Glamour and the ringing phone getting back to the roots
In the 70's Carlo Orsi was probably the most glamorous of the Milanese fashion photographers.
His photos where sexy, he had a real feeling with girls, he had brought into fashion and glamour photography a new, fresh attitude that derived from his being a photo reporter. As Guido Vergani says (quoted in Arnaldo Pomodoro's text that we publish) "Carlo is one of the few photographers who know how to be both great reporters and great image creators. Like all great reporters he has the ability to emotionally participate in the event, of putting the focus on that particular detail that the others miss, paying great attention on the faces, the gestures, the existence, the atmosphere ... of the great creators of images for fashion and advertising he has the imagination, the visual ideas, the taste for the gimmick, the scenic element that sublimate the message."
Carlo has had a very long and successful career in fashion photography then one day, unexpectedly, the game was over.
In a conversation with art critic Federico Sardella he points it out very clearly: "I worked twenty-five years in fashion, and then I quit. I've always worked because day after day my phone kept ringing. It's not in my nature to put myself forward. And when my phone stopped ringing I started doing other things".
So he just happily got back to his roots: his artist friends, his 52 Leicas and the motorcycle, the darkroom, Berlin and reportage photography.
In 2004 he started a collaboration with Interplast Italy NGO documenting their plastic surgery missions all over the third world. He swiftly passed from photographing the absolute beauty of models to documenting the suffering and pain of the less fortunate.
Carlo is a passionate italian photographer and at a certain point he felt he had to express his feelings about his 25 years experience in fashion photography so he did it in the most clever way: he macerated some of his 35mm fashion transparencies letting humidity corrode the film emulsion. A sort of slow, physical and archaic "darkroom work". The resulting images are gems of colours and textures, an elegant "manifesto" about his feelings on fashion images but also a precise statement about photography as a form of craftsmanship.
I know Carlo Orsi since the early '60s, when he was a young assistant to Ugo Mulas. After some time our attendance became constant with meetings and exchange almost daily. Later on I moved in via La Marmora 15, in a large space on the ground floor which opened onto a courtyard and upstairs there was Carlo's studio. I remember one day he rang at my door and proudly showed me a photo he had taken of the plaster model of sculèture of mine, which was èlaced outside the front entrance of my studio. It was a nice surprise: since the first image I perceived an interest in photographing art with an extraordinary sensitivity, especially for sculpture. As guido Vergani said once Carlo Orsi is "... one of the few photographers who know how to be both great reporters and great image creators. Like all great reporters he has the ability to emotionally participate in the event, of putting the focus on that particular detail that the others miss, paying great attention on the faces, the gestures, the existence, the atmosphere ... of the great creators of images for fashion and advertising he has the imagination, the visual ideas, the taste for the gimmick, the scenic element that sublimate the message."
Over time Carlo and I became friends and we started working together. He has become my reference photographer and has taken photos of all of my sculptures placed in the parks and urban spaces around the world, with beautiful photos that continue to be published in catalogs and monographs. And all my theatre adventures live through his images collected in a volume to be released in 2012 that documents the stages of preparation of the scenes and have set unrepeatable moments of the shows and backstage. I appreciate the style and the adventurous spirit that animates carlo when he works, he may be climbing on roofs or entering swimming pools and fountains to get the best and most original views. He's the only photographer That makes me feel at ease in front of the camera and the result is always extremely natural and that's because his 'click' is released just in the right moment. The stunning series of photographs of my exhibition at Forte Belvedere in Florence in 1984, which so impressed Giulio Carlo Argan, made me live again those passionate days spent preparing the exhibition in that extraordinary place and helped to give an interpretation and a thorough reading of my works. Carlo and I formed a true partnership: we have a great cultural affinity and a common vision of the world. I am impressed by his extraordinary commitment to social works since 2004 with Interplast Italy, an NGO specializing in reconstructive plastic surgery that operates in several countries of the world. He followed them in Tibet, China, Uganda, Bangladesh and Bolivia : his brave choice to get involved so deeply in the tragedies of the world make us think. His photographs, which document the action of these valuable volunteers are strong and direct, but through an extraordinary use of light and framing the images recall beautiful classic paintings: despite the drama and the rawness of the subject, they give back dignity to the people so badly hit in the face and body and give us the immediacy and concreteness of everyday life...
