The Approach
by Paolo Angeletti
IL RESTO DEL CARLINO
PESARO — The book «The Approach» by Paolo Mazzanti has just been released. The volume collects a selection of works by the Pesaro-born photographer that have been exhibited over the past two years. Mazzanti’s images have been shown in Florence, London, Bologna, Padua, Modena, and Atlanta. They are currently in Shanghai and Beijing as part of the “2006 Year of Italy in China” exhibition (open until December 20). «The Approach» is a book that is, in some ways, astonishing. Mazzanti presents images entirely dedicated to nature—photographs taken just a few kilometers from his home in Pesaro, yet transporting us into a distant and, above all, “global” universe, more so than any metropolitan image that overwhelms us today with the risk of collective drowning. “If you observe nature,” says Mazzanti, “you realize that every part of it, every change of color, every structure, is absolutely essential for the success of any aesthetic interpretation and visual representation.” This book is the ultimate synthesis of this belief; in his interventions, however light, Mazzanti explores the surrounding nature conceptually, and his works become so in their large panels. The complex natural universe becomes a biological architecture, and the camera lens transforms into a microscope capable of capturing matter that continues to live in its most natural yet simultaneously creative, unpredictable, and highly lyrical forms. “Poetry in photography is often controversial,” writes Victor De Circasia in the book’s introduction, “but it is especially so when Mazzanti focuses his interest on a detail of nature rather than on a wider overall view. The focal point of his interest, the critic continues, lies in the desire of his new approach to create attention to the particular, and how he attempts to restore a glorious path back to nature. In some photographs, one reaches a moment of truth in which they either shatter irreparably in memory or join together as in a dream.” The book is published by Polistampa Editions in Florence, contains two critical essays by Victor De Circasia, and is produced with Italian and English text. The format is 30×30 cm. «The Approach» is available in major bookstores; those who cannot find it may contact the publisher (www.polistampa.com) or the author at: photo@mazzanti.it. More information: http://www.mazzanti.it.
BIOGRAPHY Master of all techniques
Paolo Mazzanti was born in 1959 in Pesaro. At a very young age he devoted himself to amateur theater, winning awards for lighting effects and stage design. His cultural education began at the Guglielmo Marconi Scientific High School and continued at the Faculty of Architecture in Florence. He has always stood out for the originality of his design approach, combined with the perfect execution of his works. In 1979, he enrolled in the course “Theory of Photography in Architecture.” Shortly thereafter, he began his professional photography career. He opened a specialized studio in Pesaro, and from 1987 to 1997, he ran offices in Milan. He has used and mastered all the best existing techniques and technologies. His work with agencies and clients has included still-life, art, architecture, reportage, fashion, publishing, portrait, advertising, and direction. Formats used range from 24x36mm to 20x25cm (8”x10”) and digital. His commercial works have been exhibited and published worldwide. In 2004, he embarked on an artistic path focused on a new way of interpreting nature with the series «Entro l’Esterno» in Florence. He has held numerous exhibitions in Italy, London, China, and the USA, with many more planned. Mazzanti is both an architect and a photographer, whose research and graphic projects are realized within contemporary photography, exploring its transformations and relationships with the landscape.