Gabriele Basilico | |
|---|---|
 Basilico in 2012 | |
| Born | 12 August 1944 |
| Died | 13 February 2013 (aged 68) Milan, Italy |
| Occupation | Photographer |
Gabriele Basilico (12 August 1944 – 13 February 2013) was an Italian photographer who defined himself as "a measurer of space".[1]
Born in Milan, Basilico originally studied to become an architect before pursuing a career in photography. His initial works focused around reportage,[2] but he later shifted his focus to architectural photography due to the influence of his previous studies in architecture. He was interested in landscape photography and, especially, in the representation of the city. He achieved international fame in 1982 with his photographic report on the industrial areas of Milan, "Milano. Ritratti di fabbriche".[3]
In the mid-1980s he was part of a group of photographers commissioned by the French Government (DATAR) to document the transformation of the Transalpine landscape.[3]
In 1991 his photographs helped to document the effects of war on the Lebanese capital of Beirut with his celebrated work, "Beirut 1991".[1][3]
He was invited at Biennale di Venezia in 1996 with the exposition Sezioni del paesaggio italiano/Italy. Cross Sections of a Country, in collaboration with Stefano Boeri. He received the prize “Osella d'oro” for contemporary architectural photography. In 1999 he published Interrupted City and Cityscapes, with beyond 300 pictures of cities, realised from the '80. Starting from this book he selected a photographic series exposed at Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, CPF (Centro Portugues de Fotografia) in Porto, MART (Museo d'Arte Moderna di Trento e Rovereto) in Trento, and at MAMBA (Museo de Arte Moderno) in Buenos Aires. In 2000 he worked in the metropolitan area of Berlin, invited by DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst). He received the prize “I.N.U.” (Istituto Nazionale di Urbanistica) due to his contribution to the documentation of the contemporary urban space.
His last public work was showcased in December 2012, at the inauguration of a new square, Piazza Gae Aulenti, in Milan. The work consisted of a series of photographs that portrayed the Porta Nuova Project from its inception through completion.[4]
The majority of Basilico's work was done using a traditional viewfinder camera and black-and-white film. He was awarded the Osella d'Oro at the 1996 Venice Biennale.[5]
