‘Paolo Ventura – Vanishing Man’ Documentary trailer
2015Paolo Ventura (1968, Milan, Italy) appears to have a natural gift for narrative. Each of his pictures is its own little mystery, a concoction of atmosphere, character and detail that urges for closer examination. Ventura, like a true master illusionist, makes things disappear in front of our eyes. Death and vanishing are recurring themes in his work. He explains it as an omnipresent “fear of losing someone he loves”, which he translates onto his photographs.
A few years ago he conquered the international art world with his photo series War Souvenir and Winter Stories. In the meantime, his work is included in the collections of leading museums in Italy, France and the US. Ventura creates his work in complete isolation in a shed on top of a deserted mountain in Italy. There he creates a world in which he feels at home, so he says. A gloomy world that resembles the atmosphere of isolation which he grew up in as a child.
The documentary on Paolo Ventura by Erik van Empel is a close up portrait of the artist. Most of the filming was done in Italy in Toscany where Ventura works and lives.
A film is production of Zuidenwind Filmproductions in coproduction with NTR and Westerdok Film.