Dionisio Gavagnin's 'Fini & confini' Explores Territory in Photographic Art

Dionisio Gavagnin, an economist turned photography collector and connoisseur, has published 'Fini & confini. Il territorio nell’arte fotografica' (Campanotto Editore, 2018). The 544-page volume, following his 2011 'Homini & Domini. Il corpo nell’arte fotografica', takes a thematic rather than historical approach to the relationship between photography and territory. Divided into seven chapters—including 'L’emergenza della forma', 'Il territorio come-forma-sistema', 'Visioni di confine', and 'Territori del concettuale'—the book examines territory as total space, moving beyond classical landscape photography toward contemporary issues of borders and globalization. Gavagnin defines territory as open space without cultural discrimination. He selects only artists he considers truly innovative, ranging from Guidi and Basilico to the Bechers, Baltz, Adams, Long, Fulton, Struth, Gursky, Francesco Jodice, and Muntadas. The study also incorporates literary and philosophical perspectives, and includes a useful bibliography. The cover features Luca Maria Patella's untitled work from the 'Terra animata' project (1967).