‘Radical’ is something ‘acting in depth; concerning an issue beginning with its essential principles’, according to Salvatore Battaglia’s definition in the Grande dizionario della lingua italiana. With this as my starting point I travelled around Italy in search of women and men who – each in their own way and for different reasons – have embraced radical choices and lifestyles.

This is the cover of the book:

Radicalia_cover_low-1456921466

Fools, ravers, criminals, devouts and cloistered nuns: the subjects come to life in a series of portraits in which the photographic medium appears at times in its pure form, at others grafted in items of vernacular iconography (passport pictures, holy pictures, mug shots). Everything comes together in a concept album where the face becomes a prism through which to investigate the human need to undertake extreme and unconventional life paths.

The book is divided in 5 chapters:

Deviation is about town fools.

Devotion-1456921319

Devotion talks about the relation between Saints and Devouts.

Bakhita_1-1456921346

Eversion depicts ten clans of Mafia.

Radicalia_5-1456921362

Contemplation faces cloistered nuns.

Monache-1456921385

Evasion is about nightlife, the world of raves and techno music events.

Waste_land_001prova-1456921409

My name is Piero Martinello, a portrait photographer raised at Fabrica, Benetton’s communication research center.

After assisting Mary Ellen Mark and Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin I started working as a freelance photographer for international magazines ( The Guardian, Financial Times, Forbes, Le Monde, Esquire) and communication agencies mainly in Spain and Italy.

Meanwhile I’ve been working on a single long-term project called Radicalia, which was made possible by the Luz Fellowship that Luz Photo Agency granted me in November 2012.

Radicalia has already been showed at the gallery Le Dictateur in Milan in June 2015 and at the Foto-Forum gallery in Bozen in September 2015, and presented at the last edition of PhotoLux Festival in Lucca, Italy.

The project won the Fotofolio Review at Les Rencontres d’ Arles 2015, where I’m going to have a solo show at the upcoming 2016 edition.

In May it’s going to be showed also in Barcelona at DocField 16.

Last summer the dummy of Radicalia was selected at the Luma Dummy Book Award in Arles.

Now it’s time to print the actual book, which is also intended to be a guide to the exhibition.

Art director of the book is Lorenzo Fanton, a former Fabricante and a good friend living in New York City.

Featuring visual contributions by Enrica Casentini, Alberto Gobber, Luca Zamoc, Patrick Waterhouse, Ramon Pez, Alberto Sola, Gino De Munari, Franco Ruaro.

Texts by Piero Casentini and Cosimo Bizzarri.

And with the support of Silvia Dovigo and Nicolò Degiorgis.

Radicalia_le_dictateur_overview-1456918455

Installation shot at Le Dictateur, Milan, June 2015.

Radicalia

Supported by

The publications