BIO
Eleonora Calvelli is a photographer working on independent long-form projects. Her practice has a research-based approach, focusing on social and cultural issues. After studying Foreign Language and Literature and graduating with a degree in Russian Studies at La Sapienza University in Rome, she obtained a postgraduate diploma in Communications and Journalism at La Sapienza University, and she worked as a contract professor in New Media before devoting herself to Photography. She has published two monographs, including: “Making love to G. is gonna be like the first time I tried cheeseburger” (Self-published, 2023), “In Bloom” (Postcart, 2013).
IN COLLECTIONS AND LIBRARIES
Museum of Avant-garde contemporary permanent collection, Mendrisio, Switzerland
Biblioteca Esquerra de l'Eixample - Agustí Centelles - Fons Eloi Gimeno, Spain
CIFA - Centro Italiano della Fotografia D'Autore, Italy
Photobook Library, Belfast Photo Festival, UK
AWARDS, SELECTIONS
Finalist, Photo Frome Photobook Awards, UK, 2025
Finalist, Off The Wall Award, Italy, 2025
Shortlist, Getxofoto Open Call, Spain, 2025
Finalist, Fotofabbrica prize, Festival DiecixDieci, Italy, 2024
Finalist, Eloi Gimeno Prize, Spain, 2024
Finalist, Graciela Iturbide MA-g Awards for Photography, Switzerland, 2024
Winner, Premio Marco Bastianelli, IT, 2024
Winner, Premio Editoriale Mariæ Nivis 1567, Festival della Fotografia Italiana, IT, 2024
Winner, Belfast Photo Festival Open Submission, 2024
Finalist, PHotoESPAÑA, Premio al mejor libro de fotografía del año, 2024
Finalist, Nobuyoshi Araki MA-g Awards for photography, 2023
Winner, 1st Place, Professional Book, Self-Published, International Photography, 2023
Winner, Open Call, Rotlicht Festival for Analog Photography, 2023
Finalist, Encontros da Imagem Photobook Award, 2023
Shortlist, Belfast Photo Festival, 2022
Selected, Open Call, Noorderlicht International Photo Festival, 2021
BOOK SHOW
Photo Frome Library, UK, 2025
Homenatge a Eloi Gimeno, Biblioteca Esquerra de l'Eixample - Augustí Centelles, Barcelona, 2024
Collective Display, Athens Art Book Fair, 2024
Premio Marco Bastianelli, Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Roma, 2024
Premio Editoriale Mariæ Nivis 1567, Festival della Fotografia Italiana, Bibbiena, IT, 2024
Belfast Photo Festival, 2024
PHotoEspagna, Premio al mejor libro de fotografía del año, Madrid, 2024
Encontros da Imagem Photobook Award, Galeria da Estação, Braga, PL, 2023
Italia Happening, Salon für Kunstbuch, Wien, Austria, 2015
Milan Image Art Fair, Milan, Italy, 2014
Little Big Press, Lishui International Photography Festival, China 2013
Little Big Press, Documentaria, Bari, Italy, 2013
EXHIBITIONS
Making love to G. is gonna be like the first time I tried a cheeseburger, MIA Photo Fair - Off-The-Wall-Award, curated by Erik Kessels, Milan, Italy, 2025
Making love to G. is gonna be like the first time I tried a cheeseburger, Rotlicht Festival for Analog Photography, Vien, Austria, 2023
Making love to G. is gonna be like the first time I tried a cheeseburger, Noorderlicht International Photo Festival, Groningen, Netherlands, 2021
In Bloom, Riaperture Festival, Ferrara, Italy, 2021
In Bloom, Castelnuovo Fotografia, Italy, 2016
In Bloom, Fotografia Europea/Off, Reggio Emilia, Italy, 2014
In Bloom, SiFest #23, Savignano, Italy, 2014
Confotografia, SiFest #23, Savignano, Italy, 2014
In Bloom, Lector in fabula, Conversano, Italy, 2013
Gender Utopia, Casa del Cinema, Rome, Italy, 2012
Rainbow Families, Festival Occhi Rossi, Rome, Italy, 2011
LGBT Families in Europe, Berne, Switzerland, 2011
Rainbow Families, Fotoleggendo, Rome, Italy, 2010
Rainbow Families, Napoli Pride, Naples, Italy, 2010
Olympic Village, IX International Festival of Rome, Italy, 2010
LGBT Families in Europe, Espace Reuilly, Paris, France, 2010
In Between - 60 Hours in Rome, FNAC Galleries; Milan, Rome, Turin, Italy, 2010
La memoria dei viaggi, Palazzo Valentini, Rome, Italy, 2009
Just Around The Corner, Capalbio Photo, Italy, 2009
Pastori, Villa Glori Project Room, Rome, Italy, 2008
The Via Francigena, VII International Festival of Rome, Ex Gil, Rome, Italy, 2008
The Via Francigena, Pingyao International Photography Festival, China, 2008 FAIRS
Set Up Art Fair, Bologna, Italy, 2015
