Adriano Cisani is a fashion photographer. In the past, he had been doing 4 years of reportage while scouting talents for Sara Maino in the main fashion weeks and on the ex-soviet blocks. He is mainly contributing mainly for Condè Nast and especially for Vogue Italia and Vogue Japan. Now he’s based in Milan with his own studio, working as a fashion photographer, editor of Personne mag 02 and as a creative consultant.
He got into photography through experimentation, approaching fashion with an own manner. In his past project, he has been showing capable to highlight the imperfect, mutable and human character instead of the volatile and tempting perfection of unmatched glamour, capturing dinamic shots and iconic snapshots capture of trends and attitudes, not revealing judgement but and nor filters.
About ‘Against Beauty Stereotypes’ – words by Adriano Cisani:
The idea involved in this project was about playing with the common perception of beauty stereotypes. It focuses on feeling proud, believing in oneself, and ultimately about choosing a direction. Sometimes that direction is soft and other times it has a more defined approach. Either way, there is a result.
The colours are bright, characterised by big contrasts done through absurd combinations of colors or through the use of props. My pictures are raw, you can find some reference related to the soviet culture which I’m in love with; I’m not talking about the European “Russian” stereotype, I’m talking about traditions, the respect of moral values, the brutalist aesthetic that can be innovative thanks to the huge cultural explosion of the past few years in the ex-soviet block. It’s all about the content, trying to create a temporary shock to the viewer making him/her feel disorientated and curious at the same time. I love cows and Russians, the subtle irony that sometime could be also sharp. I’m respectfully spiteful.
With this movement and these images, I aim to influence younger generations making them aware of their capabilities and inner values. The pictures have been shot during a trip to Moscow in collaboration with the artist Yulia Nefedova. The dried fish, a traditional Russian food, for example, represents a contrasting element while the woman’s body is symbolic of the country’s old-age, shifting the standards of beauty. It is an intense portrait that is shot with the ubiquitous iPhone. It acts as a disruptive vision that guides this journey towards intellectual freedom.
This is an era in which diversity can be seen as something controversial, something that is not clearly defined, and something that cause confusion. No matter its interpretation, it opens the eyes and starts a process of reflection in humans’ minds. Sometime you’ll see some pictures that could be hard to understand at the first look, for example, the picture of the “balls”: the title of this picture is Out of the blue, creating both a shocking effect and a word-game.
