Biography
Paolo Grassi is born in Tuscany and begins to photograph very young and analytically since 1976, after studying photographic technique and lighting from the experiences of Andreas Feininger and Ansel Adams.
For about 15 years, he photographed the elements of nature and people through the photographic film filter with a 35mm reflex kit (Olympus OM1) that thanks to his compactness he accompanies him daily and for many years in his visual search.
Many images remain attached to the film and only a small part is personally printed in black and white in a dark room.
Significant of this period is the photographic research carried out in Sardinia in 1979 (the year of the abduction of Gallura by the singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André) where he interpreted and documented in black and white the environment, traditions and faces of the people.
Starting in 1980, learning the technique of audio-visual systems based on image and sound utilization, takes over the language that will lead to the realization of audiovisuals for the diffusion of multimedia in the school and artistic fields.
Also in 1980 he enrolled in the faculty of architecture of Florence where he studied visual and semiotic language on the texts of Umberto Eco and where he uses the photograph to analyze the signs and symbols in the urban space.
During the university period, the international breath of the Florentine environment allows him to confront with colleagues and artists of various nationalities, thus having the opportunity to assimilate different methods, styles and cultures. His interests span from the history of architecture, art, photography and cinema, sectors from which he draws inspiration for his artistic activity.
He graduated with a high degree of praise and praise by presenting an industrial archeology thesis - through an innovative audiovisual system for the time - concerning a project for the construction of a hotel in the recovery of an old brick furnace.
In 1989 she made a photographic search of the landscape, architecture and natural environment of Versilia by taking a series of shots on 6x7 cm invertible film, frames that will be digitized and then printed on paper.
Several journeys in Europe and America lead him to photograpically portray architecture and city signs.
