Signed; Giovanni Chiaramonte - Senza foce - 2005

Exceptionally signed copy on the title page by Giovanni Chiaramonte (1948–2023), unique and virtually unavailable online as a signed copy. 160 pages and 64 color photographs in two-page spreads, captions for the photographs with precise locations at the end of the book, with miniature reproductions. Very beautiful orange cloth binding with the title embossed in relief in yellow characters on the cover and spine, color illustrated dust jacket, and a very nice orange cloth case. Excellent condition, like new.

The Olona, which is the subject of this book, is a river in northern Italy that rises near Varese at an altitude of 868 meters, and after a course of 131 km. Reaching near Milan, the river is canalized to disappear underground and continue its course, then splitting into several branches, one of which flows into a Po tributary in the province of Pavia. As Francesco Zanot writes in the introduction, 'the photographs by Giovanni Choaramonte are dense with contradictions … man and nature, science and ecology, city and countryside, innovation and conservation … In these images the waters of the river that once watered the towns become as black as tar [as in the cover jacket photograph] when they reach Milan where they disappear underground.' The Olona has become one of the most polluted rivers in Italy. A natural park, Parc des Moulins (named after the many water mills along the river), is being created in the middle valley of the river, aimed at safeguarding the natural environment.

Giovanni Chiaramonte arrived at the depiction of landscapes and urban views after a long period of theoretical reflection that matured in the late 1970s. Marked by the onset of a long season of Italian photography devoted to the theme of Place, whose first collective exhibition organized by Luigi Ghirri took place at Italia in January 1984 with the famous “Viaggio in Italia,” in which Giovanni Chiaramonte participated alongside about ten other important Italian photographers, and two years later in the collective work “Esplorazioni sulla via Emilia.”

Giovanni Chiaramonte was born in 1943 in Varese, in northern Italy, near the crossing of the Olona River, and he began photographing in the late 1960s. In 1978 he founded, with Luigi Ghirri, the editorial cooperative “Punto e Virgola” and then directed the Jaca Book collection from which it emerged. Giovanni Chiaramonte published numerous books and many exhibitions of his works have been organized in various countries. After his death, a commemorative meeting was organized at MUFOCO, Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea (Museum of Contemporary Photography) in Cinisello Balsamo near Milan in December 2023. A museum in Milan organized, from November 16, 2024 to February 9, 2025, the exhibition Realismo Infinito, presenting 40 images on the different ways of perceiving the landscape, which gave rise to the edition of a book under the same title. Parallel, from November 10, 2024 to March 9, 2025, a large posthumous retrospective of Giovanni Chiaramonte’s photographic work gathering 400 pieces was organized in the Parma city museum. It led to the edition of an important monograph, published by Electa and presented by Arturo Carlo Quintavalle.

Book from my personal collection kept with the utmost care, in excellent condition, practically like new. Shipping protected with reinforced packaging and international tracking guaranteed. For multiple purchases, there is the possibility of combined shipping with a refund of any excess postage paid via PayPal.

1.1 kg. excluding packaging