by Paul Laster
A masterful storyteller, Paolo Ventura brings imaginary tales from Italian history to life with dressed up dolls, tabletop sets, and staged photography.
Mining the memories of his childhood and inspired by the psychological dramas of Pirandello novels and Fellini films, Ventura creates elaborate fictions that mirror reality. His War Souvenir pictures represent his grandmother's remembrances of WWII while the Winter Stories series visualizes the recollections of a old circus performer.