Aldo Graziati

Aldo Graziati (G.R. Aldo) was born in 1905 in Scorzè, a small town in the province of Venice. During his high school years he developed an urge to travel and discover new ways of life. In 1923 he went to Paris, where he entered the world of entertainment and cinema. He initially worked as an assistant in photographic studios and later as a portrait photographer. By now known as Aldò, by the end of the thirties he had refined his aesthetic sensibility by reading art books and visiting exhibitions. During this period his admiration for Caravaggio had grown. He imitated the artist’s use of single-source lighting to create strongly contrasted images with a highly dramatic visual impact. On his return to Italy, Aldò worked as director of photography with leading film directors. He died in 1953 in a car accident while working on Visconti’s film “Senso”. —italica.rai.it