Discover on this page the Finalists of the Driving Energy Award 2023 selected by the Jury. Their works will be exhibited at Palazzo Esposizioni Roma from 24 September to 12 October in the free access exhibition. The five winners will be announced on 24 September.
Alberto Bennati writes, shoots, takes things apart, and puts them back together. He thinks with images and switches from images to texts and the other way around, unflinchingly. A careful recorder of society's changes, he lays them bare and strips them down, to reveal their most sensitive and imaginative part behind every intention, every gesture, every action.
She was born in 2001 in Rome. In 2023, she completed her Photography studies at the IED in Rome, and on the same year, she was one of the finalists at the Ragusa Foto Festival. Her dissertation was published on the Espresso Magazine. She is currently studying History of Arts at La Sapienza University.
Visual artist, 1984. Her photographic research explores alchemical material transformation processes and psychology-related connections. Winner of the S. Fedele Visual Art Award in 2018, her works have been displayed and regarded at several international awards, and are featured in public and private collections, including BnF.
Alex Rabitti (Scandiano, 1991) has a Degree in Product Design, and is a Photography student in Modena. In his research, he explores cities and places of culture, encompassing the fragments of his day-to-day life that reflect his inner state. Photography is a way to know and analyse himself, in a suspended journey between dream and reality.
Alìta (Rita Santanatoglia) lives in the Marche Region. An Academy of Fine Arts Graduate, she is an active photographer in Italy and abroad, and has taken part in many collective and personal exhibits. Her publications include “Alìta, Microstorie”, a catalogue by Simona Guerra, edited by Piktart, 2022, Senigallia.
The ANaCarDia Common was founded in the Pigneto district (Rome), through imperfect meetings at a coffee shop table, in 2022. It is an abstract identity, present in crumbles in every 'normal' brain, and in enormous quantities in every 'weird' mind. Nobody can say they are not familiar with it. Inspired by an aesthetic idea of grotesque, it works along several artistic realms.
Rome, 1959. Author and TV director, he made films and photo shoots for leading public and private cultural institutions. In 2020, the Galleria Nazionale di Roma entrusted him with the photo report "Roma città chiusa". His works were featured at the Musei Civici di Pesaro, at Fondazione Pastificio Cerere di Roma, and at the Mudima in Milan.
Born in Eboli, Salerno, he lives and works there. He holds a Degree in Languages, Culture and Institutions of Mediterranean Countries, with a specialization in Visual Arts and Performances (University of Naples). He has been a professional photographer for over 10 years, in the communications and advertising sector. He has always followed his own personal aesthetics.
Born in Brescia in 1995 and passionate about photography since his teenage years, he dropped everything in 2022 to pursue photographic reportage, and focuses his shots on humanitarian and environmental crises.
His photography documents personal conditions, shown in a context where the environment is just as important as human figures. He received many international awards, such as the 1st prize in the "Portrait Stories" section of the World Press Photo Contest in 2009.
I live in San Salvo, a small town in Abruzzo, and during the year I am a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino. My work focuses on dreams, memories and the subconscious, and I convey it through painting, photography and animation, by combining digital and analogue forms of expression.
After studying painting in High School, cinema at the DAMS, and photography at the Fondazione Studio Marangoni, these three means of expression have become an integral part of his research, developed in Rome, where he moved to work in the arts field. Since 2019, his works have been featured in many exhibits, from Palazzo Pucci in Florence, to Museo Riso in Palermo.
Diego Costantini [1996], lives and works as a Graphic Designer. He graduated in Product Design at ISIA in 2022. Through photography, he conducts researches on territory and identity, drawing his inspiration from contemporary art in his native land, Abruzzo.
Freelance photographers based in Rome, they specialize in interior design and documentary photography, and they are co-founders of the DI-STANZE Photographic Studio. Together, they focus on documentary projects concerning social topics, or on the analysis of sociological and historical phenomena.
Born in 1974, he studied at the Scuola Romana di Fotografia. By observing nature and abandoned man-made places, he developed his research on the dialectic between man's presence/absence. In 2018, one of his projects - "Erranza" - was featured at the Pastificio Cerere, in Rome.
Benevento, 2000, she attended the Photography and Audiovisual Media Course at the RUFA. Her focus ranges from introspective analysis to fashion and reportage, using photography as a way to explore habits and costumes of different ethnographic realities. Her works have been featured in exhibits at Labirinti, Trastevere, and Fondamenta Gallery, Rome.
Born in the province of Milan, he is an Electric Engineer student at the University of Pavia. Despite not being a professional photographer, he put himself to the test, to prove that you don't need to be a professional to channel art in life.
Francesco Napolitano was born in San Paolo Belsito, Naples, on 16 February 1978. In 2005, he graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples. Over the years, he took part in several photographic contests, and in 2014 he won the Talent Prize. He currently works as a graphic designer in the fashion sector.
Giovanni Sambo (Venice, 1995) works with photography and video-making. A Design Graduate at the Polytechnic University of Turin, he studied Documentary Filming in Milan. In 2023, with his brother Daniele, he ranked first at the Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa Award for Young Artists. He currently lives and works in Venice.
Ilaria Corradetti (San Benedetto del Tronto, 1995) has a high school degree in Painting. After graduating in Multimedia Communication and specializing in Photography, she started working in a photography study, and she experiments through different media, to discover herself and the world, through new means and techniques.
