ELIO CIOL

b. 1929

Elio Ciol was born in 1929 in Casarsa, in the northeastern Italian region of Friuli, where he still lives and works.  His initial experience in the world of photography was in his father's studio, where he acquired a vast technical knowledge

From 1955 to 1960, Ciol was a member of Venice’s “La Gondola” Photography Club. He entered the New York Popular Photography International Competition, winning two prizes in 1955 and other prizes in 1956 and 1957. In 1962 Ciol was called by David Maria Turoldo to be the official set photographer during the shooting of the film Gli Ultimi, directed by Vito Pandolfi. In 1963, in Milan, he collaborated with Luigi Crocenzi to the creation of the “Fondazione Altimani per lo studio e la sperimentazione di ogni forma di linguaggio per immagini” [Altimani Foundation for the study and experimentation of all forms of pictorial communication].  In 1969 Ciol published his first book of photos Assisi, which came out in five editions in different languages, with texts by David Maria Turoldo, Paolo Cavallina and Pietro Bargellini.

The years that followed were for Ciol an intense period of activity in the publishing field. In 1975 the art critic Alistair Crawford, impressed by the Assisi photo book, came to meet Ciol in Casarsa to promote a travelling exhibition in Great Britain. The show closed in 1978 at the Polytechnic of the Central London Gallery.  Crawford, enthusiastic for Ciol's photo work, spared no efforts to introduce it in the United States as well as in Great Britain. The year 1985 saw the publication of the book of photographs Italia Black and White, with texts by Alistair Crawford and Giovanni Chiaramonte. In 1991 Ciol published a new photo book, Assisi, with texts by Alistair Crawford and Franco Cardini. This was followed, in 1992, by the French and German language editions and, in 1993, by the edition in Japanese.  The book was awarded the international Kraszna-Krausz prize in 1992, in London, as one of the best photography books, sharing the prize with books by Sebastian Salgado, Irving Penn and Paul Strand.  In the same year he was invited by the Italian Cultural Institute to bring his exhibit Dove l’infinito è presente [Where the infinite is present] to Dakar.

The following year the Italian Cultural Institute, in Berlin, promoted the same exhibition in Potsdam, Halle, Hamburg, Greifswald and Wolfsburg. In 1995 Ciol completed the book Venezia, with an introduction by Carlo della Corte, which was followed by editions in Japanese and French. The book was awarded the international Kraszna-Krausz prize in 1996, in London, as one of the best photography books, together with the books of Robert Doisneau, Erich Hartmann and Noemi Rosenblum. In 1995, in Spilimbergo (Pordenone), Ciol received the special CRAF Friuli-Venezia Giulia Prize in Photography. In 1996,  an exhibit at the Le Logge Gallery, in Assisi, was the occasion for issuing an edition of the catalog book Dove l'infinito è presente [Where the infinite is present], a collection of ten of Ciol's black-and-white portfolios, with texts by Charles-Henri Favrod, Carlo Sgorlon, Elio Bartolini, Giuseppe Turroni, Giuseppe Mazzariol, Fabio Amodeo, Alistair Crawford, Fred Licht, Margaret Harker, Roberto Mutti and Giuseppe Barbieri. In 1997, in Amsterdam, Ciol received the World Press Photo third-prize award in the category “Nature and the Environment” for twelve black and white photos: “Sculture e disegni nella campagna friulana” [Sculptures and patterns in the Friulian countryside]. In 1999 Ciol was invited by the Udine Civic Museums to exhibit an anthology of his works in the ex Church of San Francesco, in Udine. In cooperation with the Federico Motta publishing house of Milan, Ciol produced a rich catalog of the exhibit, Elio Ciol: cinquant’anni di fotografia [Elio Ciol: Fifty Years of Photographs], edited by Giuseppe Bergamini, with texts by Roberto Mutti, Andrea Emiliani, Carlo Sgorlon, Mark Haworth-Booth, Giuseppe Barbieri, Guido Ferrara, Licio Damiani, Manfredo Manfroi, Luciano Padovese, Marco Pelosi, Ian Jeffrey, Luciano Perissinotto, Cristina Donazzolo Cristante. In 2000 Ciol was invited by the June Bateman Gallery to exhibit in New York a series of photos with the title “Images of Italy”. At the same time, he exhibited his work at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris “Maison de l’Italie”. A catalogue, L’enchantement de la vision, edited by Roberto Mutti, was printed for the occasion. In 2001, in Padua, during the “Fotopadova 2001” exhibit, Ciol received the prize “Dietro l’obiettivo: una vita” [Behind the Lens: a Life].  The same year saw the publication of the photo book Turoldo e gli ultimi. Elio Ciol fotografo di scena on the photos from the set of the film “Gli ultimi”, that Ciol shot during the filming forty years ago.  In 2002 Ciol was invited by the Municipality of Padua, Culture Department, National Photography Centre, to display the collection L’incanto della visione [The Enchantment of Vision] in the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà.  In 2003, in Padua, during the “Fotopadova 2003” exhibit, Ciol’s book of photos Ascoltare la luce [Listen to the Light] won the prize for the best photography book.  In 2004, the Province of Pordenone promoted, in the new Provincial exhibition facilities, the exhibit Il fascino del vero. Trittici e dittici in bianco e nero [The Fascination of Reality. Triptychs and Diptychs in Black and White], with the relative catalog.

Ciol’s photographs are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The International Museum of Photography, Rochester, New York; Centre for Creative Photography Tucson, Arizona; Humanities Research Centre, University of Texas, Austin; The Art Museum, Princeton University, New Jersey; Centre Canadian d’Architecture, Montreal Canada; The Art Institute of Chicago; The University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; Victoria & Albert Museum, Londra; Musèe de la Photographie, Charleroi; Civici Musei e Gallerie di Storia e Arte, Udine; Galleria di Arte Contemporanea Pro Civitate Christiana, Assisi;  Elio Ciol has shown his photos in 102 individual exhibitions, which have been critically acclaimed, and in another 112 group exhibitions.  Ciol’s photos have also illustrated more than 190 books.