I have ten years of experience working as a documentary photographer. Since three years I am member of the Echo Photojournalism photo agency, nominated in 2013 as one of the 20 most interesting photojournalistic agencies around the world by the WPO. I have a Master's Degree in Photojournalism and tons of artistic ability. I am used to publish my photo reportages on Vanity Fair, MSNBC, marie claire, D di Repubblica, Aftenposten and other major magazines both in US and Europe. My works had been exhibited in photo festivals, art exhibitions and galleries in Milan, Paris, Tokyo, New York, Amsterdam, etc.

1. ALDO SOLIGNO

2. Aldo Soligno
ADDRESS
100 Willoughby St.
Brooklyn, 11201
NY, US
PHONE NUMBER
US: +1 (917) 794-9229
Italy: +39 3204960265
EMAIL
aldo.soligno@gmail.com
WEB
www.aldosoligno.com
www.echophotojournalism.com
Profile
Aldo’s sophisticated eye for minimal landscapes and his almost flemish-peinture approach to portraiture
make an unexpected contrast with the committed themes he chooses to represent. From the exploration of
the link between media and war in Gaza strip (Cast Lead and A Scorching Summer) to the most recent The
struggling Life of Gay Community in Uganda, his ability to establish a deep relationship with his subjects has
granted him many awards. His pictures have been exhibited in Italy and abroad, including the
recent Circulation(s) Festival in Paris, France. Aldo currently lives in New York.
Since 2013, he is represented by Echo Photojournalism.
Awards
2015 Genzyme Mention at the OMAR prize
2014 Selected at Circulation(s) 2015
2014 Pride Photo Award category Open
2014 Selected at Giovane Fotografia Italiana #03
2013 Acquisition by Mazzoli Gallery of "What Now, US Election 2012"
2012 nominee for the 19° World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass
2011 Special Prize, Fondazione Fotografia, Cassa di Risparmio di Modena
2011 "Reinterpretazione del Suonatore di Flauto" acquired by Unicredit Foundation
2010 Shortlisted, 2011 ANI Award, Visa Pour l’Image, Perpignan
2009 Rovereto Immagine Award
2008 Flavio Faganello International Award
Exhibitions
Perugia Social Photo Fest, curated by Antonello Turchetti. Perugia ,Italy, March 2016
Clio Art Fair, curated by Alessandro Berni, Chelsea. New York City, March 2016
Italian Consulate in New York City. New York, USA January 2016
Maker Faire Roma, curated by Chiara Oggioni Tiepolo. Rome October 2015
San Fedele Arte Gallery, curated by Gigliola Foschi. Milan October 2015
Les Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles, curated by PHBroking Gallery. June 2015
Rare Lives, Italian Senate, curated by Chiara Oggioni Tiepolo, March 2015
Circulation(s) 2015, Paris, France curated by FetArt, January 2015
The Others Art Fair, Turin, Italy curate by Gigliola Foschi, November 2014
Pride Photo Award 2014, Amsterdam August 2014
Giovane Fotografia Italiana_#03, curate by Daniele de Luigi, Fotografia Europea 2014
Fotogiornalismo e Reportage, curate by Silvia Ferrari, Galleria Civica di Modena 2014
Arte in Contemporanea, curate by Grazia Tassi, Galleria Mazzoli, June 2013
Special, curate by di Filippo Maggia, Fondazione Fotografia, December 2012
XV Biennal of Young Artist from Europe, Thessaloniki, Greek, October 2011
Italian Cultural Institute in Washington, Washington, USA, September 2011
Cast Lead, curate by Paola Riccardi, MART, Rovereto (TN) July 2010
Gemine : Muse, curate by Fulvio Chimento and Antonella Malaguti, Modena, May 2010
iBooks
What Now, 2012 US Election; Back to the Land Haiti 2012; Cast Lead, Gaza Strip 2009.
Newspapers on which I published
recently there are:

3. LET THEM SHOW THEIR FACES
- In Uganda starting from February 24th 2014, when the anti-gay law had been approved, everything has changed - stays S. , 30 years old from
Kampala. - My life has had a meltdown and now I live in constant fear that someone will knock on my door and arrest me, or worse, make me
disappear. -
This law, in the form in which it had been approved, provides for penalties of up to life imprisonment for everyone who is accused of the "crime of
homosexuality" and up to 7 years for everyone who is accused of aiding and abetting.
Crime of aiding that can “condemn” even the lawyers of the accused person or a witness. It makes extremely difficult to defend those who are
accused. Now, in addition, it is no longer necessary to take the a person in the sexual act: in the fragrance of full ratification, suspicion of
homosexuality is enough to be accused.
After the approval of the law, all the major tabloids in the country such as: Red pepper, Hello and The Sun, spent weeks publishing hundreds of
photographs of suspected homosexuals and gay activists under the title of "Hang them."
Our photographer Aldo Soligno has already reported the situation of gay community in Uganda, but with this project he asked the Ugandan LGBT
activists to pose from behind and up against the light, making what could be an hypothetical negative of the images published as defamatory by
the tabloid press in the country.
Homosexuality in Uganda

