Paolo Simonazziâ??s short Biography
Born in Reggio Emilia in 1961, Paolo Simonazzi divides his life into two major occupations, in fact he is a doctor as well as a photographer, a job to which he devotes himself with such enthusiasm and curiosity that he seems always ready to set out on a journey in order to pursue and develop a theme. On foot or by bike just like a Chatwin of nowadays, Simonazzi experiences the places he visits and approaches the people he meets with an open heart and an open mind, thus resembling a real wayfarer explorer. Paolo Simonazzi sings the poetry of the simple events and of the worldly things we look at without really seeing them; of the signs which have settled in the flowing of time; of the strange amusing things able to give a smile to everyday life.
ü Among his numerous photo series we begin with naming the one entitled â??Circo Bidoneâ??, carried out following one of those little circuses which has managed to survive over the years although special effects and show business are now all the rage. The catalogue (Zoolibri, 2003) is introduced by Moni Ovadia.
ü With â??La casa degli angeliâ?? (The Angelsâ?? House), an exhibition organised in Reggio Emilia in 2006 during the first edition of The European Photography and subsequently hosted in Rome on the occasion of the international show â??Roma Fotografiaâ??, Simonazzi successfully managed to handle the topic of social discomfort with great sensitiveness by depicting the existential microcosm of a small community defined as â??A bleeding humanityâ?? by the courageous priest who runs it.
ü In November 2007 Simonazziâ??s â??Tra la Via Emilia e il Westâ?? was exhibited in Bologna at Villa delle Rose in co-operation with the Museum of Modern Art of Bologna (MAMbo). It focuses on all the traces and symbols in the territory of Emilia recalling the images of the legendary American West. Such exhibition was then showcased at the Rocca di Cento (FE), and finally in the United States, both in New York by the Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò/New York University (November 2008) and in San Francisco at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (January 2009).
ü In April 2008, on the occasion of the third edition of the festival â??European Photographyâ??, he exhibited his series â??Cardiologyâ?? at the Radium Artis Gallery in Reggio Emilia. Here heart and heartbeat are metaphorically outlined with wit, freshness and genius. Besides, Simonazzi has been working for the last three years on a project called â??Mondo piccoloâ??, by following the same route of Giovannino Guareschi along the places he loved most. Places which are surely closer to soul than to geography. A catalogue and an exhibition are scheduled for spring 2010.
