Luigi Ghirri (Scandiano, Reggio Emilia 1943 – Reggio Emilia, 1992).
He started his career in 1970, adopting a photographic approach influenced by conceptual art. His inquiry was soon capable of attracting attention internationally: in 1975 Time-Life included him among the “Discoveries” of its “Photography Year,” and he participated in the Photography as Art section in Kassel; in 1982, he was invited to Photokina in Cologne to be part in the “Photographie 1922-1982” exhibition, he was featured among the most significant photographers of the 20th Century. At the end of the 1970s, he started working on many publishing projects under “Punto e Virgola” publishing, which he founded with Paola Borgonzoni and Giovanni Chiaramonte (1978-1980). He organized many historically relevant collective exhibitions such as “Iconicittà” (1980), “Viaggio in Italia” (1984), and “Esplorazioni sulla Via Emilia” (1986), to whom all the photographers of the same generation joined. In 1985 Aldo Rossi invited him to work on the architecture section of the Venice Biennale, and in 1988 he curated the photography exhibition included in the Milan Triennale. His long-life reflection on the landscape issue was carried out at the end of the 1980s through the publication of “Paesaggio Italiano” and “II profilo delle nuvole.”
He’s been part of the Venice Biennale in 2011 and 2013; the IV Biennial of Photography on Industry and Work, Bologna Italy (2019). Many museums and public institutions dedicated to his work solo shows such as Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Jeu de Paume, Paris (2018); Triennale di Milano (2018); MAXXI Museum, Rome. Traveled to Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo; Instituto Moreira Salles, Rio de Janeiro; Reggio Emilia, Italy (2013); Castello di Rivoli, Turin, (2012); Aperture Foundation, New York (2008); Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy (2005); Palazzo Magnani, Chiostri di San Domenico, Reggio Emilia, Italy, Hôtel de Sully, Paris; Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland; Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam; and Palazzo Fontana di Trevi, Rome (2001).
His photographic inquiry has been the subject of many books, and his works have been collected by major institutions, including the Musée de la Photographie Réattu (Arles), Museum of Modern Art (New York), Biblioteca Panizzi (Reggio Emilia), Palazzo Braschi – Archivio Fotografico Comunale (Rome), and many others.