Antonio Denti, Italy
Antonio Denti is an award-winning news cameraman with a passion for still photography, born in Catania, Sicily, in 1972. Since 1998, he has worked for Reuters, covering significant global events from conflicts to humanitarian crises. His work has earned numerous awards and been exhibited internationally, reflecting his belief in the power of visual storytelling to promote authentic and meaningful journalism.
The Sea at the Centre
Making peace with the sea, which many of them associate with traumatic memories. That is the aim of an initiative near Rome, where female migrants from Africa, together with their children born in Italy, are encouraged to overcome their fear of water. For them, the Mediterranean was a life-threatening element when they had to cross it in flimsy boats – a sort of second desert following their journey through the North African drought. And all too often, a deadly barrier between their homeland and their dream destination in Europe.
The Italian documentary filmmaker and photographer Antonio Denti has accompanied migrants on this journey and has now, in some cases years later, followed them from their homes to the beach and out into the depths as they strive to overcome their fear of the water and no longer perceive the sea as an enemy.
In doing so, he has captured moments of relaxation, enjoyment and daring, as well as those that still seem as though the fear has not yet vanished or been overcome.
For Denti, born in Catania, Sicily, in 1972, it is a modern odyssey, one he witnessed during their adventurous journey across the sea. Yet it is an epic without a poet – pure reality. Respect for the people he photographs is a key concept for him. After all, he is an intruder into the lives of others, and so he must at least try, for a few moments, to sense what they themselves are feeling. Photography must be an expression of humanity, he says.
Denti initially studied anthropology at the University of London, delving into the science of human coexistence before he began observing this life through his camera. Or rather: taking part in it directly. He worked for the Reuters news agency in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and Gaza. He also covered the start of the ‘Arab Spring’ in Tunisia, natural disasters and contemporary migration flows, and accompanied the Pope on his travels. Denti’s work has already been exhibited internationally on numerous occasions and has received many awards.
(Laudatio by Peter-Matthias Gaede)