Born in Rimini, this freelancing photo-reporter works for several leading Italian and international magazines. She focuses on contemporary history during crises and conflicts. She believes that photography can fulfil its purpose when it becomes the voice and eyes of an otherwise invisible community. Her work is featured in many important public collections.
Born in Brazil, she lives and works in Rome. She is an artist, photographer and researcher. She holds a Degree in Visual Arts and a PhD in Social Anthropology, where she focused on female artists. She has 15 years of experience as a photographer, during which she worked for several photo studies and as freelancer in Porto Alegre.
She started working as darkroom assistant when she was 20, in Boston. She does artistic and documentary photography, and uses it to expresses herself in a unique way, and tell wordless stories. She has been appointed Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy, for promoting Italian art abroad.
Born in Biella on 1997, he is a visual artist. In his research, he strives to investigate contemporary existence in relation to its surrounding elements, in a constant "conceptual-perceptive" poetic tension, conjuring delicate suggestions to treat topics that go well beyond the surface.
Natural Sciences graduate, he worked for many years for the University of Parma. Since 2004, his works has been featured in art festivals, public institutions and galleries. Some of his shots are part of public and private collections, such as Musée Réattu in Arles, BNL BNP Paribas Collection, and many others.
Born in Forlì in 2000, he is a Stylist Engineering graduate at the ISSAM, Modena. His interest for photography is self-promoted, and he trains by attending courses, workshops, and by working as assistant for artist-photographer Silvia Camporesi in several projects, and curating her artistic archive.
Luciano Romano (1958) explores the topics linked to sign perception through his images. His works have been exhibited at the 10th Biennial of Architecture (Venice), at Fotografia Europea, at the PhotoBiennial of Moscow, and he is one of the winners of Atlante Italiano 003 and Strategia Fotografia 2022. His shots are featured in collections at the MAXXI, ICCD, MADRE, and Rauschenberg Foundation (New York).
I have loved photography for the longest time. My passion was born about 40 years ago, and I started with a traditional camera, before switching to a digital model. What I love about photos is that they can capture a moment and stop time from running too fast. I have studied and I will continue to do so, because there is always so much to learn.
Marcello Francone (1959) has studied graphics and photography at the ISA, Monza, and then went on to work for over 40 years with leading editors, such as Electa and Skira. He has been a professor at the Accademia di Comunicazione in Milan, and a visiting professor at the Milan Bovisa Polytechnic University. He currently teaches Editorial Graphic Design at the International Design Institute Raffles in Milan.
Marco Filipazzi attended the Scuole Civiche di Cinema in Milan, and works for the silenzioinsala.com website. Francesca Villani attended the Ceramic Art School in Faenza, and works at an artisan workshop. They are both passionate about photography, and about urbex and funerary art in particular.
Born in 2001 in Acquaviva delle Fonti, Bari, in 2023 he graduated in Photography (IED, Rome). He is currently attending a Master's Degree in Photography (lSIA, Urbino). His research starts from everyday landscapes and investigates on the link between place and identity. He is focused on territorial changes and on the relationship with mankind.
Nicola Bertellotti (1976) travels the world to rediscover the former glory of forgotten places. His works have been featured in galleries and museums in Italy and abroad. In 2022, he won the Gold Plate for Photography at the Arts Awards. He published two books: Fenomenologia della fine (2014) and In Absentia (2022).
He mainly experiments with analogue photography and printing techniques. His research is focused on the thin line between natural and anthropic landscapes, through a constant introspective practice. His works have been published and featured in many independent international editorial projects.
A self-taught photographer, he discovered visual arts in 2007. Attracted by modern street photography and fascinated by urban geometry, he analyses the conceptual component, by addressing his research toward methods and tools that allow him to get the best out of both categories.
After graduating in Theory and Practice of Contemporary Artistic Languages at the 'Carrara' Academy of Fine Arts in Bergamo, she is completing the two-year course in Photography at the Brera Academy. She explores the natural world through photography, to access spaces at the edge of sensory perception, thus revealing a varying and enigmatic dimension in human and animal experience.
Silvia Camporesi, a Philosophy Graduate, exploits the language of photography and video-making. Her recent research has prominently explored various locations throughout Italy. Her works are featured in public and private collections, such as: MAXXI, Rome; Farnesina Collection, Rome; ICCD, Rome; MART, Rovereto, BNL Milan.
This artwork restorer turned visual artist links photography to manual embossing, photo editing technologies, 3D and generative AI. She has been among the finalists in leading national awards, and her works are featured in national and international galleries.
Stefania Rössl is an architect, professor of Architectural and Urban Composition at the University of Bologna, curator and photographer. She coordinates research projects in Italy and India, through photography. Artistic Director of the SIFest (2009-14), in 2016 she founded OMNE, an inter-institutional photography centre.
Tommaso Bonaventura engages in long-term researches and projects using photography and writing. His works have been published at international level, and his awards include the World Press Photo and the Sony World Photography Award. His shots have been featured in leading galleries, festivals and museums.
Born in Taranto, he studied photography at the ISFCI in Rome, where he graduated with a Master's Degree in Documentary Photography. His works focus on social, environmental and human rights matters. He works for national and international magazines.
