Biography
Filippo Venturi is a documentary photographer, visual artist, lecturer and public speaker.
His work explores identity, the human condition and the ways in which political and technological forces shape contemporary life. Over the years, he has documented dictatorships, democracies in crisis, movements advocating for rights and major social transformations in different parts of the world. In 2017, he was commissioned by Vanity Fair to produce an extensive reportage in North Korea during a period of heightened international tension, while in 2020 he documented several aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy.
His projects have been published in major newspapers and magazines, including National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Geo, Der Spiegel, Internazionale, La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, and La Stampa.
A significant part of his current research investigates how technological evolution is changing photography, information and our perception of reality. With a degree in Computer Science and extensive experience in photojournalism, Venturi combines traditional photographic practices with emerging technologies, questioning the changing nature, credibility and function of images.
More recently, this research has focused on the relationship between photography, journalism, power and artificial intelligence. Since 2023, he has developed a series of conceptual projects combining photography and AI, earning recognition at competitions and festivals. He received an award at the Kolga Photo Fest in Tbilisi. He was invited to the PhotoVogue Festival to present the talk Broken Mirror. A Dystopian Guide to Crossing the Border. His work was also included in Pixel Perceptions: Into the Eye of AI at Noorderlicht Gallery in Groningen, an international exhibition exploring how artificial intelligence is influencing the way we perceive and represent the world. The exhibition brought together more than thirty artists from around the world whose work explores the impact of AI on visual culture.
His long-term project on the Korean Peninsula has received numerous awards, including the Sony World Photography Award, LensCulture Emerging Talent Award, Il Reportage Award, Voglino Award and Portfolio Italia – Grand Prix Hasselblad. Developed through three photographic chapters focusing respectively on South Korean youth, North Korean youth and North Korean defectors, this body of work was presented together for the first time at the Bienniale Countless Cities, where Venturi curated the Seoul/Pyongyang pavilion.
His work has twice been nominated for the prestigious Leica Oskar Barnack Award: Foundations of a Mirage in 2022 and How Long Is the Night? in 2026.
Venturi has exhibited in Italy and internationally at institutions and festivals including Foro Boario in Modena, as a “New Talent” selected by Fondazione Fotografia Modena, CIFA – Centro Italiano della Fotografia d’Autore in Bibbiena, MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, Somerset House in London, U Space in Beijing, Willy Brandt Haus in Berlin, Sony Square in New York, Copenhagen Photo Festival, Kaunas Photo Festival, Voies Off Awards at Les Rencontres d’Arles, Photolux in Lucca, SI Fest in Savignano sul Rubicone, Riaperture Photofestival in Ferrara, Fotografia Calabria Festival, Festival della Fotografia Etica in Lodi, and Festival della Fotografia Italiana.
His work is held in public collections including Harvard University Library, GAMeC – Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bergamo, Fiere di Parma and the Marco Pesaresi Photo Library.
Alongside his artistic practice, he teaches photojournalism, documentary photography and artificial intelligence, and regularly gives lectures and seminars in academic and cultural contexts. His courses and talks have been hosted by New York University, the University of Padua, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome, Copenhagen Photo Festival and BergamoScienza. He also teaches photography in the Master’s programme in Journalism at the University of Bologna.
His educational practice extends to European projects. Within Shaping Fair Cities, he led My Dear, a participatory photography workshop involving twenty women from nine different nationalities and addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment. He was also selected by SI Fest as its photographer for Reconstruction of Identities / Identity Dialogues Europe, a two-year European project exploring identity, cultural heritage and migration through photography. The project brought together photographers and cultural institutions from Italy, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands. He has also worked with younger generations through projects such as Citizen Lab, involving fifty high-school students in using documentary photography to reflect on their relationship with institutions.
Venturi has served as a jury member for several awards and festivals, including the Kolga Tbilisi Photo Awards, Marco Pesaresi Award for Contemporary Photography, Urban Photo Awards, Annual Photography Awards, Werther Colonna Portfolio Award and Malatesta Short Film Festival.
In 2025, he was named “Author of the Year” by FIAF, becoming the youngest recipient in the award’s history. He is also an editor of FotoIT, FIAF’s official magazine and one of Italy’s leading publications dedicated to photographic culture.
Contacts
Web: www.filippoventuri.photography
Email: filippo.venturi@gmail.com
