Gaetano Mansi (July 20, 1956) is an Italian fashion and portrait photographer.
Career
Early career, education
He started his career in Salerno, working as an assistant for Studio Segno, advertising agency founded by Pino Grimaldi. In the Seventies his main professional field was reportage. He is coauthor of Missus est Angelus, a photographic essay on John Paul II.[1] The magazine Il Tempo Illustrato publishes his images of Rino Mele’s avant-garde theater.[2] In 1978 he contributes to the exhibit “Autodocumentazione”.[3] He gets a degree in Art History with a thesis on the history of fashion photography. He takes active part in the workshops at “Venezia 79 la fotografia”, sponsored by UNESCO.[4][5][6][7]
1980s
In 1980 he contributed to the documentation of the earthquake in Irpinia(November 23rd 1980) flying over the disaster area on a helicopter. His reportages are published by the weekly magazine Epoca as well as many international periodicals.[8] He takes part in the recognition of the historical buildings in Campania promoted by the Department of Restoration of Naples University. All the findings have been gathered in the volume “Oltre il Terremonto”. From 1981 on he starts to work for Casa Vogue magazine, thanks to the friendly intervention of his mentor Aldo Ballo. His contribution to Casa Vogue will go on for more than a decade. His works are also published by british Condé Nast House&Garden. With Alessandro Pinto he publishes the books Cilento[9] and La Costa dei Miti.[10]
Following his interest in fashion photography he startscontributing to Vogue Italia.
1990s
In the Nineties he starts to work for Il Venerdì di Repubblica with portraits and reportages: among the others a shooting on Eva Herzigova in the Bahamas. While in Jerusalem for Il Venerdì he is assaulted and wounded by a terrorist. He is one of the very few surviving Westerners in the Intifada.[11][12][13][14] His are the images that launch Samarcanda, a successful TV show by Michele Santoro. He shoots fashion campaigns on location, from Africa to North America with top models and actresses like Linda Evangelista, Monica Potter, Melba Ruffo, Michelle Hunziker.[15] He is coauthor of the book on the history of fashion photography La Fotografia di Moda tra Immagine e Rappresentazione.[16]
2000-present
From the year 2000 on he focuses exclusively on fashion, shooting in Italy and abroad for advertising campaigns and fashion magazines.[17]
He contributed to the volume Corso di Fotografia[18] and prints the books 40 Volte Bianca,[19] PassingThrough,[20][21] CentoAsa[22]Grana & Pixels.[23] His exhibition "Grana & Pixels“ takes places in Rome in 2017.[24] It consists of 300 billboards posted all over the city of Rome linked to an app that geolocalizes every one of them.
From 2018 he is a contributor for Diva e Donna magazine, with Daniela Rosa Cattaneo as fashion director.
Style
Gaetano Mansi's style has been influenced by the different genres he experimented through the years. He prefers to shoot on location, often employing mixed light, natural and artificial. His images are almost always dynamic, never posing, with a particular attention to lighting and composition.[25]
Books
Missus est Angelus, Il Laboratorio Edizioni, 1978, A day with Pope John Paul II
Cilento, Comunità Montana Gelbison e Cervati, 1981
Oltre il Terremoto, Assessorato Pubblica Istruzione e Beni Culturali, 1982, Pictures from Irpinia Earthquake
La Costa dei Miti, Comunità Montana Lambro Mingardo, 1982
Styles of living, the best of Casa Vogue, Rizzoli, New York, 1985
La fotografia di moda tra immagine e rappresentazione, EleaPress, 1992, A short history of fashion photography
Corso Di Fotografia, National Geographic/Editoriale La Repubblica, 2000, Photography techniques
40 Volte Bianca, Marte Editrice, 2008
Passing Through, Marte Editrice, 2013
CentoAsa, Marte Editrice, 2017
Grana & Pixels, Marte Editrice, 2017
Faces and Souls, Caratteri, 2021
40 Volte Bianca, Caratteri-Made in Italy, 2022
54x70, Caratteri, 2022
Volti e Anime, Marte Editrice, 2022
Zoe Factory, la fabbrica della bellezza, Caratteri, 2024
Melluso, settanta anni di immagini iconiche, Caratteri-Made in Italy, 2024
Publications
Casa Vogue
1982 : November
1983 : October, November
1984 : July-August, November
1986 : August, November
1987 : May
1988 : January
1990 : November
1991 : May
Vogue Italia
1986 : December
1987 : December
1988 : September, December
1989 : January, March, September, December
1990 : March
1991 : May
Vogue Gioiello
1984 : November
Vogue America
1985 : April
House&Garden
1985 : May
1986 : January
Casa Vogue Antiques
1989 : May
1991 : January
Vogue Uomo Mare
1991 : January
L’Uomo Vogue
1993 : July
Il Venerdì
1992 : N.232,
1996 : N.422, 426, 457
1998 : N.622
Mondo Sposa
1994 : September
1995 : September
First Class Japan
1994 : March
Linea Intima
1995 : April
Linea Sposi
1996 : January
Sposarsi
1996 : January
Where Miami
2000 : March
Zoom
2002 : January
Stilish Magazine Russia
2005 : April
FHM Spagna
2006 : April
Vintage Kazakistan
2014 : N.71
2014 : N.77
Fotografare
2016 : September
Exhibitions
1978 : Autodocumentazione, retrospective exhibition, Sant’Apollonia Church , Salerno, Italy.[26]
2015 : Silent print, Well Gallery, London College of Communication, London, United Kingdom.
2017 : Grana & Pixels, widespread exhibition, Roma, Italy.[27]
2022 : 54x70, Teatro Antonio Ghirelli , Salerno, Italy
