Gianni Berengo Gardin

Gianni Berengo Gardin (10 October 1930 – 6 August 2025) was an Italian photographer who concentrated on reportage and editorial work, but whose career as a photographer encompassed book illustration and advertising.

"Undoubtedly the most important photographer in Italy in the latter part of the 20th century",

Life and career Born in Santa Margherita Ligure on 10 October 1930,

Berengo Gardin had a large archive, with over 1.5 million negatives. )

Berengo Gardin named as influences on him the French photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Willy Ronis, Édouard Boubat and Robert Doisneau;

Berengo Gardin died on 6 August 2025, at the age of 94.

Vaporetto, Venice, 1960

Berengo Gardin's "most renowned image of Venice", often referred to as Vaporetto, Venice, 1960:

was taken in 1960, on a vaporetto with mirrored doors so that the passengers are trapped in a mosaic of reflections. Simultaneously mundane – the travellers are ordinary commuters – and exotic, it captures the paradox of a city trapped in an excess of representation.

Books

Berengo Gardin was the sole contributor or a major contributor to a large number of photobooks: the exact number up to any time depends on various definitions – what a separate book is (as opposed to a mere new edition), what a "major" contribution is, and more – but one estimate in 2014 put the number at 250 (and added that "only 10 are in colour"). Other award-winning books (see "Awards") include India dei villaggi (1981, about the villages of India) and La disperata allegria and Zingari a Palermo (1994 and 1997, about the Romani people of Florence and Palermo respectively).

"Books such as Dentro le case and Dentro il lavoro are some of the best journalistic records of how people worked and lived in post-WWII Italy."

Exhibitions Berengo Gardin had many exhibitions: the number was described in 2008 as "around 200". Napoli '81. Sette fotografi per una nuova immagine. Naples, December 1981 – January 1982. Photographs of Naples by Berengo Gardin, Mario Cresci, Roberto Salbitani, Franco Fontana, Luigi Ghirri, Mimmo Jodice, and Antonia Mulas. Fotografie di Gianni Berengo Gardin per Il Mondo dal 1954 al 1965. Palazzo Dugani, Milan, January–February 1985. Trouver Trieste. Eiffel Tower, November 1985 – June 1986. Photographs of Trieste by various photographers. Bologna Museum of Modern Art, 1987 Refettorio delle , Milan, 1988 Milan, 1990. Ring. Galleria d'arte moderna, Bologna, 1994. Photographs by Berengo Gardin and Gabriele Basilico. Artelaguna '95: opere d'arte per la laguna di Venezia. June–July 1995. The Italian Metamorphosis, 1943–1968 (group exhibition). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, October 1994 – January 1995. Leica Gallery, New York, 1999. Exhibition related to Giò Pomodoro. International Cairo Biennale, in Cairo, December 1998 – February 1999. Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, 2001 Les Choix d'Henri Cartier-Bresson (group exhibition). Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, Paris, 2003. Miracolo a Pisogne. Pisogne, 2004. About the sculptor and the painter Girolamo Romanino. Piazza Lucretius, 2005. Gianni Berengo Gardin. Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris, February–May 2005. L'altro sguardo = Mit anderen Augen = A distinct regard. Bolzano, July–October 2005. About Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and European Union Youth Orchestra. Travelling exhibition about the Hera Group. Andrea Martinelli: il volto e l'ombra. Società per le Belle Arti ed Esposizione Permanente, Milan, November–December 2005; Rustin Foundation, Antwerp, March–June 2006; Frisia Museum, Spanbroek-Amsterdam, July–October 2006. About the works of the painter Andrea Martinelli. Leopardi: la biblioteca, la casa, l'infinito. Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, September–October 2006. On the house and library of Giacomo Leopardi. Exhibition about Carlo Scarpa. Museo Palladio, Vicenza, June–July 2006. Un paesaggio italiano. Travelling exhibition about Giovo. Exhibition of photographs of the studio of Andrea Martinelli. Casa Cavalier Pellanda, Biasca, December 2007 – February 2008. Exhibition about Andrea Martinelli. Milan, 2008. Mimmo Paladino: ortissima. Palazzo Penotti Ubertini, Orta San Giulio, July–November 2009. Peggy Guggenheim, la casa, gli amici, Venezia. Arca, , Vercelli, October–December 2009. About Peggy Guggenheim. Exhibition about Camogli. Fondazione Pier Luigi e Natalina Remotti, Camogli, Italy, October 2009 – January 2010. Reportrait: incursioni di un reporter nel mondo della cultura = Incursions of a reporter into the world of culture. Palazzo Penotti Ubertini, Orta San Giulio, May–October 2009. Portraits. Nei luoghi di Piero della Francesca; Arezzo, Anghiari, Sansepolcro = In Piero della Francesca places. Photographs by Berengo Gardin and Elliott Erwitt. Palazzo Pichi Sforza, Sansepolcro, March–June 2010. Terra da vivere. , Figline Valdarno, February–May 2011. Gianni Berengo Gardin. Storie di un fotografo. Casa dei Tre Oci, Venice, February–May 2013. Gianni Berengo Gardin. Storie di un fotografo. Palazzo Reale, June–September 2013. Caffè Florian, September–October 2013. Gianni Berengo Gardin: Storie di un fotografo. Curated by Denis Curti. Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, February–June 2014. Mostri a Venezia (Monsters of Venice). Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milan, 2014. Concerning the problems of large cruise ships in Venice. ("It is the first time Berengo Gardin has shown in Britain since 1975, when Bill Brandt included him in his seminal landscape show at the Victoria and Albert Museum.")

Awards World Press Photo award (1963)

Collections Calcografia Nazionale, Rome; Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris