Franco Fontana, Italian Pioneer of Color Photography, Dies at 92

Franco Fontana passes away at the age of 92 (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Franco Fontana, an Italian photographer famous for turning landscapes into abstract images through the masterful use of colour, geometry and shadows, has died at the age of 92, Italian media reported on Saturday. Starting his career in the 1960s, when black and white still dominated fine art photography, Fontana was a pioneer of colour, influenced by abstract expressionism and minimalism. Some of his best-known pictures — showing southern Italian beaches or countryside in stark, bright colours, sometimes featuring a single tree, cloud or human shadow — evoked the work of abstract painter Mark Rothko. “I believe that (photography) should not document reality, but interpret it,” he said in a statement for his 2014 “Full Color” exhibition. Fontana was also celebrated for his urban landscapes, both in Italy and the United States, which typically played with stark lines, shadows, and details of parked cars, and for his nude photography. Born in Modena, northern Italy, on Dec 9, 1933, Fontana never left his hometown, turning down an offer to move to New York while working for Vogue America.This is based on a Reuters report.