MIA Photo Fair 2022: the reportage of the 11th edition

by Chiara Colmegna

MIA Photo Fair 2022 has highlighted new trends in contemporary photography, between old acquaintances and new proposals. Read the reportage on Design Italy.

MIA Fair Milano: Trends in Contemporary Photography

From April 28 to May 1 took place in Milan the XI edition of MIA Photo Fair - Milan Image Art Fair, the most important Italian fair dedicated to contemporary photography. Italian and foreign photographers have exhibited works that showcase current photographic trends, from the most creative to the most traditional ones. Several projects and new collaborations create a dialogue photography and design, such as the artist jewellery of BABS Art Gallery. Among those present, there was also Design Italy, that, thanks to a partnership with Mia Fair, wants to contribute to the promotion and dissemination of Italian cultural heritage around the world.

Photo Fair: Photography as an art form

The photographs selected for Mia Fair unequivocally express the artistic nature of photography as a form of visual art. The subjects of portrait, landscape, still life and architecture have been investigated through abstraction, surrealism and realism. Giorgio Galimberti with Camogli #1 and Pietro Gemelli with the triptych Ritratto Classico rediscover through a surrealist lens the mundane and the relationship with art history.

Vintage photos taken between the '60s and '80s by Maria Rastellini of Mondadori Portfolio juxtapose Gabriele Basilico's landscapes and Paolo Masi's modern black and white photos. Pictorial color and pop style interpret the human body in the series of photos of Four Stories - The Human Voice by Piero Figura.

Art photo: Digital Photography

As a modern art form, photography is deeply linked to its context and new technologies. There are numerous themes and subjects through new techniques that allow the manipulation of the photo. As for traditional photography, the expressive and technical process of the artist is what makes the photo art.

Among the new proposals are the digital prints of Davide Maria Coltro with his Arborescenze and his "electronic paintings" that exploit the expressive potential of mass technologies. In this way, photography becomes a dynamic picture in continuous transformation.

Photography that investigates the nature-man relationship

Dutch artist Larissa Ambachtsheer made the cover of MIA Fair with her work Red Lemon from the series You Choose, I seduce, still-life created through the manipulation of colors. For the photographer, food becomes a pretext for analyzing human behaviour. The fil rouge of the exhibitors is precisely the theme of man and his relationship with reality in all its facets. The photographic language of Matteo Porcaccioli fully conveys the expressive power of photography: his hyper-contemporary and ancient architectures almost seem to suffocate the human dimension. This theme emerges from the series Isola by Simona Ghizzoni and Corpo Ligneo by Antonio Biasucci, winners of the BNL BNP Paribas prize edition of MIA Fair.

Thanks to MIA Fair's selection, we were able to discover the current photographic landscape and make a real journey through the eyes of the authors to take us beyond what can be seen.

Read the interview with Lorenza Castelli about MIA Fair.