Luigi Ghirri: Cardboard Landscapes (Paesaggi Di Cartone) - Hardcover

Luigi Ghirri: Cardboard Landscapes (Paesaggi di Cartone)

This facsimile edition marks the first publication of Luigi Ghirri's handmade album, Cardboard Landscapes (Paesaggi di cartone), originally created during his travels around Europe in the 1970s. The original album, gifted to John Szarkowski, then Director of the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, features over 100 chromogenic color prints pasted onto the pages of a blank book.

Conceptual Photography Collection

Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri (1943-92) coined the term "sentimental geography" to describe his artistic approach of examining the ordinary to prove it remarkable. Cardboard Landscapes represents an anomaly within Ghirri's overall oeuvre, prioritizing complex composition rather than the sweeping tableaux for which he is best known.

Visual Narrative and Cultural Reflection

In this series, Ghirri regards the printed image as the subject, framing a kaleidoscope of photographs and advertisements to tell a poetic visual narrative. The collection reflects regional, personal and popular culture simultaneously, revealing his impulse to investigate his role within his own medium. This approach creates a unique document of 1970s pop culture through the lens of conceptual photography.

About Luigi Ghirri

Luigi Ghirri (1943-92) was a celebrated Italian artist and photographer known for his color photographs of landscape and architecture. He published his first photography book, Kodachrome, in 1978, and continued to utilize a conceptual framework to interrogate the line between fiction and reality. His work has become increasingly influential in contemporary photography, with Cardboard Landscapes representing a singular achievement in his artistic development.

Book Specifications

This hardcover edition faithfully reproduces the original handmade album, preserving Ghirri's vision and the intimate nature of the work. The book contains over 100 chromogenic color prints, offering collectors and photography enthusiasts access to a previously unpublished masterwork from one of Italy's most important photographers.