Celebrated Italian photographer Gianni Berengo Gardin dies at 94

Berengo Gardin’s career spanned over 60 years.

Gianni Berengo Gardin, the Italian photographer celebrated for his iconic black-and-white images of life in Italy, died in Genoa on Wednesday at the age of 94.

A tireless chronicler of Italy’s social and cultural transformations over the past six decades, Berengo Gardin’s legacy comprises more than two million photographs, 260 books and 360 solo exhibitions around the world.

Throughout his award-winning career he remained faithful to his trusted Leica camera, defining himself as “an artisan” rather than an artist, saying: “My work is not artistic, but social and civil.”

Born in Santa Margherita Ligure on 10 October 1930, Berengo Gardin considered himself Venetian, maintaining a lifelong love for Venice.

In the 1960s he began a long career as a professional reportage photographer, collaborating with important Italian and international publications including Domus, L’Espresso, Time, Stern and Le Figaro.

Celebrated for his documentary photography and social commentary, Berengo Gardin captured images of industry, workers’ struggles, giant cruise ships in the Venice lagoon, the earthquake-hit L’Aquila, and everyday life in post-war Italy.

In 1969 he gained widespread acclaim for his hard-hitting photographs on the inhumane conditions of Italian psychiatric hospitals, with images that shook the country.

The powerful reportage sparked a national debate that led ultimately to the passing, in 1978, of the Basaglia Law which imposed the closure of psychiatric hospitals in favour of a community-based approach and returned civil rights to psychiatric patients.

Hailing him as “an undisputed master of photography”, Italian culture minister Alessandro Giuli paid tribute to Berengo Gardin as: “A true explorer who captured humanity and nature in every corner of the earth. His gaze illuminated the history of the 20th century.”

Roma, 1973 © Gianni Berengo Gardin – Fondazione Forma per la Fotografia Milano.