ABOUT
Email: michele.spatari@gmail.com
WhatsApp: +39 333 127 2408
Ethiopia: +251 98 818 4028
Michele Spatari is a documentary photographer and videographer based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Michele documentary practice has been shaped by his architectural background and it is focused on the study of bodies and space: how politics, religions and social rituals shape contemporary societies. The melancholic loneliness and alienation of our world, the relationship between people and their surroundings, the belief that personal stories can bear the weight of history are recurrent and sought-after elements of his work.
His work has been featured on various international media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, Le Monde, Libération, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, El País, Internazionale, amongst others.
Michele has also worked for UNICEF, FAO, MSF - Doctors Without Borders, WWF - World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, European Commission, FIFA, FactStory, AFP Services. As a videographer, DP or camera assistant he has worked with CNN, Vice News, FIFA, African Development Bank, AFPTV, VOA, and more.
Michele completed a certified Hostile Environment First Aid Training (HEFAT) in 2023.
Awards & Achievements:
2023: Hamburg Portfolio Review - Selected - Ballads from the End of the Desert
2022: Magnum Portfolio Review - Selected
2021: WARS Photography Award - 1st Prize - No Place Like Hope
2021: Encontros da Imagem Discovery Awards – Winner – No Place Like Hope
2020: Lumix Digital Storytelling Award - Honourable Mention - Rising Water
2018: Canon Italy Young Photographer Award - 1st prize Multimedia - Rising Water
Books:
2022: A Time of Distance. The COVID-19 Visual Project - Skira editore (collective)
Exhibitions:
2023: HPR Exhibition, Hamburg - HPR 2023 Public Space Exhibition
2023: Alliance Francaise, Johannesburg - Un Certain Regard: 35 years of reporting from AFP
2021: Encontros da Imagem, Braga – No Place Like Hope
2021: Copenhagen Photo Festival, Copenhagen - Ballads from the End of the Desert
2020: Representation of the Federal State of Low Saxony, Berlin - Rising Water
2020: Espace Cosmopolis, Nantes - Rising Water
2020: Cortona on the Move International Photography Festival - No Place Like Home
2020: Galerie f 3 – Freiraum für Fotografie, Berlin - Rising Water
2020: Lumix Festival, Hannover - Rising Water
2019: Geopolis - Centre du Photojournalisme, Brussels - Rising Water
2019: Palazzo Viceconti, Matera 2019 European Capital of Culture - Visions from Europe
2019: Corigliano Calabro Fotografia - The Guardians of the Mountain
2019: FoTo Torino - Rising Water
2018: Cortona On The Move International Photography Festival - Rising Water
2018: Camera Work Off, Ravenna - Atopia
2016: Antonello Ghezzi Studio, Bologna - Leila
2015: Case Aperte, Bologna - In/Out
Residencies:
2019: Matera 2019 European Capital of Culture, Visions from Europe - with Canon Europe
Lectures & Teaching:
2023: Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg - Crit
2022: Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg - Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Programme - Photography, Ethics, Post-production module
2021: Canon Student Development Programme
2021: IIF - Istituto Italiano di Fotografia, Milan - Webinar
2021: Emission Regards - EU!Radio, Bruxelles - Podcast
2020: Canon Student Development Programme @ Visa Pour l'Image - Webinar
2020: Canon Italia - Webinar
2020: Canon Europe / NOC - New Old Camera - Webinar
2020: ISFCI - Istituto Superiore di Fotografia, Rome - Webinar
2019: NID - Nuovo Istituto di Design, Perugia - Lecture
Education:
2023: Hostile Environment First Aid Training course - Versaille, France
2022: Rory Peck Trust - Trauma & Resilience Workshops - Africa
2018: Master in Photojournalism - ISFCI, Rome, Italy
2018: Nikon - NOOR Images Academy, Turin, Italy
2018: Canon Student Program @ Visa Pour l'Image, Perpignan, France
2017: ICP - International Center of Photography Masterclass - Visual storytelling and new media
2016: Master degree in Architecture - University of Ferrara