Giovanni Gastel was born in Milan on 27th December 1955 to Giuseppe Gastel and Ida Visconti di Modrone.

He had his first taste of photography in 1970s. The moment marked the start of a long apprenticeship that continued when he was offered the chance to work for Christie’s in 1975-76.

The turning point came in 1981 when he met Carla Ghiglieri, who became his agent, and introduced him to the fashion world. Following the appearance of his first still lives in the magazine Annabella in 1982, he began to work with Vogue Italia and then, following his meeting with Flavio Lucchini, the editor of Edimoda, and Gisella Borioli, for the magazines Mondo Uomo and legendary Donna.

In 1997, the Milan Triennale gave him a solo exhibition curated by Germano Celant and his professional success was consolidated a decade later when his name appeared alongside other prominent photographers like Oliviero Toscani, Giampaolo Barbieri and Ferdinando Scianna, Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, and Jürgen Teller. During his career, he served as the president of the Associazione Fotografi Professionisti and a permanent member of the Polaroid Museum of Chicago.

Professional success opens the door to another side of Gastel's photographic repertoire that had remained unexplored until the end of the 2000s: the Portrait. In recent years, Gastel has found himself passionate about this branch of photography and, as he has always done in his career, immerses himself totally in it. His work culminates in an exhibition at the Maxxi Museum in Rome in the year 2020 with a selection of 200 portraits that portray the faces of people from the world of culture, design, art, fashion, music, entertainment and politics that Gastel himself met during his 40-year career. Some of the noteworthy portraits include Barack Obama, Ettore Sottsass, Roberto Bolle, and Marco Pannella.

 Giovanni Gastel was a member of the Board of Directors of the Museum of Contemporary Photography - an institutional partner of the Triennale di Milano - and of the Board of Directors of the IEO-CCM Foundation.

On March 13, 2021, we lost Giovanni Gastel at the age of 65 to COVID-19. His legacy as a fashion photographer who pushed the boundaries of the medium and elevated both Italian photography and fashion will be remembered by generations to come.

A man of culture, poet, and photographer, Gastel pulls from his major repertoire of references such as theater, classic literature, or poetry to create elegant and poetic images that transcend time. His work is focused on the importance of memory and his goal to elevate and transcend our humanity.

The photographer was born from one of the most aristocratic families in Italy — his mother was Ida Visconti di Modrone, sister of legendary film director Luchino Visconti. Giovanni grew up in a protected world made of beautiful gardens and castles. When he came of age, he faced the reality of the world in a rather brutal way. Italy was facing one of the darkest moments of the country during the “years of Lead”  with the bombing, kidnapping. He stayed in Italy despite the risks and the targeting of wealthier families and focused on his art. Through his elegant and poetic images, like a master storyteller, he creates a world that no longer exists.

The Milan artist is most probably the most famous photographer in Italy and one of the most prestigious photographers in the world. In 1997 the Milan Triennale dedicated the first curation by Germano Celant, and in 2002, as part of the event La Kore Fashion Oscar, Giovanni Gastel received the Oscar for photography.  He was honorary President of the Associazione Fotografi Italiani Professionisti and a permanent member of the Polaroid Museum of Chicago.

Gastel had over 30 exhibitions in Europe and the most recent one The people I like, curated by Uberto Frigerio, gathered a great crowd despite the pandemic. It included over 200 portraits, mainly shot in black and white, of famous faces such as Barack Obama.

Gastel per Donna (Edimoda, Milan, 1991)

I gioielli della Fantasia (Edizioni Idea Books, Milan, 1991)

The Gastel catalogue ( Edizioni Idea Books, Milan, 1997) on the occasion of his a solo exhibition at the Triennale di Milano,

Giovanni Gastel. Masks and Ghosts ( Skira Editore, Milan, 2009) on the occasion of his a solo exhibition at Palazzo della Ragione in Milan, curated by Germano Celant

Piero Lissoni Recent Architecture (Hatje Canz 2010)

Cose Viste (Silvana Editore 2011) on the occasion of his a solo exhibition at the Galleria Giangaleazzo Visconti in Milan

Poltrona Frau, L'intelligenza delle mani (Rizzoli Editore 2012)

Look Beyond (Skira 2013)

La nobiltà del Fare (Electa 2013)

Essere Parma (Electa 2016)

Un Eterno Istante, his autobiography, (Mondadori 2015), Giovanni Gastel (Silvana Editoriale 2016) on the occasion of his a solo exhibition at Palazzo della Ragione in Milan, curated by Germano Celant 

Giovanni Gastel published over 15 volumes of photography and poetry. Among them:

2007 :

Nava Milano, Catalogo Gastel in occasione della sua personale alla Triennale di Milano del 1997, curata da Germano Celant, Genesi

2009 :

Skira, Giovanni Gastel Maschere e Spettri, da Germano Celant

Silvana Editore, Cose Viste in occasione della sua personale alla Galleria Giangaleazzo Visconti di Milano settembre 2011

2015 :

Mondadori, Un Eterno Istante. Autobiografia.

2016 :

Silvana Editoriale, 40 anni di fotografia di Giovanni Gastel a cura di Germano Celant e con progetto grafico dello studio GraphX (Studio Lissoni)

2018 :

Silvana Editoriale, Io sono una pianta rampicante- nuova raccolta di poesie

2019 :

Giampaolo Prearo Editore , The Body, 35 stampe fotografiche realizzate con stampa digitale a otto colori su carta Hahnemuhle Bright Whìte da 310 grammi.

2020 :

Skira Editore pubblica il volume The People I Like, 200 “ritratti dell’anima” del maestro fotografo alle persone che più lo hanno colpito.

1997:

Milan, Palazzo della Triennale, La fotografia velata, November, solo exhibition curated by Germano Celant

1998 :

Milan, Galleria Il Diaframma, Giovanni Gastel, solo exhibition

Milan palazzo della Triennale, A noir, curated by Franca Sozzani for Vogue Italia

2004 :

London, Harrods, Giovanni Gastel, Harrods, solo exhibition

2010 :

Milan, Palazzo della Ragione, Maschere e Spettri, September, solo exhibition curated by Germano Celant

2011 :

Milan, Studio Visconti, September, Cose viste, solo exhibition curated by Francesco Porzio

Milan, February, Fabbrica del Vapore, Rolling Stone – Le 100 facce della musica italiana

Milan, May, Triennale di Milano, ARTS & FOODS, curated by Germano Celant

2017 :

Mosca, March, The Lumierè Brothers center for photography, Canons of Beauty, solo exhibition

Milan, September, Fabbrica del Vapore, In the mood for fashion

Turin, September, Gallery Photo & Contemporary, Vintage Polaroids 1981-1997

Shanghai, Photofairs, September, Photo 12 Galerie exhibits some of his works

2018 :

Luxembourg, January, Galerie Clairefontaine Divine Ladies, solo exhibition

2021:

The people I like, Triennale Milano in collaboration with MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Art, Milan, Italy Jewels of Fantasy, Triennale Milano in collaboration with the Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Museo Teatrale alla Scala, Milan, Italy

Jewels of Fantasy, Triennale Milano in collaboration with the Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Museo Teatrale alla Scala, Milan, Italy

2023:

Icons, Noir Blanche Galerie für Fotografie, Düsseldorf, Germany