Published by Steidl. Text by Mauro D’Agati, Gerhard Steidl.
Palermo Panorama is Mauro D’Agati’s (born 1968) love letter to his beloved hometown, a raw portrait that shows Palermo’s charm and grit in equal measure. The book comprises 13 chapters, each dedicated to a distinct series, which all grew organically over time to form a complex picture of the city.
Mauro D'Agati met Marzia on a beach near Palermo in 2007 and began taking pictures of her and her family during their summer vacation. The unexpected ease of interaction between photographer and subject encouraged D'Agati to undertake a series depicting Marzia's transition from childhood into adolescence, with the ambition of spending several days with her family every year. The resulting five volumes of this publication show the family over a period of about five years: their summer vacations on an illegal camping lot in the industrial area of Termini Imerese, the celebration of Marzia's and her brother Claudio's First Communion, family reunions with abundant food and games and the curiosities and family portraits at nonna's house in Palermo's deprived Zen 2 district. Throughout this close photographic chronicle Marzia represents the epitome of the anti-model, defying prefabricated aesthetic standards while candidly emanating joy and self-confidence.
Between 2008 and 2010, Mauro D'Agati visited Masonic lodges in Havana to take photos of this secret and largely unseen world. Through D'Agati's images of Masonic meetings, temples, symbols and documents, as well as portraits of the Masons themselves, we gain access to the intricate rituals of Masonic life--a blend of the earnest, mysterious traditions of an elite fraternity and everyday Cuban existence. The Grand Lodge of Cuba holds a special position in Freemasonry circles as Cuba is one of the few Communist nations where Masonry still thrives: today there are 316 lodges and more than 29,000 members on the island. The precise details of the workings within a temple may not be revealed to the public, butt D'Agati's photos take us as far as permissible into this fascinating subculture.
Published by Ahrens Editions. Edited by Rebecca Kanengiser.
Shot in April 2010 during a ten-day stay, Less Vegas is Italian photographer Mauro D'Agati's first American photo-project. It obliquely traces the lives of 12 Vegas residents that D'Agati met on his vacation, playing out their peculiar stories against the city's peculiar character. By focusing on the long-term residents of the notoriously transient Las Vegas, D'Agati locates a lesser-known side of the city, in lives built entirely around casinos. Linda is one such protagonist of Less Vegas, described by D'Agati in his lengthy postscript: "Linda was married in Vegas's own "Little White Chapel" 14 years ago. She and her husband live in the Siegel Suites with a stray gray cat that they stumbled upon in the street. Linda may be unemployed, but she 'works' the slot machines like a CEO." Through such characters, D'Agati uncovers the textures of Vegas ordinarily obscured by neon and glitz.
PUBLISHER Ahrens Editions
BOOK FORMAT Hardcover, 6.5 x 9 in. / 168 pgs / 108 color.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 4/30/2011 Out of print
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: SPRING 2011 p. 94
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9780983018100TRADE List Price: $50.00 CDN $60.00
In the early 1970s, the workers at a steel smelting factory east of Havana wrote to Fidel Castro describing their housing needs. Out of this exchange a new city called Alamar was born, conceived by the same workers who would build it and live there. Today it is abandoned; Mauro D'Agati's photographs examine its eccentric spaces.
Published by Steidl Photography International. Text by Ferdinando Scianna, Domenico Sciajno.
In the piazzas of Palermo in southern Italy, between July and October, the local populace gathers to hear and participate in an ongoing music festival. People bring chairs from their houses, or sit on scooters facing the stage, to listen to the latest hit songs. Mauro d'Agati's loving photo-portrait of this wonderful social phenomenon celebrates music, community and pure joy.
Mauro D'Agati: Marzia's Family
Mauro D'Agati: Sit Lux et Lux Fuit
Mauro D'Agati: Less Vegas
Mauro D'Agati: Alamar
Mauro d'Agati: Palermo Unsung
