Ferdinando Scianna

Ferdinando Scianna (4 July 1943) is an Italian photographer. Scianna won the Prix Nadar in 1966 and became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1989. He has produced numerous books.

Scianna took up photography while studying literature, philosophy and art history at the University of Palermo in the 1960s. He moved to Milan in 1966 and started working as a photographer for L'Europeo in 1967, becoming a journalist there in 1973. Scianna wrote on politics for Le Monde diplomatique and on literature and photography for La Quinzaine Littéraire. He first joined Magnum Photos in 1982, becoming a full member in 1989.

He took up fashion photography in the late 1980s. His first work, in 1987, was to photograph Marpessa Hennink for Dolce & Gabbana's advertising campaign for their Fall/Winter collection, clothing which was inspired by Sicily.

Publications by Scianna

• Feste Religiose in Sicilia. Italy: Leonardo da Vinci Arte, 1965. With an essay by Leonardo Sciascia.
  • Palermo, Italy: L'Immagine Editrice, 1987.
• La villa dei mostri. Einaudi letteratura 55. Torino: G. Einaudi, 1977. OCLC 4439726.
• I Siciliani. Italy: Einaudi, 1977.
  • Les Siciliens.France: Editions Denoël, 1977.
• I Grandi Fotografi: Ferdinando Scianno. Milan: Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, 1983.
• Il Grande Libro della Sicilia. Italy: Mandadori, 1984.
• Ferdinando Scianna: l'Istante e la Forma. Siracusa: Ediprint, 1987. OCLC 82374238.
• Città del Mondo. Italy: Bompiani, 1988.
• Kami. Italy: L’Immagine, 1988.
• Ore di Spagna. Spain: Pungitopo, 1988. With a text by Leonardo Sciascia.
  • Rome: Contrasto, 2016. ISBN 9788869656682.
• Le Forme del Caos. Italy: Art & SRL, 1989. A retrospective.
• Leonardo Sciascia. Italy: Franco Sciardelli, 1989.
• Men and Trucks. Italy: Iveco, 1990.
• Marpessa. Italy: Leonardo Arte, 1993. Photographs of Marpessa Hennink.
  • French-language edition. Contrejour, 1993. ISBN 978-2859491505.
• Altrove: Reportage Di Moda. Italy: Federico Motta, 1995.
• Viaggio a Lourdes. Italy: Mondadori, 1996. About religious rituals.
• Dormire Forse Sognare. Tavagnacco, Italy: Artes Gráficas Friulane, 1997.
  • To Sleep, Perchance to Dream. London, New York City: Phaidon, 1997. ISBN 978-0714837192.
• Jorge Luis Borges. Italy: Franco Sciardelli, 1999. Portraits of Jorge Luis Borges.
• Niños del Mundo. Ayuntamiento De La Coruña, Spain, 1999
• Obiettivo Ambiguo. Italy: Rizzoli, 2001.
• Mondo Bambino. Italy: L'arte a stampa, 2002.
• Quelli di Bagheria. Lugano: Fondazione Galleria Gottardo, 2002. ISBN 9788886455169. Text in English, Italian and Spanish. Photographs and writing on his home town of Bagheria in Sicily.
  • Italy: Peliti Associati, 2003
• Antonino Bencivinni, I Miei Volti Della Sicilia. Armando, 2006. ISBN 978-88-8358-890-7.
• Ferdinando Scianna. Actes Sud, 2008. ISBN 978-2742772179. Contrasto. ISBN 978-8869651007.
• Autoritratto di un Fotografo. Testi E Pretesti, 2011. ISBN 978-8861596184. Edited by Bruno Mondadori.
• Obiettivo Ambiguo. Rome: Contrasto, 2015. ISBN 9788869656187.

Publications with contributions by Scianna

• Henri Cartier-Bresson: Ritratti. 1983. Milan: Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri. Photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson. With a text by Scianna, "I Grandi Fotografi," and by André Pieyre de Mandiargues . Italian-language edition.
  • Henri Cartier-Bresson: Portraits. UK: Collins, 1984. English-language edition.
  • Spanish-language edition.

• 1966: Prix Nadar