Body and Soul (Jazz Portraits)

The season of photographic exhibitions at Casa Pessina in Ligornetto continues with the 17th chapter of a season that the Museo d'arte Mendrisio inaugurated seven years ago and that over time has emerged as a unique exhibition venue dedicated to photography.

With Body and Soul (Jazz Portraits), a project by Stefano Galli, Casa Pessina returns to the human figure with a specific form of portraiture: jazz musicians immortalised live. From William Gottlieb onwards, music photography has assumed a truly important role in the contemporary visual landscape. This was especially the case within the history of jazz music: portraits that have become iconic (think of those of John Coltrane or Miles Davis) have enabled its protagonists to convey content and ideas that today belong to our collective imagination. 

The splendid 34 photographs in the exhibition (a selection from the thousands taken by Galli over the years and taken at festivals, exhibitions and concerts in our Canton and in the neighbouring province of Como) testify to his great ability to seize the moment and transform the documentary act into an expressive form, with remarkable elegance of taste and extreme chromatic refinement. 

Stefano Galli (1966) 
He discovered photography as a child and, totally self-taught, has devoted himself to it regularly since the age of 13. After graduating in architecture from Milan Polytechnic, he also worked on architectural photography and urban landscapes. His great passion, however, is jazz, whose international scene he has followed closely for many years.