 1970 to 1991, analyzing the different ways in which the theme of travel manifests itself: in the iconic landscapes of the Dolomites and the lakes of Northern Italy; in the mirrored worlds of Adriatic and Mediterranean seaside resorts; among museums, archaeological sites, and theme parks; within atlases and on postcards; and on the shelves of his libraries, filled with evocative titles and souvenirs. Meticulously curated, the volume traces a journey through Ghirri’s work, touching on well-known landmarks and unexpected detours, integrating many of his most famous photographs with unpublished discoveries from the Archivio Ghirri.
“Paradoxically, it is precisely the most familiar corners, the canonical ones, those we constantly see and have always seen, that mysteriously seem to become full of novelty and unexpected aspects”.
Luigi Ghirri (1943-1992) was an Italian photographer, considered one of the most influential artists in contemporary photography. Born in Scandiano, in the province of Reggio Emilia, Ghirri is renowned for his work in color photography, a medium he explored innovatively in the 1970s and 1980s, when black and white still dominated the artistic scene. His work is characterized by a poetic and reflective vision of reality, which is why his subjects often include urban landscapes, everyday architecture, common objects, and views of the Italian landscape, particularly linked to his Emilian roots. His images are infused with a sense of nostalgia and a profound reflection on the relationship between image, reality, and representation. One of Ghirri’s recurring themes is the investigation of how reality is filtered through images and visual culture, always with an attentive eye to banality and detail: in this sense, he photographed shop windows, posters, road signs, empty spaces, and seemingly insignificant places, giving them a new artistic dignity.
“Beyond descriptive and illustrative purposes, photography thus becomes a method for observing and portraying the places, objects, and faces of our time—not to catalog or define them, but to discover and construct images that also represent new possibilities of perception.”
Ghirri was not interested in exotic or spectacular travel, but rather in the discovery of the everyday, the ordinary, of what often escapes our attention: he explores travel within his own land, as a sort of visual pilgrimage, where the observer is invited to look beyond the surface of things. His shots do not seek to amaze but to reveal the hidden beauty in the ordinary, a recurring theme throughout his work. Another key aspect of his work is the interest in the relationship between map and territory: in many of his works, Ghirri photographs maps, globes, and road signs, reflecting on the contrast between the abstract representation of the world and the direct experience of the landscape. For him, the map becomes a symbol of our attempt to understand and order reality, but at the same time, it highlights the distance that exists between the image and the real place.
This theme connects to his conception of travel as a mental process: it is not only about moving through physical space, but also about the subjective interpretation of what we see. <em>Luigi Ghirri: Viaggi</em> presents a <strong>quintessential artist</strong> of the late twentieth century through one of his most enduring and beloved themes, uniquely exploring the playful yet profound approach the photographer had towards image-making in an era of popular photography and tourism. The book is enriched by insightful essays from Tobia Bezzola, James Lingwood, and Maria Antonella Pelizzari, which place Ghirri’s work within the Italian and international context, as well as the broader landscape of image production and <strong>image consumption</strong>, to which the artist dedicated himself with passion.
For further information mackbooks.eu.
