Letizia Cariello Wins BNL Prize at MIA Photo Fair Milan

At MIA Photo Fair in Milan, the BNL Gruppo BNP Paribas Prize was awarded to Letizia Cariello for her photographic series Joie de Vivre, presented by Galleria Massimo Minini of Brescia. The jury—Fabio Castelli, Francesca Malgara, Marinella Paderni, Francesca Pini, and Anna Boccaccio—selected Cariello from fifteen finalists chosen by the fair's Scientific Committee. The prize entails the acquisition of the work by the bank, which already holds over five thousand pieces from previous editions. Cariello's project reimagines photography through a conceptual metalinguage, using frames of images that emerge from small drawers to evoke personal memories of joyful moments. The series originated from Cariello's encounter with Cristiana Carminati, who allowed the artist to use photographs from her collection, particularly those depicting her father Carlo, mother Kikka, and their friends during a 1960s vacation in Saint-Tropez. The original images were commissioned by Carlo from a local photographer to document the group's life, capturing the so-called "Les Italiens." Cariello selected twenty vintage photos, reproduced them with white borders, and embellished them with red nail polish, red thread embroidery, and rose thorn inserts, all housed in custom wooden structures.