PATRIZIA PULGA

I started my career after my first trip to India in 1976, which made me deeply involved in both photography and travelling. Within few years, I became a full-time professional photographer.I divide my work in two branches: personal researches and commercial pictures.

The commercial work (pictures for european companies, books and magazines) allows me to continue my personal research: it is a good technical exercise because my love for the aesthetic, which I experience as a studio photographer, is still part of my style when I take reportage pictures. After more than 30 years as a photographer, the largest portion of my work is focused on personal projects.

Through 2000, my attention has been focused on human beings rather than landscapes. Reportage shots (mostly in B/W in films) were just the outcome of my personal research about people, which has been on-going for more than 20 years, taking pictures of different cultures, immigrants' life and women's condition in U.S.A., South America, Asia and Europe.

In 2004 I was invited by Lithuanian government for the project LITHUANIA 24 HOURS, to document, together with other international photographers, the entrance of the country into the European Union in Vilnius, (May 1st 2004). We were obliged to use digital cameras and turn over our files in 48 hours after the shoot; in this way I entered into a new world: the digital one.

Digital camera's fascinated me because of the possibility to quickly calibrate colours and sharpness. With this new technical advancement in camera equipment, I travelled for more than 10 years to compose a large reportage called METROPOLITAN FRAGMENTS, about the architecture and town planning in Europe and U.S.A.

In 2012 I participated in the important project INSIDE OUT – ITALY IS ME TOO, one of the most ambitious and fascinating street art series created by worldwide accomplished French graffiti artist and performer JR, exhibiting work that combines art, action and deals with commitment, freedom and identity.

My last work is NO MORE, a 2013 project is about violence against women: symbolic pictures whose subjects are female forms wearing dresses or T-shirts with slogans against violence upon women. To provide likely urban landscapes for these female forms, I used pictures I had previously taken in different areas of the world, belonging to the project Metropolitan fragments.

As a daughter of an abstract painter who had lived between Paris and Italy, I choose an absolutely different kind of studies: at the college I studied Latin and ancient Greek, followed by a masters at the University in Political and Social Science. Along the way, I fell in love with photography ; so I am a self-taught photographer.  I also teach photography in a School for Graphic Design as well as conduct many workshops in Italian Universities to promote photography as a media.

I have produced several workshops in Italian towns for immigrant women to help them create their own photo album as means to straighten and realize their own identity in a transition moment. The results of the projects, named IMMIGRANT WOMEN AND THEIR IDENTITY: A TALE BY PICTURES, are wonderful and the women's participation was very exciting and moving.

In 2010 I produced the workshop THE IMAGE OF THE WOMEN IN MEDIA: FROM THE STEREOTYPE TO THE SELF-REPRESENTATION which I presented in Universities, in Women’s organizations and in Public Institutions, showing in a slide projection how media represent women in Italy and in other countries and how we, as women photographers, represent women.

Since the beginning of my career I have been interested in promoting the work of women photographers. The first important step - in 2000 - was a project for Bologna 2000 European Town of Culture named WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS’ NET: a census of the professional women photographers working in Europe: the project has joined together 107 European women photographers.


ARTICLES:
For Women In Photography International F2-eZine: www.womeninphotography.org
http://womeninphotography.org/f2/PatriziaPulga/2013/Pulga_NoMore.html

- Ziba Kazemi (2013)
- Women photographers from Middle East & Indian Subcontinent (2012)
- Women photographers in Tunisia. "Artocracy" during Jasmin Revolution (2011) -
- Women Photographers from other Cultures & Countries (2010)
- Homage to African Women (2010)
- Focus on Female at Orvieto Fotografia (2009)
- Sylvia Plachy at Blanca Berlin Gallery/Spain (2008)
- Salutes the Women Photographers of Africa (2006)
- Census about european women photographers (2000)