Photissima Art Fair, Venezia, Italy, 2013
Affordable Art Fair, Macro Testaccio, Rome, Italy, 2012
PHOTO SCREENINGS
Chobi Mela VIII, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2015
Milan Image Art Fair, Milan, Italy, 2014
Shades Of Women, Teatro Due, Rome, Italy, 2012
Love Revolution, Foiano Fotografia, Foiano, Italy, 2012
Gelato! Art Salon, NooSphere Arts, New York, 2012
Festival Occhi Rossi, Rome, Italy, 2011
Gelato! Art Salon, ST Senza Titolo, Rome, Italy, 2010
Lucca Digital Photo Festival, Teatro del Giglio, 2010
Rainbow Families, Regione Liguria, Genoa, Italy, 2009
In Between, VIII International Festival of Rome, Italy, 2009
MONOGRAPHS
Making love to G is gonna be like the first time I tried a cheeseburger, self-published, 2023. ISBN 9791221021349
In Bloom, Postcart, 2013. ISBN 978-8898391066
COLLECTIVE BOOKS
Villaggio Olimpico Roma, Various Artists, Postcart, 2010. ISBN 978-8886795456
Pastori, Various Artists, Punctum, 2009. ISBN 978-8895410173
Il cammino della via Francigena, Various Artists, Zone Attive, 2008. ISBN 978-8889303061
MAGAZINES
OjodePez #29 Chicas/Girls, La Fabrica Editions, 2012
EXHIBITION CATALOGUES
Futurspectives, Postcart, 2010
Fotoleggendo, Postcart, 2010
XIII Premio Internazionale Massenzio Arte, Massenzio Arte, 2009
Just around the corner, Punctum, 2009
Pingyao International Photography Festival, China 2008
FANZINES
0_100_09 – Riot Issue, Fanzine, 0_100 Editions, 2012
SELECTED ONLINE FEATURES
Square Magazine SP01, Rainbow Families, 2011
Information.dk, Rainbow Families, 2011
OTHERS RECOGNITIONS
Honorable Mention, IPA, Book, Documentary, 2014
Honorable Mention, IPA, Deeper Perspective, 2014
Honorable Mention, IPA, Book, People, 2014
Honorable Mention, IPA, People, Family
Honorable Mention, IPA, Event, Social Cause
Honorable Mention, IPA, People, Family Pro, 2010
Honorable Mention, IPA, Architecture, Interiors Pro, 2010
Finalist, Lucca Photo Contest, 2009
Finalist, Massenzio Arte Prize, 2009
EDUCATION
Roman School of Photography and Cinema, Rome Italy, 2005
Master in Communication and Journalism, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy, 1999
Master of Arts in Russian Studies, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy, 1998
TEACHING
2001 - 2011, New Media, Link Campus University of Malta, Rome, Italy
STATEMENT
Photography is my point of departure, field of expertise, and the expressive medium through which I choose to question the world. Photography is, for me, both a language and a medium: a system of signs capable of structuring perception and a cultural device that mediates, constructs, and reflects reality.
My work situates itself in a space of observation and analysis, oriented toward bringing social structures and dynamics to light without asserting definitive or explanatory conclusions. In the early stages of my practice, I focused on defined social microcosms—such as shepherds, cloistered nuns, and rainbow families—that each represent, in their way, symbolic forms of organization within the broader society. More recently, my interest has shifted toward the media, understood as sites for constructing and refracting contemporary identity. I am particularly drawn to the blurred boundary between reality and fiction and how mediated images shape and return a constructed version of the world.
I prefer to work with film and darkroom printing, especially when engaging with personal archives, and I consider the photobook the most coherent and complete form for presenting a project. Theoretical research is a fundamental part of my creative process: my academic background in linguistics and the humanities informs my work and draws on references ranging from structuralist linguistics (Saussure, Jakobson) to structural anthropology (Lévi-Strauss), from the critical theory of the Frankfurt School to Walter Benjamin, and to postmodern reflections on mass culture, trash, camp, and kitsch.
My approach is grounded in a documentary visual practice that resists normative frameworks: I conceive of photography as an open-ended tool of investigation, allowing layers, ambiguities, and often-overlooked visual mechanisms to emerge. I do not aim to provide answers but rather to pose questions. I prefer the images to carry the discourse.