The Art of Posing

In the realm of creativity, one of the most fascinating phenomena is the cross-pollination between genres, occurring when an artist expresses themselves with equal intensity across different languages. Historically, this has been most evident in the interplay between narrative and poetry, painting and sculpture, music and graphic arts. With the advent of photography in the visual arts, however, its versatility proved capable of engaging in dialogue with any artistic form.

This book illustrates that very dialogue through the particular story of its protagonist, Stefano Bressani, who employs an unconventional material—fabric—for his “sculptures.” Through a careful combination of elements—the textile he shapes, the scissors with which he cuts, the top hat worn with effortless charm—Bressani constructs an image of a character simultaneously elegant like a tailor, whimsical like a magician, and inventive like an alchemist. Photographers embraced this creative framework, blending these elements with their own artistic flair to produce results that are always fresh, never banal, and striking a balance between rigor and playfulness.

Scissors are elevated, pointing skyward, adapted as a billiard cue, the sword of a commander, or even transformed into glasses. The top hat appears everywhere—not only on Bressani’s head, but sometimes in multiple versions, or even adorning other unexpected surfaces.

The resulting portraits challenge the viewer to recognize each photographer’s distinctive style. Silvia Amodio captures the presence of a small dog; Gianni Berengo Gardin frames a classical pose; Francesco Cito executes daring compositions.

Franco Donaggio crafts dreamlike shots, Guido Harari conjures the surreal, Marina Alessi and Joe Oppedisano bring the whimsical, Isabella Balena explores dynamic movement, Pio Tarantini the conceptual, Monica Silva the playful, Graziano Perotti the spectacular, and Raoul Iacometti the theatrical. Angelo Ferrillo contributes reportorial insight.
Elegance shines through Giovanni Gastel, who places scissors as if they were a pocket square, and Piero Gemelli, who uses them to embellish the hatband. Maurizio Galimberti alludes to historical avant-garde aesthetics, Mauro Balletti delights in subtle allusions, Nino Migliori indulges in irony, Settimio Benedusi favors immediacy, Douglas Kirkland embraces cinematic vision, and Aurelio Amendola channels an artistic perspective.

The book concludes with a sequence of sculptures Bressani created in homage to his master, Pablo Picasso, offering insight into the inspiration behind these portraits.

Yet the game is not over: by flipping the book from back to front, the viewer can trace the visual dialogue from Bressani’s sculptures back to the photographers’ hands, pondering how each artist might have approached posing the sculptor himself.

Roberto Mutti