Articles for Fotografia & Informazione

- Omaggio a Editta Sherman (In memory of Editta Sherman) - (2013)
- Violenza sulle donne: per una corretta informazione ( A correct information about violence upon women) - (2013)
- Women in Photography International (Report about Women in Photography International) - (2009)
- Le fotografe dei Rencontres africaines de la photographie a Bamako (Report about women photographers in Rencontres africaines de la photographie in Bamako - (2006)


EXHIBITIONS

- 2014 PHOTO L.A. WIPI: POSTCARDS & ONLINE GALLERY (collective) - L.A. MART - Los Angeles
- 2013 NO MORE against violence upon women - (solo) - Illustrated violence Festival–Archiginnasio Library – Bologna- Italy
- 2013 PHOTO L.A. WIPI slide show : TRANSPORTATION - (collective) - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium – Los Angeles
- 2012 INSIDE OUT: L’Italia sono anch’io (Italy is me too) - (collective) - Civic Museum - Reggio Emilia - Italy
- 2012 PHOTO LA 21- WIPI Print and slide show (Women In Photography International collective exhibit) - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium – Los Angeles
- 2011 FRAMMENTI METROPOLITANI (Metropolitan fragments) – (solo) – Bologna – The House of Photography
- 2010 BOLOGNA E GLI ANNI DELLE STRAGI – (Bologna and the slaughters period) -(collective) – Bologna City Hall – with photo book
- 2008 GLI ANNI DI MARZO - (During March) - (collective) - Galleria d'Accursio - Bologna – Italy - with photo book
- 2008 CON GLI OCCHI DI DONNA - (Through the eyes of a woman) – 1st Prize Award – (collective) - Province Museum – Potenza – Italy
- 2008 L’APPETITO VIEN CON GLI OCCHI - (Appetite comes with eyes) - (solo exhibition with photographer Medardo Pedrini) – Baccanale 08 – Imola - Italy
- 2007 VERSO UNA SOCIETÀ MULTICULTURALE: IMMAGINI DI UN NUOVO PAESE – (Towards a multicultural society: images from a new nation) - (collective) - Uffizi Gallery – Firenze - Italy – with photo book
- 2007 BARCELONA, LUCES DE LA CIUDAD – (Barcelona: City lights) - (collective) - Premio Grand Marina de Fotografia – Word Trade Center – Barcelona - Spain
- 2006 THE PORTRAIT – (collective) - Women in Photography International – Los Angeles – U.S.A.
- 2006 LE MODELLE - Antiche donne e contemporanee: percorsi di genealogia femminile - (solo) - ( Ancient and modern Women) - Fortuna Theatre – Fano - Italy
- 2004 LITHUANIA 24 HOURS – (collective) - Center Of Contemporary Art – Vilnius- Lithuania – with photo book
- 2004 BARCELONA AND THE FORUM – (collective) - Premio Grand Marina de Fotografia – Word Trade Center – Barcelona - Spain
- 2002 TEA TIME INTERNATIONAL - IMAGES OF WOMEN, IMAGES OF TEA - (collective) - House of Contemporary Art - San Juan Capistrano - CA - U.S.A. 2001 / Photo L. A. 2002 - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium - Los Angeles - U.S.A.
- 2002 POLIS URBAN EMOTION - (collective) - ex San Mattia Church – Bologna - Italy – with photo book
2002 MIGRAZIONI - (Migrations) - (solo) - Confindustria Young Managers' Convention - Grand Hotel Miramare - S. Margherita Ligure - Italy
- 2002 – 2005 – 2007 LA PAROLA IMMAGINATA - (Imagines and Words) - (solo) - ITC di S. Lazzaro Theatre - writers: Jack Arnott, David Peace and Tim Parks – actors: Giuseppe Cederna, Roberto Citran and Eugenio Allegri – Bologna – Italy
- 2001 E- VENTI DI FESTA (Winds of celebration) - (solo) - Notai Palace - Bologna - Italy – with photo book
- 2000 RI-TRATTI DAL MONDO (Portraits from the world) - (solo) - M. Zonarelli Intercultural Centre - Bologna - Italy
