Synopsis
To photograph fashion without ever stopping at appearances. In In The Search for the Absolute, Giovanni Troilo follows Giovanni Gastel inside his Milan studio, observing what lies behind images that have become emblematic of Italian photography. The film stays close to Gastel’s working process. Photo shoots, conversations with his assistants, technical gestures and moments of transmission gradually reveal the way he constructs an image.
His career in fashion emerges as the starting point for a broader exploration of light, composition, beauty and the possibility of pushing beyond the codes imposed by commissioned work.
This search also accompanies the transformations of the medium itself. Gastel reflects on the arrival of digital photography, retouching and the new possibilities of image manipulation, which he sees less as a rupture than as an extension of a visual language already rooted in the construction and interpretation of reality. As the portrait takes shape, Giovanni Troilo reveals what seems to drive Gastel’s entire practice. A refusal to ever consider an image fully resolved, and the desire to pursue, from one photograph to the next, a form of perfection that always remains just out of reach.
What you will find in this film
Giovanni Gastel’s visual world, between fashion photography, portraiture and artistic research • An aesthetic shaped by elegance, irony and formal precision • Behind the scenes of photo shoots and advertising commissions • The way Gastel constructs an image and develops a distinctive style • A constant search for balance between aesthetic discipline and creative freedom
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Further exploration
This content is for members only.
Luca Stoppini, ed. – Giovanni Gastel. Rewind, Umberto Allemandi & C., 2026. (English / Italian) – The most comprehensive recent overview of Gastel's career, bringing together fashion, advertising, still life, portraiture and personal work.
Giovanni Gastel – The People I Like, Skira, 2020. (English / Italian) – An essential companion for understanding Gastel's approach to portraiture and the encounter between photographer and sitter.
Eugénie Shinkle – Fashion Photography: The Story in 180 Pictures, Aperture / Thames & Hudson, 2017. (English) – A concise but substantial history of fashion photography as both a commercial language and an autonomous field of visual creation.
Martin Harrison – Appearances: Fashion Photography Since 1945, Jonathan Cape, 1991. (English) – A landmark survey of postwar fashion photography, particularly useful for understanding the creative dialogue between photographers, magazines, designers and art directors.
Nancy Hall-Duncan – The History of Fashion Photography, Alpine Book Company, 1979. (English) – A foundational historical survey tracing the development of fashion photography from the nineteenth century through the 1970s.
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