Paolo Roversi

This is the story in pictures of a dimension of living that differs from every other. While there have been attempts to create a philosophy of interior design, there has rarely been an effort to discover the soul of furniture and objects. That is what Paolo Roversi has tried to do with his camera in these pages, which are devoted to Poliform, the Italian company that has successfully transformed ancient Italian artisanal traditions into contemporary furniture. By using what have always been his raw materials time, light, space Roversi leads us on a photographic journey to the middle of the Poliform universe, helping us to relive the company s story and capture the mysterious, unmistakable soul that makes the surfaces and volumes of its objects vibrate.

Developed and designed in close collaboration with Paolo Roversi himself, this definitive monograph surveys the last fifty years of the photographer's distinctive output. Arriving in Paris from Ravenna in 1973, Paolo Roversi produced his first series of photographs in 1977, which were immediately picked up by the fashion press. From then on, he devoted himself to fashion photography, working for the greatest designers and for the most prestigious magazines, simultaneously occupying a position both at the heart of the fashion world and far from its ephemeral trends. Ultimately in search of pure beauty, he formulates timeless and mysterious work, which is defined by his choice of studio and use of large format and Polaroid cameras. At the heart of his photography are his dedicated relationships with fashion designers and models, most famously with Yohji Yamamoto, as well as Romeo Gigli, Rei Kawakubo and Dior, and these fruitful collaborations have allowed Roversi to continuously challenge and renew his practice. Conceived and designed in close collaboration with the photographer, and drawing on his archives, this book features many original prints, including some that have never been seen before. Spanning the entirety of Roversi’s career, it explores his approach to his creative space and the way he treats it like a theatre stage, constantly reinventing it to suit each new collaboration.