I remember exactly the moment I said to myself for the first time “I’d love to be a photographer”.
It was in 2006 in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop in Galway (Ireland), where I used to work, when I came across the book of Lewis Wickes Hine called 'Children at Work'.
Lewis W. Hine was an American sociologist and photographer. In 1908 he was assigned by the National Child Labor Committee to travel throughout the United States and document what nobody wanted to see; child labour. His photographs encouraged a legislation reform to stop minor labour in the US.
Amazed by the magnificence of those images, I was overtaken by the power of photography. Art, aesthetics, travels, adventure, social issues, human rights, journalism. Everything I wanted to do was there. So I said to mysellf 'I’d love to be a photographer'. I regret not buying that book in Charlies.
A year later I enrolled on a Master degree in Photojournalism at University of Westminster, in London, UK. For my final project, I produced a photo-essay on the religious life of Irish Travellers, the gipsy community of Ireland, which was later published and exhibited.
Once I became photographer, the path I wanted to walk on was working on human rights and environmental issues.
Greenpeace, Save the Children, Amnesty International, WWF, Refugees Welcome, ActionAid, UNICEF, Libera, Change.org, AISM, WeWorld, CILD, Fondazione Albero della Vita have been some of the NGOs I met on my path and I had the privilege to collaborate.
My personal projects as well as my comissioned work for NGOs have been published on: Internazionale, L’Espresso, Vanity Fair, Io Donna, D di Repubblica, Sette, The Guardian, The Observer, Days Japan, Washington Post on line, National Geographic, Al Jazeera, Le Monde, British Journal of Photography, Le Point, Der Spiegel, Irish Times, Panorama, La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, El Pais, VSD, Alpha Magazine.
My work has been selected for the awardsbelow:
First prize Anello Debole at Capodarco (Italy) with Campania d’Africa video.
Laureat Visa Pour l’Image Pix-Palace with Campania d’Africa photo reportage.
Special Prize Days Japan International Award with Bekoji, the town of runners.
Special Prize Days Japan International Award with Kidney For Sale.
TvFilm New York Festivals Award, Tinku, Bolivia’s Fight Club, Streaming Documentary for Al-Jazeera.
Honoree at the Webby Awards, Tinku, Bolivia’s Fight Club, Produced by Al-Jazeera English.
I had the opportunity to exhibit my projects on the shows both in the UK and Italy
Format Festival in Derby (UK), 2009, with God Bless Ya.
Bar Floreal Gallery in Paris (France), 2011, with Campania d’Africa.
Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome (Italy), 2011, Liquid stage, group exhibition.
Museo di Roma in Trastevere (Italy), 2018, Greenpeace, “Vento, Caldo, Pioggia, Tempesta”, group exhibition.
Francesco Alesi
+39 340 5463354
info@francescoalesi.com
