Romano Cagnoni Italian photographer Date of Birth: 09.11.1935 Country: Italy

Biography of Romano Cagnoni

Romano Cagnoni, an Italian photographer and photojournalist, was born in 1935 in the small Tuscan town of Pietrasanta. He first picked up a camera in the post-war years when he helped local photographers transport heavy equipment from numerous sculpture workshops in his hometown. Cagnoni never opened a photography textbook. He simply took pictures of what he liked and began selling portraits to regular beachgoers on the Tuscan coast.

In 1958, he moved to London where his professional career took off. As a photojournalist, Cagnoni covered events in hotspots around the globe. He documented the war-torn areas of the Middle East, South Vietnam, Ethiopia, Northern Ireland, Biafra, Colombia, Cuba, South Africa, and Poland during martial law in 1981. He also captured the Falklands War in 1982, the conflict in Yugoslavia in 1992, and the Chechen War in 1995. Additionally, he documented the meeting between Pinochet and Castro, Juan Peron's return to Argentina from exile, and photographed dictator Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I at his final anniversary celebration in 1972.

Cagnoni's photojournalism earned him numerous international awards. He held over 45 solo exhibitions worldwide, published 16 books, and became one of the most renowned photographers in the world. While his works often depicted the darkness of war, Cagnoni also captured ironic scenes from everyday life in his street photography.

After thirty years of working in London, he returned to his hometown where he continues to work, now in his own studio.