PAOLO MUNARI
“I love to paint the ordinary, analyzing simple subjects that will encourage the viewer to look more closely at the many wonderful and beautiful things surrounding us daily.”
Throughout his career, Paolo Munari has collaborated with the photojournalistic agencies covering crime news events, music, and reportage. He has also covered the migration crisis in several countries, including Greece, Turkey, and Serbia, documenting the humanitarian crisis that arose due to the war on ISIS and the growing social conflict.
As his interest in photography evolved to become more conceptual and less focused on aesthetics, Paolo started a path of enhancement and research on photography and the contemporary image in Modena. This new process of image and photographic research led him to explore and investigate the value that the image assumes in the benefits and customs of today's society and its use in the cultural sphere and everyday use and institutions.
Munari’s passion for capturing images that reflect the social issues of today's society intends to offer food for thought and criticism, trying to find a new way of reading, viewing, and enjoying photography and images that stimulate a more reflective or contemplative reading and vision of the work. He avoids falling into purely aesthetic ideas devoid of content, thus creating images that are immediate and easy to read.
In his works, Munari re-elaborates and re-contextualizes existing visual and literary works as well as objects of everyday life. He connects the real world with that of the image. Through his practice, he is continually seeking to stimulate a more profound vision that enables the spectator to reflect on the use of photography, the image itself, and its meanings for all of us.
“Mask 003” by Paolo Munari
Munari’s background as a reporter makes him attentive to issues related to society. He understands the implications that photography and, consequently, images bring with them and how the function of the image is prominent in everyday life. His works communicate with those who observe a photograph and read it, inspiring critical reflection on the use of photography and the meanings of the image in today's society.