Arnaldo Pomodoro CLOSE
Milano, 1965
Bruno Alfieri Editore
Immagini di Milano negli anni ’60 realizzate con Giulia Pirelli, presentazione di Dino Buzzati. Arnaldo Pomodoro al Forte di Belvedere, 1986
De Luca Editore Arnaldo Pomodoro, 1995
Fabbri Editore
Sculture di Arnaldo Pomodoro nel mondo. Extasi, Berlino 31 Dicembre 1989, 2000
Edizioni L’Arsenale Un treno del Sud, 2004
Catalogo per la mostra “Un treno del Sud 1963-2004” alla Galleria Forni di Bologna Faithful, People around the world, 2004
Skira Editore
Io sorrido, tu sorridi, 2005
Valentina Edizioni Kounellis, 2006
Skira Editore Atto Unico, 2006
Box art
10 fotografie della mostra di Jannis Kounellis
formato 30x40 tiratura 1/30 Fotografie da ascoltare, 2006
Electa Editore La luce della terra, 2007
Skira Editore Il singolo dettaglio, 2009
Skira Editore No Photoshop, 2011
Catalogo per la mostra alla Raffaella De Chirico Galleria di Torino Carlo Orsi Fotografo, 2012
Catalogo per la mostra antologica al Centro d’Arte Contemporanea di Cavalese
Carlo Orsi • Exhibitions
Personal Exhibitions 1984
Bergamo, spazio Baleri “30+1 ritratti fotografici” 1987
Gibellina, Museo Civico, “Immagini della Mostra di Arnaldo Pomodoro al Forte di Belvedere”
Taormina, Palazzo dei Duchi di S. Stefano - Fondazione Mazzullo, “Immagini della Mostra di Arnaldo Pomodoro al Forte di Belvedere”
Pavia, Castello Visconteo, “Immagini della Mostra di Arnaldo Pomodoro al Forte di Belvedere” 1988
Milano, Studio Marconi, “Alias Circus” 1989
Berna, galleria Teo Jacob, ”Carlo Orsi a Mosca con Alias” 1991
Treviso, spazio Bornello, “Personaggi in mostra” 1994
Frankfurt, Herbstmesse, “Carlo Orsi”
Milano, galleria Philippe Daverio, “Carlo Orsi Fotografie 1960/1994” 2000
Milano, galleria Antonia Jannone, “Exstasi, Berlino 31 dicembre 1989” 2001
Firenze, Pitti Immagine, “Facce da marinai”
Milano, Jamaica, “Cherchez la femme”
Milano, Teatro Parenti, “Facce da marinai” 2004
Firenze, Fortezza da Basso, “Faithful, people around the world” 2005
Milano,galleria Antonia Jannone, “ Carlo Orsi, luoghi, persone: fotografie degli anni ‘60”
Bologna, galleria Forni, “Un treno del Sud 1963/2004” 2006
Milano, Casa editrice Valentina, “Io sorrido, tu sorridi”
Milano, galleria Belvedere, “Fotografie da ascoltare”
Lodi, Teatro alle Vigne, “Io sorrido, tu sorridi” 2009
Milano, Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, “Il singolo dettaglio” 2010
Milano, Spazio Krizia, “Grand Prix Moto” 2011
Torino, galleria Raffaella De Chirico, ottobre “No Photoshop”
Milano, Spazio Jamaica, novembre “100 anni di Jamaica e Carlo Orsi” 2012
Cavalese, Centro d’Arte Contemporanea, gennaio “Carlo Orsi, fotografo” 2013
Lugano, Photographica Fine Art Gallery, “Milano 1965”
Collectives 1999
Milano, galleria Antonia Jannone, “Obiettivo Milano” 2002
Bologna, Daniela Facchinato Immage Gallery, “4 Fotografi Italiani”
Ancona, Mole Vanvitelliana, “4 Fotografi Italiani” 2003
Milano, L’Arsenale Photoitalia, “17 Fotografi Italiani” 2006
Milano, Museo di Storia Contemporanea, “Il fotogiornalismo in Italia 1945-2005” 2007
Milano, Triennale Bovisa, “Edizione d’autore in serie limitata”
Montpellier, Le Pavillon Populaire, “Photojournalisme Italien”
Venezia, Berengo Fine Arts, “L’estensione immaginaria” 2010
Bergamo, sala Viterbi Palazzo Provincia di Bergamo, ottobre “I fotografi di Città” 2011
Milano, Milan Image Art Fair, maggio “Carlo Orsi, Documentary”, “Carlo Orsi, Conceptual” 2013
Milano, Milan Image Art Fair, maggio
Carlo Orsi Prints Series
Notes on the prints
Sicily
Side shots while following Italian sociologist Danilo Dolci for Fondazione Olivetti.
