Romina Ressia

Spaghetti

2014

Awarded the title of Photographer of the Year by the International Color Awards 2017, Romina Ressia is fast becoming a star of the international photography scene. Her work has been exhibited in London, New York, Milan, Zurich, Paris, Brussels and Buenos Aires. The past two years have seen Ressia’s profile skyrocket in tandem with her successes at a variety of international shows and awards. The winner of the Prix de la Photography in Paris (2016), she was also a finalist in the Lens Culture Visual Storytelling Award (2015). Born in 1981, in a small town near Buenos Aires, Ressia demonstrated a passion for art early on, though elected only to pursue photography professionally in her late twenties. A student of photography, art direction and scenery in numerous prestigious institutions, including the Teatro Colon, Ressia’s portraits borrow from the compositional sensibility of an Elisabetta Sirani or Carravaggio, with the deep noir of their backdrops. It is, however, the way she lances them through with the striking incongruity of motifs that are distinctly 'now' -- chewing gum, waterpistols, even versions of recognisable American postmodern sculpture -- that transform these stunning images into pieces of strident, and hilarious, social commentary. Drenched in anachronism, often ironic and consistently humourous, these are unmistakably and beautifully fine art photographs -- their engagement with the art historical canon, while playful, evidences a creative mind keenly aware of the history of her craft. Recent developments in her practice include the increased usage of a variety of media to, in her words, ‘grant fresh air’ to those styles most associated with painting’s Golden Age.