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Christian Tagliavini
Every costume, every set and every prop in the photographs of Christian Tagliavini (*1971) is made by hand. The Swiss artist, who trained in graphic design and worked as an architect and graphic artist before turning to photography in 2000, describes himself as a »photographic craftsman«. With series such as »1503«, »Carte«, »Voyages Extraordinaires«, »1406« and »Circesque«, he has become one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary staged photography.
Christian Tagliavini conceives each image as a designed narrative. He draws on art history, above all the portraiture of the Italian Renaissance, but also on literature, the circus and the world of Jules Verne, and translates these sources into a visual language of his own. Each series takes months or even years to complete: he builds the interiors and sews the costumes himself, using materials appropriate to each period. The result are images of painterly precision that hover between past and present, reality and fiction, and that invite the viewer to look closely at every detail.
Christian Tagliavini lives and works in Switzerland and is represented exclusively worldwide by CAMERA WORK Gallery.
Exhibitions
2026 · CAMERA WORK Gallery, Berlin
2024 · CAMERA WORK Gallery, Berlin
2023 · CAMERA WORK Gallery, Berlin
2022 · Vichy Portraits Photo Festival
2021 · 212 Photography Istanbul
2020 · CAMERA WORK Gallery, Berlin
2018 · Museum Fotografiska, Stockholm
2017 · CAMERA WORK Gallery, Berlin
2017 · Museum Arnold Vander Haeghen, Ghent
2016 · Clervaux, Luxemburg
2015 · CAMERA WORK Gallery, Berlin
2015 · Foto Museo Bogotá
2014 · Padova Photographia
2013 · CWC GALLERY, Berlin
Collections
Private art collections, corporate collections, and public collections in Germany, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Luxemburg, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, USA, and China
Press review
Süddeutsche Zeitung
»a perfect illusion«
Berliner Morgenpost
»like paintings of Old Masters«
Monopol
»Christian Tagliavini is the Renaissance photographer«
Harper’s Bazaar
»the works are beautiful-surreal«
Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag
»like oil paintings of Old Masters«
Artsy
»phantastical photographs«
Spiegel Online
»a space homage to the Renaissance«