Danilo Dolci was an Italian social activist, sociologist, popular educator and poet.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Dolci published a series of books (notably, in their English translations, To Feed the Hungry, 1955, and Waste, 1960) that stunned the outside world with their emotional force and the detail with which he depicted the desperate conditions of the Sicilian countryside and the power of the Mafia. Dolci became almost a cult hero-figure in Northern Europe and the United States. Young people idolised him and committees were formed to raise funds for his work.
Among those who publicly voiced support for his efforts were Carlo Levi, Erich Fromm, Bertrand Russell, Jean Piaget, Aldous Huxley, Jean-Paul Sartre and Ernst Bloch.
In the late 50's Dolci moved in the Sicilian town of Partinico, where he worked to organise landless peasants into co-operatives.
Carlo Orsi met Dolci in 1960 on an assignement by Fondazione Olivetti to portray him in his Sicilian land.
The vintage photographs in this portfolio are scenes of the daily life in Partinico. Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
Carlo Orsi's prints are dated, signed and certified by the author.
Modern prints edition, unless where expressly noted, are produced in the declared number plus three artist's proofs.
Sicily
Side shots while following Italian sociologist Danilo Dolci for Fondazione Olivetti.
Danilo Dolci was an Italian social activist, sociologist, popular educator and poet.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Dolci published a series of books (notably, in their English translations, To Feed the Hungry, 1955, and Waste, 1960) that stunned the outside world with their emotional force and the detail with which he depicted the desperate conditions of the Sicilian countryside and the power of the Mafia. Dolci became almost a cult hero-figure in Northern Europe and the United States. Young people idolised him and committees were formed to raise funds for his work.
Among those who publicly voiced support for his efforts were Carlo Levi, Erich Fromm, Bertrand Russell, Jean Piaget, Aldous Huxley, Jean-Paul Sartre and Ernst Bloch.
In the late 50's Dolci moved in the Sicilian town of Partinico, where he worked to organise landless peasants into co-operatives.
Carlo Orsi met Dolci in 1960 on an assignement by Fondazione Olivetti to portray him in his Sicilian land.
The vintage photographs in this portfolio are scenes of the daily life in Partinico. Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
A 1960 travel sketchbook from Spain. Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
Untitled Spain, 1960
Untitled Spain, 1960
Untitled Spain, 1960
Untitled Spain, 1960
Untitled Spain, 1960
Untitled Spain, 1960
Cibeles Spain, 1960
Untitled Spain, 1960
Untitled Spain, 1960
Untitled Spain, 1960
Untitled Spain, 1960
Gitanos
Recordings of time spent with the gypsy community living in caves at "Sacromonte", facing the Alhambra in Granada.
Sacromonte is a neighbourhood of Granada, in Spain. It derives its name from the nearby Sacromonte Abbey, which was founded in 1600 on the hill of Valparaiso outside the old city, and is built over catacombs (originally mine workings of Roman date).
By the 19th century, the area had become home to a substantial Gitano community, who built their homes in caves excavated from the soft rock of the hillside. The area became famous for Flamenco music and dancing, but major floods and forced evacuations in the 1960s left the neighborhood population dramatically reduced. Since the early 1990s, however, the area has slowly become developed as a tourist attraction, and as a centre of Gitano culture. Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
Untitled Gitanos, 1960
America
New York city in 1968 during Nixon's presidential campaign. Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
Controcorrente America, 1968
Subway America, 1968
Americana Ave. America, 1968
Policeman America, 1968
Untitled America, 1968
Untitled America, 1968
Untitled America, 1968
Berlin
A void and tidy Berlin seven years before the fall of the wall. Even the graffitis were quite polite. Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
The Wall Berlin, 1982
The Wall Berlin, 1982
Porta di Brandeburgo Berlin, 1982
Untitled Berlin, 1982
Untitled Berlin, 1982
Untitled Berlin, 1982
Untitled Berlin, 1982
Untitled Berlin, 1982
North Africa
A travel sketchbook from the North African deserts. Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
Desert, 2002
Desert, 2004
Camels, 2004
Desert, 2004
Snakes, 2004
Desert, 2007
Herd, 2005
Alexandria, 2007
White Desert, 2007
Alexandria, 2007
Alexandria, 2007
Desert, 1984
No Photoshop
Carlo Orsi on quitting fashion photography and digital image manipulation.
