Biography

TerraProject is deeply engaged on themes related to territorial investigation on environment, society, and people, through a documentary approach grounded in respect, for both the subjects, portrayed in their authentic context and free from rhetoric, and the audience, who is invited, through the collective’s authorial vision, to develop greater awareness and engage critically with the present.

The collective’s strong commitment to its chosen themes and its coherent visual language have earned TerraProject broad credibility, recognized through numerous publications in leading national and international media, prestigious awards, and participation in major exhibitions.

TerraProject collaborates with institutions, humanitarian organizations, editorial and corporate clients, not only documenting their activities but also contributing to comprehensive projects, from creative concepts to the realization of exhibitions and editorial productions. Many significant clients have chosen to rely on the collective’s twenty-year experience, characterized by depth and quality of research, efficiency, and operational autonomy, always answering to the diverse requirements of each project and supporting it with synergy and a collaborative mindset.

Awards
Italia Inclusiva grant, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, 2022

Books (selection)
L’illusione. Storie di ordinaria dipendenza, Università di Siena, 2024
Land Inc., Editions Intervalles, 2017
Memorandum, Self-published, 2016
Quattro, Self-published, 2014
Gente del Santerno, Contrasto Editore, 2012

Exhibitions (selection)
L’illusione, storie di ordinaria dipendenza, Magazzini del Sale, Siena, 2023
Dove finisce il lago, Museo Alto Garda, Riva del Garda, 2023
Il senso dei Luoghi, Palazzo Pretorio, Figline e Incisa Valdarno, 2022
Di semi e di pietre, Amatrice and Accumoli, 2021
Un’eredità in movimento, Palazzo Ducale, Genova, 2021
Security landscape, Virtual exhibition, 2020
Terrae Motus. Geografie e storie dell’Italia fragile, Palazzo Acito, Matera, 2019
Walls of power, Rencontres Arles official program, 2019
One year, four stories, Fondazione MAST, Bologna, 2017
Land Inc., European Parliament, Bruxelles, 2017
Extraordinary visions, MAXXI, Rome, 2016
Land Inc., Cortona On The Move Festival, Cortona, 2014
Wu Ming + TerraProject = 4, Complesso delle Murate, Florence, 2013
Atlante Italiano 2007, Museo MAXXI, Rome, 2007

Publications (selection)
Bloomberg BusinessWeek, D di Repubblica, Der Spiegel, Geo France, Internazionale, Io Donna, L’Espresso, La Repubblica, Le Monde Magazine, Marie Claire, Newsweek Japan, Politico Europe, Sette, Corriere della Sera, Smithsonian Magazine, Sportweek, Sunday Times Magazine, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair

Biography
Michele Borzoni was born in 1979 in Florence, Italy. He graduated in 2006 from the International Center of Photography, New York City, in the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism Program. In the same year, he attended the Eddie Adams Workshop, Barnstorm XIX. He has received numerous awards, including the First Prize Yann Geffroy Award in 2007 for his work Srebrenica, Struggle for Justice, the New York Times Scholarship for ICP students and, in 2009, was granted the Tierney Fellowship. In 2010, he earned First Prize in People in the News Singles category at the World Press Photo Awards. In 2012, he was recognized by Photo District News as one of the PDN “30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch.” In 2020, he received the Gabriele Basilico Prize for his project Workforce.

Contacts
M: michele@terraproject.net
T: +39.328.4930815

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Awards
ISPA Award (Italian Sustainability Photo Award), 2023
Gabriele Basilico Award, 2020
Shortlisted Aperture Photo Book Award, 2017
PDN 30 under 30, New emerging photographer to watch, 2012
World Press Photo, 2010
Yann Geffroy Award, 2007

Books
Workforce, L’Artiere, 2019
Mapping the rust, Fondazione Ordine degli Architetti di Milano, 2021

Exhibitions (selection)
Civilization, the way we live now, Saachi Gallery, London, 2023
Mapping the rust, Fondazione Ordine degli architetti, Milan, 2022
Chrétiens d’Orient, 2000 ans d’histoire, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 2018
Workforce, MAST Foundation, FotoIndustria, Bologna, 2017
Parabole d’Oriente, Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, 2014
Extraordinary visions, MAXXI, Rome, 2016

Public collections
MAXXI, Rome
MUFOCO (Museo Fotografia Contemporanea), Cinisello Balsamo
Linea di Confine, Rubiera

Biography
Simone Donati (1977) was born in Florence where he lives and works. His photography primarily focuses on the Italian landscape through long-term projects that emphasize slowness and depth, alongside a documentary approach. His research centers on the relationship between the territory and its inhabitants, and in his practice he treats images as a form of awareness and memory. The photographer’s identity is evident in the unique nature of his work, which proposes a slower, more reflective approach that contrasts with the fast pace of contemporary image-making.

