Verbania Photo Festival

The first edition of the Verbania Photo Festival took place from May 8 to 31, 2025, between the Museo del Paesaggio and the Centro Eventi Il Maggiore in Pallanza. Curated by photographer Jill Mathis, it featured a group show with great names of international photography: Luigi Ghirri, Helmut Newton, Horst P. Horst, Gabriele Basilico, Massimo Vitali, Olivier Christinat, Joel Peter Witkin, and Franco Fontana, as well as a solo exhibition by Bulgarian artist Ellie Ivanova.

The program included Saturday morning conferences with speakers such as Fabio Castelli, Beatrice Fellegara, and Francesca Pola, afternoon courses on Camera Raw, Photoshop, and Fine Art Printing held by Sandro Comizzoli, cyanotype workshops, and numerous photographic showcases spread throughout the shops and bookstores of Verbania's center.

Exhibitions — Museo del Paesaggio (May 8-31)

• Group Show: Luigi Ghirri, Helmut Newton, Horst P. Horst, Gabriele Basilico, Massimo Vitali, Olivier Christinat, Joel Peter Witkin, Franco Fontana;
• Solo exhibition by Ellie Ivanova (Conference Room).

Conferences (Saturday, 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM)

• May 10 — Fabio Castelli, "The Art of Collecting Photography";
• May 17 — Beatrice Fellegara, "Is Photography Art?";
• May 24 — Francesca Pola and Chiara Borgonovo, "Contemporary Perspectives between Photography, Art, and New Media";
• May 31 — Luigi Giordano, "The Role of Collectors".

Courses (Saturday afternoon) and workshops

• Courses by Sandro Comizzoli: Camera Raw, Photoshop, Fine Art Printing;
• Cyanotype workshop with Ellie Ivanova (May 11 and 18).

The group exhibition featuring great international masters of photography (Ghirri, Newton, Basilico, Fontana, Vitali) at the Museo del Paesaggio and the curation by Jill Mathis.