Mirella Ricciardi | Vanishing Africa
Bernheimer Fine Art Photography is proud to announce the exhibition Vanishing Africa.
The Kenya born artist Mirella Ricciardi has travelled for over forty years around Africa to record her home, country and its people. The result of her journey is reflected in the unique photographs which form the basis of the bestselling book Vanishing Africa (1971). Vanishing Africa was the prototype for the so-called 'coffee-table book', which granted a new audience an unprecedented insight into the world of the East African people. It also became a model for Leni Riefenstahl and Peter Beard, the latter has a close friendship with Ricciardi.
Cows in Smoke, 1967/68
Silver Gelatin Print
Edition of 15
61 x 51 cm
© Mirella Ricciardi, Courtesy Bernheimer Fine Art Photography
When Mirella Ricciardi began photography in 1967 she did not have any technical training. She was inspired by the surroundings of Lake Naivasha, where she grew up and a place with a number of native Africans and a wide variety of animals. These two years of her work include portraits of six Kenyan tribes and their traditional lifestyle: Samburu, the Maasai, the Rendille, Turkana, the Bajun and the Gala Boran. Particular focus is on their traditional way of life and death, and their incomparable simple beauty.
Orma Cattle Herder, 1967/68
Platinum Print
Edition of 8
91,5 x 117 cm
© Mirella Ricciardi, Courtesy Bernheimer Fine Art Photography
In collaboration with Amina Ricciardi, the daughter of the photographer and founder of Mirella Ricciardi Photographic Archive, Blanca Bernheimer will show a selection of limited edition large-format platinum handprints and silver gelatine prints. They provide a unique insight into the world of East Africa and Ricciardi's approach to her work. Some of these images have never been exhibited before and will now be shown at Bernheimer in Munich for the first time since the publication in 1971.
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