To understand this work by Carlo Orsi it's essential to bear in mind the photogaphic works he's doing, since a few years, for the NGO Interplast Italy. This organization assists populations in third world countries providing free access to plastic surgery. Most of the time the patients are women who are victims of acid attacks.
As Carlo says: "No photoshop... No fashion.... I've disfigured, not with acid but with other "things", those same fashion photos that I had produced.. I don't consider it cancelling them out, but if anything, decomposing them. And, for that matter, they never decompose in the same way. Curious, isn't it? The bodies change and the subjects undergo a kind of mutation. The atmospheric elements act, knocking the images off their immortal pedestal. All of these subjects - though the subject, in the end, is fashion itself - have a name, but they're no longer recognizable or identifiable." Lambda prints mounted on aluminium.
Side shots while following Italian sociologist Danilo Dolci for Fondazione Olivetti.
Danilo Dolci was an Italian social activist, sociologist, popular educator and poet.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Dolci published a series of books (notably, in their English translations, To Feed the Hungry, 1955, and Waste, 1960) that stunned the outside world with their emotional force and the detail with which he depicted the desperate conditions of the Sicilian countryside and the power of the Mafia. Dolci became almost a cult hero-figure in Northern Europe and the United States. Young people idolised him and committees were formed to raise funds for his work.
Among those who publicly voiced support for his efforts were Carlo Levi, Erich Fromm, Bertrand Russell, Jean Piaget, Aldous Huxley, Jean-Paul Sartre and Ernst Bloch.
In the late 50's Dolci moved in the Sicilian town of Partinico, where he worked to organise landless peasants into co-operatives.
Carlo Orsi met Dolci in 1960 on an assignement by Fondazione Olivetti to portray him in his Sicilian land.
The vintage photographs in this portfolio are scenes of the daily life in Partinico. Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
Spain
A 1960 travel sketchbook from Spain.
Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
Gitanos
Recordings of time spent with the gypsy community living in caves at "Sacromonte", facing the Alhambra in Granada.
Sacromonte is a neighbourhood of Granada, in Spain. It derives its name from the nearby Sacromonte Abbey, which was founded in 1600 on the hill of Valparaiso outside the old city, and is built over catacombs (originally mine workings of Roman date).
By the 19th century, the area had become home to a substantial Gitano community, who built their homes in caves excavated from the soft rock of the hillside. The area became famous for Flamenco music and dancing, but major floods and forced evacuations in the 1960s left the neighborhood population dramatically reduced. Since the early 1990s, however, the area has slowly become developed as a tourist attraction, and as a centre of Gitano culture. Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
America
New York city in 1968 during Nixon's presidential campaign.
Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
Berlin
A void and tidy Berlin seven years before the fall of the wall. Even the graffitis were quite polite.
Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
North Africa
A travel sketchbook from the North African deserts.
Vintage prints on Silver Gelatine paper.
No Photoshop
Carlo Orsi on quitting fashion photography and digital image manipulation.
To understand this work by Carlo Orsi it's essential to bear in mind the photogaphic works he's doing, since a few years, for the NGO Interplast Italy. This organization assists populations in third world countries providing free access to plastic surgery. Most of the time the patients are women who are victims of acid attacks.
As Carlo says: "No photoshop... No fashion.... I've disfigured, not with acid but with other "things", those same fashion photos that I had produced.. I don't consider it cancelling them out, but if anything, decomposing them. And, for that matter, they never decompose in the same way. Curious, isn't it? The bodies change and the subjects undergo a kind of mutation. The atmospheric elements act, knocking the images off their immortal pedestal. All of these subjects - though the subject, in the end, is fashion itself - have a name, but they're no longer recognizable or identifiable." Lambda prints mounted on aluminium.
Side shots while on assignement for Fondazione Olivetti. On assignement for Fondazione Olivetti to photograph Danilo Dolci. Unique print of a lost negative
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