Enigmatic connections between seemingly disparate objects. In his pictures, Privitera high-lights the dualisms in everyday life and seeks to uncover a dreamlike moment, an ironic instant, or a bright epiphany.
La Nostalgia
Capitolo 1 – Racconto d’Estate (2017 – Ongoing)
Described as — a form of melancholy — in the Early Modern period, it became an important trope in Romanticism. Nostalgia is associated with a wistful yearning for the past, its personalities, and events, especially the “good old days” or a “warm childhood”.
I developed the narrative among the sea and the people, without rules or purpose, just with the desire to be free and elegant as well. Candid moments of a daily strolling, beach tales through bodies, details, skin, sun, sand and shapes. I tried to achieve the boundaries of the genres, walking on the edges: street-photography and fine-art, documentary and conceptual. Following these humans during this magic summer mood, I mixed the loneliness and light with a visual geometry, a dialogue between single images and fleshly diptychs, paradoxes and connections. All these pictures were taken near San Benedetto del Tronto and Pescara. Mar Adriatico, Italy.
“Working in documentary, conceptual, and street photography, Rome based artist Antonio Privitera often utilizes diptychs to explore existential dualities. His enigmatic narratives uncover unusual connections between magic and reality, past and future, memory and time, and life and death. These dreamlike resonances ultimately visualize the innate human desire to escape.” Agora Gallery, New York
“He’d play around with shapes, considering the geometry of his subjects and their setting, Each pair of images is in conversation with themselves, creating a single frame from separate moments. It’s not always literal or direct, but Privitera’s talent lies in drawing emotional connections between images.” PDN, Emerging Photographer, New York
“Antonio Privitera’s (b. 1984) images are like snapshots from childhood, where random details merge to become wonderful memories of days at the beach; of parasols and palm trees, of voices drowned out by the sea, of seeing your family in bathing suits. And those days seemed to be dominated by an everlasting sun.
In his series La Nostalgia, Privitera cleverly uses diptychs to create the impression of these passing moments from childhood, where unexpected juxtapositions and combinations create original compositions, naturally connected by recurring shapes and figures. Here, normal sunbathers and beachgoers are funny in the most endearing ways, but Privitera’s intention is never to ridicule; rather, there is a childish enchantment, much like a child’s fascination with their grandmother’s wrinkly arms, or their father’s enormous belly. If you’ve ever been on summer holiday, you can smell the sunscreen in these photographs.” GUP magazine, Amsterdam
For more information, please, visit https://antonioprivitera.com
BIOGRAPHY
Antonio Privitera was born in Siracusa, Italy, in 1984.
He graduated in cinema and philosophy with BFA from the University of Trieste in 2009. In the same year he obtained a master’s degree in documentary and photography at IED of Venice and received his MFA. Privitera has been the recipient of international grants and awards. His work is widely exhibited in Europe and overseas as well. His photographs have been featured in several publications worldwide.
Currently he lives and works in Rome as a freelance artist, photographer and creative director.
CV
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Gaffa Gallery, Sydney, Australia | 2018 (upcoming)
MOPLA, Los Angeles, CA | 2018
Arsenale, Venice, Italy | 2018 Agora Gallery, New York, NY | 2018
SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA | 2017
Space Place, Nižnij Tagil, Russia | 2017
ArtGallery, Milan, Italy | 2017
WerkstattGalerie, Berlin, Germany | 2015
GRANTS, AWARDS AND PRIZES
Winner, PDN Emerging Photographer Spring 2018 Finalist, Arte Laguna Prize 17.18 Winner, The Chelsea International Photography Competition, 2017
Winner, LensCulture Street Photography Awards, 2017
Editor’s pick, The Independent Photographer, 2017
PUBLICATIONS
il Post, LensCulture, The Guardian, GUP Magazine, Ignant, Whitelies magazine, Blue70, PROwincja, Libertyn.
La Nostalgia
Capitolo 1 – Racconto d’Estate (2017 – Ongoing)
Described as — a form of melancholy — in the Early Modern period, it became an important trope in Romanticism. Nostalgia is associated with a wistful yearning for the past, its personalities, and events, especially the “good old days” or a “warm childhood”.
I developed the narrative among the sea and the people, without rules or purpose, just with the desire to be free and elegant as well. Candid moments of a daily strolling, beach tales through bodies, details, skin, sun, sand and shapes. I tried to achieve the boundaries of the genres, walking on the edges: street-photography and fine-art, documentary and conceptual. Following these humans during this magic summer mood, I mixed the loneliness and light with a visual geometry, a dialogue between single images and fleshly diptychs, paradoxes and connections. All these pictures were taken near San Benedetto del Tronto and Pescara. Mar Adriatico, Italy.
“Working in documentary, conceptual, and street photography, Rome based artist Antonio Privitera often utilizes diptychs to explore existential dualities. His enigmatic narratives uncover unusual connections between magic and reality, past and future, memory and time, and life and death. These dreamlike resonances ultimately visualize the innate human desire to escape.” Agora Gallery, New York
“He’d play around with shapes, considering the geometry of his subjects and their setting, Each pair of images is in conversation with themselves, creating a single frame from separate moments. It’s not always literal or direct, but Privitera’s talent lies in drawing emotional connections between images.” PDN, Emerging Photographer, New York
“Antonio Privitera’s (b. 1984) images are like snapshots from childhood, where random details merge to become wonderful memories of days at the beach; of parasols and palm trees, of voices drowned out by the sea, of seeing your family in bathing suits. And those days seemed to be dominated by an everlasting sun.
In his series La Nostalgia, Privitera cleverly uses diptychs to create the impression of these passing moments from childhood, where unexpected juxtapositions and combinations create original compositions, naturally connected by recurring shapes and figures. Here, normal sunbathers and beachgoers are funny in the most endearing ways, but Privitera’s intention is never to ridicule; rather, there is a childish enchantment, much like a child’s fascination with their grandmother’s wrinkly arms, or their father’s enormous belly. If you’ve ever been on summer holiday, you can smell the sunscreen in these photographs.” GUP magazine, Amsterdam
For more information, please, visit https://antonioprivitera.com
BIOGRAPHY
Antonio Privitera was born in Siracusa, Italy, in 1984.
He graduated in cinema and philosophy with BFA from the University of Trieste in 2009. In the same year he obtained a master’s degree in documentary and photography at IED of Venice and received his MFA. Privitera has been the recipient of international grants and awards. His work is widely exhibited in Europe and overseas as well. His photographs have been featured in several publications worldwide.
Currently he lives and works in Rome as a freelance artist, photographer and creative director.
CV
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Gaffa Gallery, Sydney, Australia | 2018 (upcoming)
MOPLA, Los Angeles, CA | 2018
Arsenale, Venice, Italy | 2018 Agora Gallery, New York, NY | 2018
SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA | 2017
Space Place, Nižnij Tagil, Russia | 2017
ArtGallery, Milan, Italy | 2017
WerkstattGalerie, Berlin, Germany | 2015
GRANTS, AWARDS AND PRIZES
Winner, PDN Emerging Photographer Spring 2018 Finalist, Arte Laguna Prize 17.18 Winner, The Chelsea International Photography Competition, 2017
Winner, LensCulture Street Photography Awards, 2017
Editor’s pick, The Independent Photographer, 2017
PUBLICATIONS
il Post, LensCulture, The Guardian, GUP Magazine, Ignant, Whitelies magazine, Blue70, PROwincja, Libertyn.
