Michele Di Donato was born in 1968 in Puglia but is Sicilian by adoption. He grew up in a family used to "capture" all the important life moments with a camera. His father would took pictures of everything with his trusted Voigtlander VITO C and would also record in Super 8 with a Ricoh camera. Little Michele himself gets his first camera - a Diana F - for his 9th birthday. He hasn't stopped taking pictures ever since. He loves especially reportage and conceptual photography and over the years took part in a number of competitions, winning awards both in Italy and abroad.
He prefers black and white photography because of its sharp contrast, which he believes represents more accurately his way of understanding images. He does use color however, but only when necessary, with a light touch and specific purpose.
«Photography doesn't show reality, but the idea we have of it. That's why I take pictures. I take pictures instead of speaking. I use photography to express myself, to never forget but, most of all, to never stop looking».
His artistic research is then a personal tale, the story of someone who never stops looking around and capturing what he sees.
Among his most recent projects, his first book, Fautographie, a collection of some of his photographic portfolios: a kaleidoscope of different realities that the artist skilfully builds, in a game of crossed references that travel between what is perceived, what is imaginedand what is felt on an emotional level.
On Putia.eu, you'll find some of the photographs of the series Forme dell'Impronta (Shapes of the print), part of a solo exhibition we had the pleasure of hosting here in Putia (above you can have a peek at one of the pictures of this collection).
You can also find the photographs of the collection "I Siciliani" (The Sicilians), a project through which Michele wanted to celebrate Sicily and its people (below you can see one of the photographs).
Here you can also find Michele Di Donato's official website.