Architectures, cities and visions. by Gabriele Basilico [5 Books]

Gabriele Basilico (b.1944-2013) is one of the most important Italian photographers. Coming from the long-established tradition of landscape art, his is an idiosyncratic representation of architecture and landscape. His photographs of cityscapes, residential buildings and factories seem to deny the presence of the artist and ask viewers to form their own conclusions about relationships between structures, and between structures and landscape.

Stripping bare the urban context of any human activity, his work transcends mere instances and seeks to reveal the very essence of place and of our relationship with it. Basilico is one of the best-known 'documentary' photographers in Europe, he eschews the traditional picturesque forms of landscape imagery and turns his attention instead to the city and the industralized landscape photographed in black and white and with a precision and clarity that is almost alarming. An architect by training, his camera imposes discipline on the buildings it focuses on - he banishes human life to reveal the life of the building itself.

Basilico travels extensively and in-depth, often working with government bodies to catalogue the appearance of the urban landscape for posterity. Basilico travelled to Berlin in 1990, where he documented the gradual demolition of the Berlin Wall. In 1991 he worked in Beirut, capturing the life and remnants of a city after years of war had taken its toll. His work is a unique pictorial record of a particular time, he avoids romanticism yet manages to reveal the hidden rhythm and life of the modern urban environment.