The Cagli Project
About the Project Authors Subjects Cagli Partners Faculty Contact
 
 


 

 Florindo Rilli -Photographic Artist

Indagine, linguaggio, recerca, estetica, conoscenza, identitá, laboratorio, visione, territorio, stile. Vivo un rapporto constante di sfida con la fotografia.

"Inquiry, language, research, appearance, knowledge, identity, workshop, vision, territory, style.  I live a relationship with photography that is a constant challenge."

-Florindo Rilli

Positioned behind the lens of a large camera, Florindo Rilli listens to the snap of his shutter.  Alone on an abandoned farm near Pisa , Rilli feels the rush of adrenalin.  As he captures the nude form of his 6-foot-tall, brunette model, he is also afraid because he is trespassing.

For Rilli, a nationally known amateur photographer from Cagli, this was one of the greatest highlights of his career.

The episode began when he was approached by a very well-known, retired Italian model.  Elena had been photographed by one of Italy's most famous photographers, Franco Fontana, whose work is also well known in the United States .  After seeing Rilli's work, Elena insisted on being photographed by him. 

"I was so honored that she would come out of retirement so that I could photograph her," Rilli said.  "She said that she saw something in my work that no one ever captured in the human figure. I was very gratified." 

Rilli said that he always prefers to shoot in locations that he and his audience would normally never be allowed to visit.  For Elena's shoot, Rilli spotted the open fields and surrounding farms far off from any main road.  Unfortunately, a neighboring farmer happened upon the shoot as well, demanding an explanation as to why they were trespassing.  Suddenly Rilli found himself slightly embarrassed, realizing there was no way the farmer would understand that Rilli was photographing a gorgeous naked woman for artistic reasons.

"People think you are kind of crazy, but that is all a part of the game," said Rilli. "I love the thrill of what I call 'breaking the space,' crossing barriers when I am not supposed to. I get an adrenalin rush inside my blood, and that is what I want you to see."

Encounters like this are what have taken Rilli to national fame.

In the past, Rilli has headlined exhibitions all across Italy .  From 1995 to 2004, Rilli held 15 shows in cities like Perugia, Urbino, and Rome .  He has had three major publications of his work in printed form including five installazioni - exhibits that remain open to the public for extended periods of time. This quite a repertoire for a self-taught photographer born and raised in Cagli.

Rilli fondly recalls his childhood in Cagli in the 1960s.  The only child of Cagli natives, he has only left when he worked in Rome for six years.

  Rilli says he continues to live in the same town because it is home, and because his parents are comfortable living in Cagli.  While most Cagliesi children pass their days in the streets kicking around soccer balls or chasing stray dogs, Rilli spent his childhood interested in other things.  To this day, Rilli says that he will photograph just about anything.

"I take pictures of everything," says Rilli.  "Except sports and animals. Never that," he laughs. "I am just not interested."

His interest in photography stemmed from a deeper appreciation of the arts, especially artists of the1900s. By the age of 12, when he wasn't in the classroom, Rilli was spending much of his free time painting.

"It was always very contemporary, though," he explains. 

For Rilli, artistic subjects were always of the unreal, "the world of Dadaists and the surrealists." After finishing high school at 18, Rilli entered a vocational school, where he learned to be an electrician.  Amid the technical work, Rilli picked up a camera and began taking photographs, and he simply didn't stop.

By 20, Rilli decided to compose a documentary of his life using the camera as his primary tool of expression.  By creating photographic self-portraits, Rilli continued to experiment. 

"I was completely self-taught.  I emerged myself deeply into reading and learning about the craft of photography, about lights and darks, and the details," says Rilli.

Next Page>>>