Tea Party People

• Prize
• Photographer
  Alessandro Cosmelli, United States
• Date of Photograph
  online
• Website
  http://www.alessandrocosmelli.com

Glenn Beck is one of the promoters of the Tea party movement that has sponsored locally and nationally coordinated protests since 2009. Its platform is explicitly populist and is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian. It endorses reduced government spending, lower taxes, reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit, and adherence to an originalist interpretation of the United States Constitution.

• Biography
  Alessandro Cosmelli is a New York City based photographer born in Italy in 1972. After graduating from the University of Pisa he studied english at the University of California Los Angeles and in 1997 started his career as a freelance photographer. Between 1997 and 2002 he traveled extensively in South America, West Africa, Middle East and Asia, developing an interest in social and political issues. He collaborated with Contrasto agency as a staff photographer from 2003 to 2010. Since then he collaborated with leading international newspapers and magazines including La Repubblica, El Pais Semanal, Vanity Fair, Stern, D La Repubblica delle Donne, Io Donna Corriere Della Sera, L'Espresso, Time, Internazionale and Geo. His photographs have been exhibited in international shows and festivals such as Noorderlicht Photofestival (Groningen, The Nederlands, 2007), Forma Centro Internazionale di Fotografia (Milan, Italy, 2007), FotoGrafia Festival Internazionale di Roma (Rome, Italy,2006), Les Rencontres d'Arles (Arles, 2009). In 2008 he started developing his new project "Borders", which is shortlisted at the Photo España Ojodepez Award Human Values 2009 and PIX3 Aftermath 2010, and part of a series of shows in Spain, Portugal and France. In 2009 he published his first book "Oltrenero" edited by Contrasto, finalist at the POY Best Photography Book 2010