Wish It Was A Coming Out

• Prize
  Bronze in Editorial/Photo Essay, Silver in People/Family
• Photographer
  Melissa Ianniello
• Photo Date
  2018-2019
• Website
  https://melissaianniello.com/

Wish it Was a Coming Out is an ongoing long-term project with which I wish to explore the double taboo represented by the link between homosexuality and old age in Italy, starting from my lesbianism. I began exploring the life experiences of a group of gays and lesbians between sixty and ninety years old. I photographed these people as couples or alone, in their own homes, in scenes of true intimacy. In this way, I am trying to provide insight into the lives of gay and lesbian people in Italy today who experience that contradictory and fascinating phase of life linked to ageing.

• Biography
  Melissa Ianniello (Naples, 1991) is a documentary photographer based in Bologna, Italy. After graduating in Philosophy, she pursued her photography training, which was mostly self-taught, through periods of study in Bologna and New York, with photographers such as Michael Ackerman, Erica McDonald, Carolyn Drake and Davide Monteleone. Her artistic research is based on two main subjects: the role of the individual in the modern-day metropolis, and themes related to gender and sexuality. Her photographs have been featured on several magazines and her work has been awarded in Italy and abroad.
• Awards
  Awards 2020 – Helsinki Photo Festival, winner 2020 – FMoPA's 10th Annual International Photography Competition, 2nd place in the category Documentation/Photojournalism 2020 – Italy Photo Award, finalist 2020 – Biennale della Fotografia Femminile, Best Portfolio Prize, winner 2018 – Gran Premio Lumix Portfolio Italia Award, finalist 2018 – Voglino Prize, finalist 2018 – SI FEST Lanfranco Colombo Prize, 1st place 2018 – Marco Pesaresi Award, finalist 2017 – CHEAP Street Poster Art Festival, selected 2016 – Photo Vogue Festival, Portfolio Review, selected 2014 – CHEAP Street Poster Art Festival, selected Solo Exhibitions 2019 – Wish it Was a Coming Out, SI FEST Savignano Immagini (Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy) Group Exhibitions 2020 – Wish it Was a Coming Out, Helsinki Photo Festival (Helsinki, Finland) 2020 – FMoPA's 10th Annual International Photography Competition (Tampa – Florida, USA) 2018 – Wish it Was a Coming Out, Centro Italiano della Fotografia d'Autore (Bibbiena, Italy) 2017 – #Disorder, CHEAP Street Poster Art Festival (Bologna, Italy) 2014 – #Green, CHEAP Street Poster Art Festival (Bologna, Italy) Training 2018 – International Master in Documentary Photography with Davide Monteleone, Spazio Labo' Photography, Bologna (Italy) 2014 – PWNY 2014, “Discovery Street”, New York (USA), with Landon Nordeman 2014 – PWNY 2014, “The Open City”, New York (USA), with Carolyn Drake & Andres Gonzalez 2014 – PWNY 2014, “The Other Story”, New York (USA), with Erica McDonald 2014 – “Being Involved”, Bologna (Italy) with Michael Ackerman 2014 – “Fotogiornalismo di news e attualità”, Bologna (Italy), with Alessandro Tosatto Education 2013 – BA in Philosophy, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (Italy)