– I opened the first photo studio in 1970 in Milan. I had a minimalist studio – with black walls, a long hall and lots of rooms. There I started experimenting with photography. One day an employee of the Gucci model house visited me and asked me to think about shooting a Gucci perfume. Shortly after, Prada came to visit me with its bags…
– Milanese photographer Antonio Guccione tells me about the beginning of his career. Unbelievable, but the fact is that Antonio is planning an exhibition on the moon in 2057, 35 years after today, does not take today’s fashion seriously and is currently busy with NFT creativity. Carla Bruni, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Elle McPherson, Donatella Versace – this is a non-exhaustive list of people who have been photographed by Italian photographer Antonio Guccione for years. However, now he has a completely different reality and tells Kviris Palitra exclusively about his current activities and project.
1. One of your interviews you say that your purpose is to inspire emotions and chronicle your era. What or who have you chronicled from your era, who do you think is the most extraordinary person or event?
I realized that there is a mysterious and perturbing something that hovers in life, and with my clicks I tried to capture the invisible in the immediate presence of my images, which in turn are experienced as if they were concentrations of energy and latent forces to be stopped. It is difficult to say who and what, my photographic archive contains over 110,000 photographs taken in 40 years of career, certainly the most extraordinary event? The documentary made in 1987 to Pope John Paul II.
2. Please tell me about your dream project, are you going to have an exhibition on the moon? “Scar on the Moon?”
“Perhaps the earth is the hell of another planet” wrote Aldous Huxley in 1920. The scars are our sufferings that I interpret through Vanitas, a job that took me over 10 years to do, what better place to leave a mark…
On 27 September 2057 the Virgin Space Ship #1, after a 7-day flight at 5.30 pm Italian time, will touch the lunar soil in the region called Taurus Littrow.
A region where since 1972 a large area with a temperature close to 100 degrees minus the first “moon trees” were planted and which today cover an area as large as Argentina.
The event consists in depositing on the lunar soil “Scar On The Moon”. The first “art exhibition” in human history, the lunar region “Taurus Littrow” was chosen on the instructions of the commander of Apollo 17 Eugene Cernan.
3. What do NFT artists mean? And why is this project interesting for you as an artist and for the audience?
The new champions of modern finance have relied on the digital currency Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc, to give a noble sense to CHANGE they have decided to invest in art. NFTs are the “digital certificates of uniqueness” that are worth gold, a support for the work of artists, writers, designers. The public will be able to see my NFTs on:
4. Antonio, you have been photographing for fashion editions, you have photographed celebrities. How has fashion changed through decades? Do you like fashion these days?
When in the 80s I went to Paris to photograph Haute Couture, what I saw in the clothes was not just a way to dress and make a woman wonderful, the clothes were true works of art.
Today fashion no longer exists, and an era where beauty made us dream is over, today we see fashion shows of Zombies disguised as clowns. Taste, elegance, style are just words of the past. Yet the new technology gives enormous creative possibilities, what are the new designers doing? They get drunk with ridiculous ideas to create ridiculous women, but I’m sure this is a transition phase to hopefully arrive in a new fashion where future generations will be proud to be what they want with awareness and spirituality.
5. From your experience working with people of fashion and art, please look back and tell the story of one photo, which was the most remarkable through the shooting process.
My wife.
During the filming process she literally fascinated me to such an extent that in order not to lose her I asked her to marry me. Today after 33 years together, two children and a new photographic project where the creative genius of Pia Klover will soon be released entitled “My Wife”.
6. Have you photographed your dream person? I mean the person you adore, this maybe a movie star or fashion icon?
I absolutely love the aristocracy and attitude of Iman Bowie not only for being a great model but also for her infinite humanity.
7. What is “Dressing up Milano” about and why Milano?
“Dressing Up Milano” is a concept to decontextualize the dress by associating it with the architecture of a place. It is a project that can be done all over the world to make known the beauty of a country or a city for taste, culture and fashion. The first book is ready and I will send you a copy.