Giovanni Gastel was an internationally celebrated fashion photographer, referred to as a genius by the biggest names in the industry. He was born in Milan into an aristocratic family. He contributed to the birth of Italian fashion imagery. He began showing an acute capacity for art at the age of twelve and by his late teens had dabbled in photography. In his early twenties, Gastel began working as a photographer at Christie's, the British auction house. In 1981 he discovered the world of fashion photography through his agent. His fashion photography was first published in the magazine Annabella in 1982. This marked a turning point in Gastel’s career; shortly after his first publication he formed a permanent and prosperous partnership with Vogue Italia in 1982. Gastel then met the editor of Edimoda and Gisella Borioli, Flavio Lucchini, and began working for the infamous magazines Mondo Uomo and Donna.
He was Inspired by American photographer Irving Penn from early on and like Penn, Gastel sought to capture classical elegance in his images from a surrealist point of view. He was in constant pursuit of finding beauty. Gastel’s work began truly flourishing during the same time that today's top brands were gaining global recognition such as Versace, Missoni, and Salvatore Ferragamo; Gastel was in symbiosis with these brands. For example Gastel greatly contributed to Ferragamo’s international success and vice versa. Ferruccio Ferragamo, chairman of the Salvatore Ferragamo Group recently stated, “I remember with esteem and gratitude the precious contribution he [Giovanni Gastel] gave to Ferragamo over the years through the magic of his lens.”
By the 90s Giovanni gastel had earned immense success in Italy and moved to Paris. He began working with esteemed French fashion houses including Dior and Nina Ricci. In the 2000s Gastel decided to focus on portraiture and honed this type of imagery, mastering yet another aspect of his craft. He shot many high profile individuals such as Barack Obama. A collection of 200 of his portraits were recently exhibited at the Maxxi Museum in Rome last year, 2020. A series of faces depicting people from the world of culture, design, art, fashion, music, entertainment and politics that Gastel met during his 40-year career. Gastel considered portraiture not as a mirror, but as interpretation of the subject filtered through the photographer's emotions.
Gastel’s eye for imagery is very unique and poetic, this is clearly demonstrated by his series’ Metamorphosis and Fallen Angels. His Fallen Angels series was originally part of an exhibition at Spazio Ersel in Turin, in 2015 - a curation by Valerio Tazzetti and Paola Giubergia - organized in collaboration with Photo & Contemporary and Spazio 81. The series depicts ethereal winged women in sepia, blue, black and/ or white tones, which each represent the colors of memory for Gastel. His images often appear otherworldly, even when shooting high fashion campaigns he never failed to obscure the line between commercial and artistic. For Gastel photographs are a bit like dreams, carrying many meanings and can develop by themselves. The Metamorphosis series presents Gastel’s explicit surrealistic understanding of photography.
Giovanni Gastel’s most iconic images can be shopped at The Selects Gallery, which offers them in limited edition following the artist’s will.
