Francesco Zizola (Italy, 1962) has documented the world’s major conflicts and their hidden crisis, focusing on the social and humanitarian issues that define life in the developing world as well as in Western countries.
A strong ethical commitment and a distinctive aesthetic eye are specific features of his pictures. His work has taken him around the world, giving him the opportunity to carefully portray forgotten crises and relevant issues often disregarded by mainstream media. He received numerous awards over the years, including ten World Press Photo awards and four Pictures of the Year International awards (POYi).
In 2003, Henri Cartier Bresson included one of Francesco Zizola’s pictures among his 100 favorites. This collection was made into an exhibition – Les Choix d’Henri Cartier Bresson – and a book.
In 2015, Francesco Zizola embarked on a new ongoing series called Hybris. For the ancient Greeks, the term Hybris or Hubris defined the sin of excess and an overestimation of one’s own competence – thus provoking punishment from the Gods. The first chapter in the Hybris series focuses on the relationship of dominance and the overstepping of limits by man with respect to the sea. These images refer back to a time in which the sea was still inhabited by fish. The body of work combines portraiture, still life and reportage from the Mediterranean Sea. The Hybris series focuses on the sin of arrogance in the domination of man over nature. Fatal for the living world of the sea, which is fast disappearing.
Francesco Zizola has published seven books, among which Uno Sguardo Inadeguato (Collana Grandi Autori, FIAF, 2013), Iraq (Ega/Amnesty International, 2007) and Born Somewhere (Delpire/Fusi Orari, 2004), an extensive work on the conditions of children from 27 different countries. His work has been widely exhibited, including exhibitions at Palazzo Magnani in Reggio Emilia, MART – Museum of modern and contemporary art of Trento and Rovereto, NRW Forum, Dusseldorf, Germany and Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. His work is in the collections of Le Musée Nicéphore Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saone and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Gentilly, France and in private collections.
