ABOUT | photographs

Camila Girardelli’s photographic practice explores the intersection of classical art history, cultural memory, and the construction of contemporary identity. Grounded in staged photography, set design, and the precision of Renaissance and Baroque lighting, her work transforms the image space into a territory of psychological and social inquiry.

The child figure emerges at the core of this research as a critical lens: at times an active agent confronting and disrupting inherited structures; at others, a contemplative presence absorbing the weight of memory and familial transmission. Through the deliberate use of anachronism and the tension between painterly solemnity and modern visual culture, her work questions how we internalise authority, desire, and belonging.

BIOGRAPHY

Camila Girardelli is a French-Brazilian photographer based in France. Graduated in Visual Arts in Sao Paulo, she continued her studies at Central Saint Martins in London and the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York.

Her practice is informed by an early trajectory between Brazil and New York, where experience in production, set design, and photo retouching refined her mastery of light and visual staging. During this period, she contributed to key projects in cinema and photography, notably serving as still photographer for Vik Muniz on the Academy AWARD–NOMINATED documentary Waste Land (2010), while also gaining set experience alongside figures such as Jørgen Leth and Ellen von Unwerth.

This foundation in constructed imagery shapes her broader body of work, recently recognized through her current research, Tender Excess. The work was shortlisted for the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize (National Portrait Gallery, London), named a finalist at the Siena International Photo Award, and nominated at the Fine Art Photography Awards (FAPA). Her photographs are also held in private gallery collections, including Amy Simon Fine Art in the United States.

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Camila currently lives and works in Lyon, France.