Antonio Gesmundo - Flora

About

At a time when a key aim of much photography is to challenge, shock or dramatise it is refreshing to see a body of work which is above all beautiful. Antonio Gesmundo's flowers are glamorous, elegant and sensual. His inspirations are Robert Mapplethorpe, Hokusai and vintage floral engravings. He uses the play of light and dark in these solarised images to emphasise the graphic elements, turning them into floral portraits. Gesmundo first picked up a camera aged 10, with no focus or metering he was forced to learn the fundamentals right from the start. The work featuring in Flora was awarded the Polaroid Italy Photographic Award First Prize in 2005. This is the first time the work has been exhibited outside Italy.