Gianni Berengo Gardin (Santa Margherita Ligure 1930), "Milan. Piazza Duomo", circa 1970, slide, 6x6 cm, inv. GBG 1

Gianni Berengo Gardin started working in photography in 1954. After having lived in Rome, Venice, Lugano and Paris, he finally settled in Milan in 1965 dedicating himself to the mediums of the photo reportage, social investigations, documentation of architecture and landscape photography. He collaborated with the main illustrated Italian and foreign publications, his main focus was on the publication of books, 200 photographic volumes in all. His first photographs were published in 1954 in “Mondo”, a magazine edited by Mario Pannunzio, with which he would continue to work until 1965.

From 1966 to 1983 Gardin worked for the Italian Touring Club, creating a vast series of volumes on Italy and Europe. He also worked for industry (Olivetti, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, IBM and Italsider among others) making corporate reportages and books. In 1979 he began working with Renzo Piano, documenting the various phases of his architectural projects. He has been represented by the photographic agency Contrasto since 1990.

Although he has received numerous prizes throughout his career, his most important recognition came in 2008 when he received the prestigious Lucie Lifetime Achievement Award. The following year he received an honorary degree in history and art criticism from the University of Milan. He has had around 200 solo exhibitions in Italy and abroad.

Included among the world's top 32 top photographers by “Modern Phototgraphy” and the only photographer cited by E. H. Gombrich in his book, The Image and the Eye (Oxford 1982), Berengo Gardin has been the subject of many monographs. His photographs are part of permanent exhibits in museums and cultural foundations, including the National Institute of Graphic Design in Rome, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Bibliothèque National de France and the Maison Européene de la Photographie in Paris.