Author portraits for charity: the photographer Daniele Guidetti takes 500 faces and gives 18 thousand euros to Ageop

A photographic project worth 18 thousand euros, all donated to Ageop: the photographer Daniele Guidetti took photos of 500 people, all in black and white, to raise funds to create shelters for the families of sick children

BOLOGNA – Another charity project, two years after the previous one. The Bolognese photographer Daniele Guidetti won the new challenge, this time raising 18,000 euros in favor of Ageop, the pediatric oncology parents’ association of the Sant’Orsola Polyclinic in Bologna. As? With a photography project open to ordinary people: people could go to the photography studio, pose for a few shots alone and with friends and family, and then leave a free donation for the charity project. In recent days the photographer, who finished shooting last weekend after a trip that lasted exactly a year, opened the ‘box’ together with the Ageop managers and the total offers collected were 18 thousand euros strong>. Two years ago, again Guidetti, raised 17 thousand euros to buy an expensive medical device needed by the Gozzadini pediatric hospital of Sant’Orsola.

The two-year project, which called us ‘Blue’, ended at the end of 2021. Guidetti, despite the effort and great commitment, decided to get back into the game for a new charity project less than two years later. . “The idea came from an entrepreneur friend of mine, Nicola Bonfiglioli, who put me in contact with Ageop. At the beginning I was torn about doing it, because I knew it would be a big commitment. ThenAgeop told me he spoke about the ‘yellow houses’, which serve to welcome the families of children being treated at the Oncology of Sant’Orsola who live far away I learned that many mothers and fathers sleep in the car , not knowing what else to do. And my heart sank”, says the photographer.

READ ALSO: Thousands of photos and a gift to Gozzadini, Guidetti’s ‘tale’ succeeds

The first shots took place at the beginning of May 2023 and the last ones were taken a few days ago, Sunday 12 May. In all, 500 people posed in front of Guidetti’s lens. Doctors, entrepreneurs, lawyers. But above all, many ordinary people, families, with children, teenagers, elderly people. The photos, this time, were all strictly in black and white (Blue’s were in colour). Some VIPs also came, such as the former Bologna goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca, the Fortitudo basketball player Pietro Aradoriand the actor Pippo Santonastaso.

“This time I chose to take a higher-quality, more sophisticated portrait. I placed a single flash on the right, so as to always create a shadow on one side of the subject” . Satisfied? “Really a lot, I think I managed to give an image, for each person, of serenity and tranquility and also to capture the soul of the people, for some a look, for others a smile. There is even those who don’t smile, those who are shy, I think I got it pretty right and in this the previous experience of ‘Blue’ gave me great help: by shooting so many people, you also learn to look at a person’s face.” The photos taken are “normal natural shots, with a cut that is neither too dramatic nor too joyful: I imagined life like this. In the end the photos havea beautiful light, which reminds me of the light of photographers when I was a child, it is a somewhat dramatic and even grumpy light: the shadows sometimes help but sometimes they can also amplify the defects, however there was very little post production”. >

A book will also be released from this work, ‘Scatti di vita‘ (published by Pendragon), which will be presented on June 12th at the Country Club of Castel Maggiore at 5.30pm >: on that occasion the total collected will also be presented and explained how it will be used. The proceeds from the sale of the book will also be added to the charity fundraiser, as happened for Blue: there will be 350 photos published in the volume.

Anecdotes? “Often, when families arrived, in front you would see the mother all elegant, fresh from the hairdresser. Then the children, also elegant. Behind would appear the father, very casual, who would come in saying ‘A they forced me‘. He’s often the one who had the most fun”, says the photographer. “There were funny moments, like those of the family photos where I ask everyone to shout ‘Spaghetti!‘ together. A family, wife and husband, brought with them the dog and the fact and they in the photos with them. Some people entered shyly and then never wanted to leave. There were many people who had already come two years ago for Blue and came back. This gave me a lot of satisfaction and strength. combined with the fact that people, even the ‘new’ ones, trusted me.” All positive, in short, apart from “it was a wonderful ride, I met so many nice people, everyone came to do good and this is the most beautiful thing”. There’s no two without three. Are you thinking of a new project for the future? “For now I don’t think about it at all”, concludes Guidetti. But he said the same thing when he closed the ‘Blue’ project.