Bronze in 2015 goes to Italian photographer Nicola Carignani, who is based in Milan. As a teenager, NICOLA CARIGNANI got rescued by the hard-core punk scene from an apparently bourgeois, middle-class upbringing. He started meeting people from different walks of life and got into more interesting circles, like skate parks and snowboard spots. During those years, his father, an atheist communist engineer, became a practicing Hare Krishna. Still underage at that time, Nicola discovered the wonders of British magazine publishing. One day, he found himself looking at The Face and had a glimpse of what he would like to become as an adult. On the front cover, the singer of Prodigy was posing with a hideous grimace on his face: It’s shocking. Some photographers not only portray people, but they help them bring terrible truths to light.
During the years he was studying photography, he drew closer to Contemporary Art. He showed some of his first works in several exhibitions, and he met his future business partner Ivan. Together they founded Boiler Magazine, first online and then on paper. Nicola was Art Director with Macs Iotti. Everything ran smoothly for three or four years until, perhaps due to genetic causes, a sudden urge for a mystical experience struck him. Nicola decided to leave and meditate at a Buddhist monastery in Ceylon, and he then arrived in India at the Osho commune where he stayed much longer than expected. Returning to Italy to work as a photographer needed a new sparkle, which he found in experimentation. Fashion, portraiture, and sport culture all blend into the mix that defines the unique style of his images, all containing the same dose of cheekiness, elegance, irony, and wildness. Open to collaborating with other artists who share the same eclectic vision, he gave into his passion for filming. He recently started to direct music videos and small experimental projects. He has never stopped having fun.
Nowadays, he shoots a variety of different projects for an international roster of clients. A great sense of color and a sleek mix of elegance and irony have become his signature.
"Dear GoSee, thanks again for the support and the beautiful UPDATE15BERLIN Party." Nicola Carignani.
EDUCATION
2012 Film Factory Italia, filmmaking workshop at Officine/IED, directed by Silvio Soldini
2010 Cinematography workshop with Luca Bigazzi
2000 Three year Photography Program at Fondazione Studio Marangoni, Florence
Exchange Student Program in Photography, London College of Printing, London
Workshops with Franco Vaccari and Daniel Meadows
1999 Workshops with Martin Parr, Gilbert Fastenaekens, Antonio Biasiucci
1998 Workshop with Nick Waplington