Contacts
M: simone@terraproject.net
T: +39.380.7328595

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Books

Varco Appennino, Witty Books, 2021
Hotel Immagine, Self-published, 2015

Exhibitions (selection)
Casentino primo studio, Festival della Fotografia Italiana, Stia, 2024
Non solo gol, Cortona on the Move Festival, Cortona, 2017
Masterworks of industrial photography, MAST, Bologna, 2016
Hotel Immagine, DOCfield, Barcelona, 2015
Circus, Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, 2015
Hotel Immagine, SiFest, Savignano sul Rubicone, 2015
Valley of Angels, Backlight festival, Tampere, 2012

Public collections
ICCD, Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione, Rome

Teaching
Fondazione Studio Marangoni, Florence
Linea School, Lecce
Accademia Italiana, Florence

Biography
Pietro Paolini, born in Florence in 1981, graduated from the Fondazione Studio Marangoni in Florence in 2005. His interest in Latin American issues began in 2004 and in 2019 he published his first book, Buscando a Bolívar, focusing on the new socialist countries of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Words like “side gaze”, “exploration”, “questioning”, “randomness”, and “complexity” are central to Paolini’s vocabulary, offering insight into his visual approach. His work is characterized by a strong presence of magical realism, in its most contemporary sense, blending a sense of temporal suspension and immobility with an analytical presentation of details. His photographs find a balance between the external world and introspection, mediating between subjectivity and the reality outside.

Contacts
M: pietro@terraproject.net
T: +39.349.1985030

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Awards
Landskrona Photobook Dummy Award, 2018
Celeste Prize, Streamers, 2016
Graziadei Award, Museo Macro, 2014
PhMuseum Grant, Honorable mention, 2014
M.Pesaresi award for Contemporary Photography, 2013
World Press Photo, Daily life 2nd prize stories, 2012
Fujifilm Choose Film Distinctions Awards, 2011
Canon Italia Young photographers award, 2009

Books
Buscando a Bolivar, Editorial RM / Landskrona Foto / Breadfield Press / Witty Kiwi, 2019

Exhibitions
Buscando a Bolivar, Galleria Nicola Pedana, Caserta, 2019
Balance on the zero, Cuizhenkuan Art Museum, Xi’An, 2017
The two halves, Benaki Museum, Athen, 2016
Collective case 11.227, Museo Macro, Rome, 2015
The two halves, Museo Macro, Rome, 2014
Bolivianas, Centre d’Art Villa Tamaris, Marseilles, 2012
NoNoise, Rencontre de Arles 2013, Arles, 2012
Bolivianas, Fondazione Marangoni Gallery, Florence, 2011
NoNoise, Ego Gallery, Lugano, 2011
Bolivianas, VISA Photo Festival 2010, Perpignan, 2010
Bolivianas, Centro Forma, Milan, 2010

Biography
Rocco Rorandelli was born in 1973, now is based in Rome. His work as a documentary photographer focuses on long-term projects that explore social, geopolitical, and environmental issues. Rocco’s photography delves into the complex relationships between global industries, human behavior, and environmental impact, and involves extensive research that leads him to engage personally in complex and emotionally charged situations. His images aim to raise awareness and stimulate reflection, often pushing the boundaries of traditional documentary photography. This approach is represented in the book Bitter Leaves, a decade-long project conducted across Europe, the USA, and Asia, documenting the impact of the tobacco industry on health, economy, and the environment, for which Rocco received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

Contacts
M: rocco@terraproject.net
T: +39.335.8149367

BlueSky
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Awards
Italian Sustainability Photo Award, 2023
Fund for Investigative Journalism, 2011

Books
Bitter Leaves, GOST Books, 2019

Campaigns
FAO, WHO, Oxfam, Save the Children, MSF, Amnesty International, WeWorld

Exhibitions (selection)
Megalopoli, River to River Festival, Florence, 2023
Blackadia, Biennal Usimages, Villers-Saint-Paul, Paris, 2023
Bitter Leaves, Riaperture Festival, Ferrara, 2022
Bitter Leaves, PhotoLux Festival, Lucca, 2021
Italian schools, Festival della Fotografia Etica, Lodi, 2019
Balkan Route, Marseille Photo Festival, Marseille, 2018
Balkan Route, European Month of Photography, Neimester, 2017