Apr. 24 – Italy is in London with the works of two excellent photographers: Riccardo Bononi and Giovanni Troilo. The Sony World Photography Awards 2015 – the largest photo contest in the world – granted the title of “Photographer of the Year” for the categories “Sport” and “People” to Bononi and Troilo, respectively. With five other awards won in the Professional categories in second and third place, Italy was by far the country with the largest number of winners. The winning entries are exhibited at Somerset House in London from today until May 10, and will be published in the new volume of the competition. Troilo, Photographer of Year for the People category, is from Putignano, and describes his collection (“La Ville Noire – The Dark Heart of Europe”) as “a series that gives a real look to the historical roots of my family, who in 1956 left Italy for Charleroi, to work in steel. After two generations managed to make their way to the promised land, everything changed: we are now at a crossroads where different populations, once united because they shared the same work experience, now find that they no longer have anything in common, because this work is no more. Today, social unrest has taken over the lives of citizens.” Bononi, researcher in cultural anthropology at Padua’s Irfoss, commented his own series “Las Valkyrias de Bolivia” which allowed him to win the title of Photographer of the Year in the “Sport” category. “The award, in addition to being an important personal goal, is also a great recognition for my understanding of photography, which for me is a documentation tool to combine with an anthropological-participatory approach.” (Red)