- 1998 MIGRANTI E NATIVE (Immigrant and native women) - (solo) - Notai Palace - Bologna - Italy
- 1998 – 2007 IL MONDO ATTRAVERSO GLI OCCHI DELLE DONNE (The word seen by women) – (solo) - Via Larga Shopping Center - Bologna 1998 / Panorama Shopping Centers in Mestre - Torino - Sassuolo - Parma - Italy 1999 / Case d'Arte Gallery - Bologna - Italy 2000 / Public Library - Coldogno - Italy 2001 – Festival PERLE, per le donne che cambiano; Il divenire della differenza – Caserma del Monte Cialdini – Pesaro – Italy 2007
- 1997 – 2000 CUBA EN BLANCOS Y NEGROS (Cuba in black & white) - (solo) - Navile Cultural Centre - Bologna - Italy / Town Hall - Pieve di Cento - Italy
- 1994 NOI E LE ALTRE (Women from other countries) - (solo) - Town Hall Palace - Follonica - Italy
- 1993 SGUARDI (Glances) - (solo) - L'Unità National Festival - Bologna - Italy
- 1993 INTRECCI DI FOTO (Photographs' nets) – (collective) - International Congress Palace - Bologna - Italy
- 1992 IL REPORTAGE DIETRO LA MODA (Fashion street photography) - (solo) - Journalists and Press Association - Bologna - Italy
- 1989 ITALIAN ARTISTS – (collective) - Italian Academy - London - Great Britain
- 1989 FOTOGRAFI ITALIANI (Italian photographers) – (collective) - SICOF (International exposition of photography) - Milan - Italy– with photo book
- 1989 ELVIS, L'ANIMA DEL ROCK (Elvis, the soul of rock) - (solo) - Bentivoglio Castle - Bologna - Italy
- 1986 FRAUEN FOTOGRAPHIEREN FRAUEN (Women photograph women) – (collective) - Museum of Modern Arts - München - Germany – with photo book
- 1984 FOTOGRAFI ITALIANI (Italian photographers) - collective - Museum of Modern Art - Zagreb - Jugoslavia
- 1983 DONNE INDIANE (Indian women) – (solo) - Women Bookstore - Bologna - Italy
- 1983 DONNE E TERZO MONDO and DONNE E PACE (Women in the third word and Women and peace) – (collectives) - National Women's Festival - Bologna - Italy
- 1978 DONNE E FOTOGRAFIA (Women and photography) – (collective) - Spazio Donna Gallery - Bologna - Italy
Some of my pictures were acquired by C.S.A.C. (Center for the Communication) at Parma University, Italy.

UPDATE - JULY 2015 - MARCH 2016

I am currently working on a new book The working title is
LE DONNE FOTOGRAFE DALLA NASCITA DELLA FOTOGRAFIA AD OGGI
(Women photographers from the beginning of photography up to now) about women photographers which will incorporate documented information about established and emerging artists worldwide. In addition to expressing my personal point-of-view as both a woman and a photographer, the publication will encompass more than 1900 profiles about women working in photography, going back to it's beginning in the 19th century and following through to current day photographers (2016). The purpose of such a comprehensive effort is to further increase the historical value and awareness of women's accomplishments in the field of photography, both as people and visual communicators. Also detailed will be the photo organizations that have faithfully supported their work.

Prior to publication, my research was presented in 2015, at "The Women Center's Library," Bologna City Hall, in Bologna, Italy.
On March 8th 2016, I will be offering a lecture program and slide presentation of my work at the "Circolo Bertold Brecht" in Bologna, Italy. The program will incorporate images of women (and the stories behind them) which were taken during my travels around the world between 1979-present.

April, 2015  physical material: book, magazine, promotional materials