4. Kampala. Uganda. A. 24

5. Kampala. Uganda. D. 24

6. Kampala. Uganda. B. 27

7. RARE LIVES
A rare disease is mostly defined as one affecting one person or less in every 2000. It is estimated that there are somewhere between 8,000 and
9,000 rare diseases. Just in Europe is estimated that approximately 30 million people suffer from a rare disease.
Life is always complex for everyone. Even more if you suffer from a rare disease. Every daily aspect of your life became a challenge to improve
both the quality of your medical treatments and of your daily life. That’s why Rare Lives project has the aim to investigate needs, difficulties, but
also, joy and daily achievement of those living a “rare life” to lay the foundations for the construction of a network that allows to join the
experiences of those who live in this condition, and to share them with those who do not live it, making them aware.
Until now the project run 7 countries in 6 month around the European Union (Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Portugal, France, Denmark).
The next step will be to cross the ocean to continue the project around the US.
This project has been realized thanks to the sponsorship of .
RARE DISEASES IN EUROPE

8. Grottaglie. Italy. Roberta 3 years old, suffering from SMA.

9. Groningen. Netherlands. Marlou Schenk, 23, suffering from Fabry's disease.

10. Groningen. Netherlands. Marlou, 23, suffering from Fabry's disease.

11. THE STRUGGLING LIFE OF GAY COMMUNITY IN UGANDA
“In Uganda starting from February 24th 2014, when the anti-gay law had been approved, everything has changed” stays S. , 30 years old from
Kampala. “My life has had a meltdown and now I live in constant fear that someone will knock on my door and arrest me, or worse, make me
disappear.”
This law, in the form in which it had been approved, provides for penalties of up to life imprisonment for everyone who is accused of the "crime of
homosexuality" and up to 7 years for everyone who is accused of aiding and abetting.
Crime of aiding that can “condemn” even the lawyers of the accused person or a witness. It makes extremely difficult to defend those who are
accused. Now, in addition, it is no longer necessary to take the a person in the sexual act: in the fragrance of full ratification, suspicion of
homosexuality is enough to be accused.
All the churches in the country, in particular the Evangelical Church and the Pentecostal Church , after being among the promoters of the law
are now those who promote and lead the most anti-gay propaganda.
In the latest months, because of fear and inability to go out even just to take a bus, alcoholism has increased greatly within the gay community.
For lots of them it has become the only way to escape reality or to spend their time.
Their life enjoys if they can take the opportunity to live in protected locations. The majority go to bar owned by people they can trust blindly,
friends who do not abandon them . The richest people usually go to places frequented mainly by the few Westerners in the country. Exclusive
places extremely expensive.
HOMOSEXUALITY IN UGANDA

12. Kampala. Uganda. Leticia (Nickname) and D. in front of their office.

13. Kampala. Uganda. M. 24 years old, student.

14. Kampala. Uganda. L. 27 years old and A. 24 years old in their home.

15. WHAT NOW?
In the 2008 election, Obama has been considered as a dream, someone who could radically change America. After eight years of Bush
government , many voters saw Obama as the utopia that could upset the system, even beyond what it would be reasonably believable. Despite
huge compromises Obama has actually started to change the mindset of America in these last four years. Considering this, the November 2012
election was considered as a fundamental point of confirmation or turning of this change. It was like the litmus test that could determine if America
really wanted to change his way or go back along the path previously taken. This time the goal was to measure if the voters had understood
Obama’s work and, in particular, if they wanted this to continue, if they wanted to confirm America as a community or return to America as a sum
of individuals.
In this work I decided to interview those who were able to decide the outcome of this election: the American people. Immediately before and after
the vote of November 6, 2012, I asked for a picture and a comment to all those I met along the streets of the city, that surely does not represent the
whole America, but it's probably the one that most is capable of determine the future of the country: New York.
US ELECTIONS 2012

