Paola Cassola

Chi sono

Italian born at the moment leaving in Brazil, I am a 33 years old journalist and photographer who, for vocation and passion, travels the world investigating countries and cultures. With 10 years experience in communication, fashion and arts (photography, video, acting and painting) I explore physical and conceptual journeys beyond the traditional boundaries as a way of reaching the truth…. Whether as the interpretation of a dream or the reality itself: with only one constant common statement: “be true to yourself. Everything is possible”.

Perché e come ho iniziato a fotografare

Photographer since a very young age I first played around with my mum’s Polaroid and then explored with my father the fascinating Leica world. Today, through my art, I am facing the physical limits that, from the age of 23, affect my life and changed my use of the camera and my early experiences as a photoreporter. Attributed to my studies at Goldsmiths College in London, where I graduated in Media Communications and Sociology, with a focus on film making and photography, there is a deep conceptual quality in each of my photographs: both very intimate and rich in personal challenges, as a sort of obsessive research of freedom, energy and strong emotions.

As a result, my photographic work is collection of unusual journeys beyond the traditional boundaries. From pointing my lens further then the common eye would go as in the series “Beyond boundaries” to the investigation of the power of the body as a mirror of the inner self as in the work “The body”. From driving an old Fiat 500 through 13 country borders from London to Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) as in “A 500 beyond frontiers” to an investigation of the Japanese culture as in “Sleeping Japan” or “Oriental mood”. From the fantastic journey of the Smurfs in Patagonia of “Re-imagining Patagonia” to the portrait of an unseen Venezia during the celebration of the patron of the city: “The magic of Redentore” or the shots of city landscapes that deal with the limits of photography itself as in the series: “Sguardi dall’alto”

.Exhibitions:

GAM Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, 2013

“CarnemBody”, video, Carnem - Fabbrica del Vapore, Milano 2012

“Body worlds. A collective photographic reflection on the body”, Carnem - Fabbrica del Vapore/ Accademia di Brera di Milano, Milano 2013

“The spirit of making something out of nothing: Exchange of views between the North and the South of the world”, solo show, United Nations – Ginevra 2003

“Lights and Shadows”, solo show, TPW, Siena 2000

“Mirrors as identification: analysis on the relation subject-object”, solo show, Goldsmiths College, Londra 2002

Publications:

As a freelance photo-journalist reportages are published: Marie Claire, Elle, Vogue, Gente, Gente Motori, Auto e fuoristrada, Milano 2004-2013

THE MONGOL RALLY - discovering the land of Genghis Khan in a Fiat 500’s from London to Ulaanbatar in 30 days, Milano 2007

DESIGN photos are published, Weber Shandwick, Milano 2003

TUTTI FOTOGRAFI, PC PHOTO MAGAZINES: fine art photos are published, Milano 2003

Projects:

“The Body”: body art exploring the importance of the human body as construction of the self and perception of the others, FOTOGRAFIK, Santiago de Chile, 2012

“The diary as an autobiographical tool to analyse identity”, Goldsmiths College , Londra 2002