Simona Ghizzoni


B. 1977 - ITALIAN Based in Roma

Simona was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and first studied music and art, an influence that continues to be present in her work and then went on to receive an MA in The History of Photography. Simona uses the medium of photography, writing and video to capture images and words of people and places around the world, blurring the lines between documentary and personal research. Many of her images are taken on socially-inspired assignments, but she employs compositions that impose a dramatic, at times even fantastical, narrative.

More

Since 2005, Simona has committed herself to long-term documentary projects concerning the condition of women. At the same time, she has been conducting a personal research project, entitled ‘Rayuela’, exploring her own femininity and using the form of a diary. In 2006, Simona was selected for the Reflexions Master class held by photographer Giorgia Fiorio and curator Gabriel Bauret and she was part of the World Press Photo’ Joop Swart Master class in 2009.

Examples of Simona’s recent work include: ‘Odd Days’, concerning eating disorders and women’s long and hard path towards recovery by living for long periods of time in a treatment centre in Italy; ‘Afterdark’, looking at the psychological consequences of war on women in Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, and Western Sahara; ‘UNCUT’, a documentary project about women’s alliances against female genital mutilations in Africa and Europe, produced by the European Journalism Centre and ActionAid, which was shortlisted at the Sony World Photography Award in 2016.

Less

Selected works

Isola

Isola

Simona Ghizzoni

Isola — La storia della nuova vita (The story of the new life) “We have lived our lives by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, what…

More
Rayuela

Rayuela

These are the last things, she wrote. One by one they disappear and never come back. I can tell you of the ones I have seen, of the ones that…

More
Uncut

Uncut

Women’s alliances against female genital mutilations An ordinary room, or a dark hut in a rural village. A razor blade bought at a market will suffice, or a sharp knife,…

More
Il mare non bagna Napoli

Il mare non bagna Napoli

The subway train exits on a causeway in the northern suburbs of Naples: popular blocks, an almond field, concrete terraces. Piscinola/ Scampia is the last stop. Known since a few…

More
Rêve Géologique

Rêve Géologique

Humanity’s impact on the Earth is now so profound that a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene – needs to be declared, according to an official expert group who presented…

More

Interviews