16. Ismael Morrison. NYC. November 2012.

17. Rose Lowell. NYC. November 2012.

18. Lennie Hammfor. NYC. November 2012.

19. THE NEW FACE OF FAR RIGHT IN SWEDEN
The political climate in Sweden is changing, as an increasing number of people choose to put their votes on one of the nationalist or far-right political
parties. This wave goes throughout all Europe, though to win over the somewhat reserved Swedish population, the well-tried violence and profanities
are not going to do the trick. A more subtle approach was needed.
The anti-immigration movement in Sweden has gone through a transformation the past few years, making the ideas appeal to more voters by
adding intelligible, well-dressed and well-mannered spokespersons who addresses the common man.
The political tendencies also rub off on other parts of the society, like presenting xenophobic and racist statements as art.
We have followed seven characters, seven faces that in different ways have been connected with anti-immigration, xenophobia or right-extremism.
Showing the complex and versatile state of xenophobia in Sweden.
XENOPHOBYC PARTIES IN SWEDEN

20. Lars Vilks. Scania. Sweden.

21. Sam Meyari. Malmö. Sweden.

22. Riots during Dan Park’s exhibition. Malmö. Sweden.

23. When asked to create a work linked to the Portrait of a Young Man with a Flute by Savoldo (Unicredit Art Collection), Aldo Soligno decided to
create a photo portrait which sets out to establish an “interpretational assonance” with the work. He aimed to recreate this work on a
contemporary horizon, integrating personal visions and interpretations. While the subject of Savoldo’s portrait is a young aristocratic intent on
exercising his passion for music, in the artist’s vision, his contemporary counterpart might be a middle-class girl, trapped in a static dimension
because of this world economic crisis. The object included in the photograph are indeed emblematic: closed books, representing unexploited
knowledge; a table lamp, present but turned off; the hands of the protagonist of the photo resting on a closed magazine, waiting.
REINTERPRETATION OF "YOUNG MAN WITH FLUTE” OF GEROLAMO SAVOLDO
COMMISSIONED AND ACQUISITED BY UNICREDIT FOUNDATIONS

25. BACK TO THE LAND
DEFORESTATION IN HAITI
In 2010, The Foreign Policy magazine, has placed the deforestation of Haiti among the five worst disasters in the world with the fires in coal mines in
China, the dispersed oil in the Niger, the draining of the Aral Sea and the trash island in the Pacific.
To this day the 98% of the trees on Haitian soil has been cut. The bare mountains proceed in their process of erosion at each rain. Every hurricane or
high calamity that befalls this part of the Hispaniola island (the island that includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic) multiplied his destructive
force as a result of this environmental tragedy, ravaging entire villages and increasing the already enormous difficulties of the Haitian population.
In a country where poverty is so common, one of the revenue of most of the population its given by the roadside sale of charcoal obtained by
burning wood with low oxygen. The massive use of this type of coal, together with the search of pasture for livestock, is the main cause of
deforestation.
Recently many international organizations had defined the environmental degradation of Haiti to a point of no return. But something is changing.
Finally signs of an awareness of the government and of part of the population begin to be visible. In the north and in the south of the country, there
are several plans of action against soil erosion carried out by the ministry of agriculture and the rural population with the help of international
NGOs. Looking at the bare mountains of Haiti it’s easy to see the waves created by the disintegration of the soil and its descent to the valley. But
is no longer rare to observe on the same mountains the retaining walls to combat the phenomenon. Furthermore, those retaining walls allows the
stop of the erosion of surrounding land, ensuring a return to the cultures. In a country where the scars of the earthquake of 2010 are still huge, this
awareness of the environment could become a realistic hope for an improvement of the food situation too.

26. Cap Haitien District. Haiti.

27. Françoise Vernard, 29. San Raphael. Haiti.

28. Port au Prince's dump. Haiti.

29. CAST LEAD
In his photo reportage “Plunged into Cast Lead”, Aldo Soligno tell us about the consequences of the Gaza Strip war, focusing on the last Israeli
army offensive called “Cast Lead”. His dark and full pictures of the recent catastrophe could speak about any war, but his eye has been
cached by that specific place, and he wants to show what is left after a war, suggesting that in people’s lives war is nothing but an humanitarian
emergency. He stubbornly wants to evidence the uselessness of every war.
Soligno identified four tracks along the following figures: Dignity, Humanity, Knowledge and Destruction.
In his pictures he uses several languages: places scratched by destruction and loss, portraits of people who lived the war on first line, snapshots
taken from very rare videos of fire days shot by Palestinian cameramen, and striking portraits of Palestinian journalists who documented those days
in Gaza. Some interviews have been joint to better understand and to report with the own words of the involved people how big sorrow and
annihilation generated by a war are.
Paola Riccardi
GAZA STRIP CAST LEAD OPERATION.

