Franco Pagetti is an Italian photographer, renowned for his depictions of war in regions such as Afghanistan, Kosovo, East Timor, Syria and Iraq. Pagetti’s lens has captured not only scenes of suffering, but also glimpses of hope and humanity that arise at the same time.
His detail-oriented, documentarian visual style expresses itself best not just while embedded with the military, but in the city streets and homes of those living with and affected by war. Filled with empathy and an understanding of local culture, his images pose beauty with brutality, idealism and realism, and tragedy with bravery to form a captivating, haunting portfolio of human conflict.
Pagetti studied chemistry at the Università degli Studi di Milano before a chance meeting with architectural photographer Carla de Bendetti posed a change of course. He became her assistant and honed his craft under her guidance. He then assisted on fashion shoots in Milan, Paris and New York, before shooting fashion stories himself.
Most recently, Pagetti has made a return to fashion photography, while still embracing his trademark reportage approach. His recognizable images for Dolce & Gabbana’s Fall 2016 advertising campaign on the streets of Naples showcase the city’s people as much as the models themselves.
Pagetti is based in Milan, Italy. His work has been exhibited in numerous venues in the United States of America and Europe, and his prints are held in both public and private collections. He has worked on assignment for Newsweek, New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Sunday Times, Vogue (US) and W magazine. He is also a member of Agency VII.