30. Sunset in the Bet Hanoun district.

31. Snapshot from Palestinian’s networks’ recordings during the offensive “Cast Lead”.

32. Children playing in the refugee camp of Beach Camp.

33. DESTINATION EUROPE
According to the Amnesty International report, published on the 17th of October, Egyptian authorities are systematically arresting dozens of Syrian
and Palestinian refugees, detaining them for long time in awful hygienic and health conditions, therefore forcing them to look for money in order
to buy a ticket to Turkey or Lebanon or, alternatively, they have to sign to be sent back to their own countries. All that without taking into
consideration the potential serious risks that may occur to the refugees coming back to their countries.
The obstinacy of the authorities, the hostile and unfriendly environment that Syrians have been experiencing in Egypt since the month of July-
when they were accused by the media to support the Muslim Brotherhood- and finally the desperate economic conditions of many families of
refugees are among the causes of the increasing number of clandestine boats that recently have set sail from the ports of Alexandria to reach the
Italian coasts. Journeys of hope that, more and more often, turn into tragedies, with dozens of deaths.
Mohamed is a thirty years old Syrian, arrested on a truck of refugees one morning in September while, with other refugees, he was going to meet
the sailors of the boat that should have clandestinely taken him to Italy. After staying 20 days in a prison in Alexandria, in order to avoid being
deported to Syria, he managed to escape with another prisoner. Mohamed, currently, having lost everything, had no choice but contacting
another dealer and he is now waiting for another call to try again to sail towards Italy and then Europe.
Mohamed, on the contrary, is Palestinian, but he has lived all his life in Syria and now has two wives and six children who are detained, after having
been arrested on a boat full of clandestine immigrants, sank just 500 meters from the coast of Alexandria, on the 15th of October.
Mohamed fears that the Egyptian authorities force his family to be deported and he is afraid of what may happen to them once they are back in
Syria, so he is desperately trying to find some money to pay them a ticket to Turkey. His youngest son is only seven.
The reportage finishes with Asiz, a very young Syrian who has been living in Egypt with his family for more than a year. A few months ago his father
was arrested and Asiz’s life was upset. The family begins to live in poverty and he, at the age of fifteen, has to take care of the old mother and the
young sister, only ten, trying to provide them with everything possible.
Alessio Polveroni
SYRIAN REFUGEES WAITING TO LEAVE TO ITALY

34. Emad, 19. He escaped from Syria because he didn’t want to enlist in the Assad’s army

35. Maryaam Adanan. She left Syria the 16th of August of 2012 with is son and his husband.

36. Zaher, 36 years old, was born in Haria, one of the first Syrian cities where the population takes part in civic events in 2011.

37. RAPED REVOLUTION
Tahrir lies at the heart of the Egyptian revolution; this square epitomizes change and hope, yet it is also the place where the fiercest riots between
civil society and the regime took place. It is a square where for two years two anonymous armies have been fighting, acting as the unaware
actors, day after day, of a deeply historic role, where the people embodied progress and the regimes the preservation of a status quo. The former
leveraged new technologies and modern values to take inspiration and mobilize the masses, while the latter resorted to brutality to repress and
discredit them.
This exploited and, if need be, manipulated microcosm is a small mirror on the heart of the most densely populated capital in the Arab world,
reflecting the myriad of contradictions and inner struggles that have scarred this part of the world to this day.
The struggle of Egyptian women, for instance, saw them as the protagonists in a revolution that is still unfolding and that, by nature, searched the
deepest recesses of political and social life to renew it. Still, it hasn’t given justice to tens of women who, as they were protesting in Tahrir, were the
victims of unspeakable violence, rape and abuse orchestrated by the regime to scare them and force them into silence.
The memories of these crimes are still sharp and vivid in these women’s minds; in some instances the evidence against the police is clear.
Moreover, the way these crimes were perpetrated casts shadows on the regime, which would appear to have resorted to criminals and plain-
clothes police agents to terrorize and hit political opponents, much like under Mubarak’s regime.
Alessio Polveroni
EGYPTIAN POLICE HARASSMENT

38. Hania.

39. From Hania’s house window.

40. Jasmine.

41. CONTACTS
aldo@echophotojournalism.com
www.aldosoligno.com
+1 (917) 794-9229
100 Willoughby Street
11201 Brooklyn
NY, US
ALDO SOLIGNO