The walls of the popular four-star Lungarno Collection hotel, Gallery Hotel Art, are lined with glamorous and ironic portraits of world-famous celebrities. They all hail from photographer Alan Gelati’s My Lights & Shadows collection, which is being presented for the first time in Italy.
A favourite on Florence’s hotel scene, Gallery Hotel Art has reopened after a two-year pandemic pause and it’s back with a tongue-in-cheek show.
“Most of the photographs I’ve taken were born out of mistakes, which became a style in itself,” Gelati explained at the press preview before providing insight into his experience of photographing in Russia. The result of this shoot can be viewed in Swimming Wear in Moscow (2009), a dramatic image of a girl laying on the parapet of a bridge as a police officer approaches with a face like thunder.
In the hotel lobby, Plastic steals the show in a cutting-edge depiction of gender fluidity named after the historic nightclub in Milan, while the lounge sees sensual images of the female body caressed by geometrical lines and a portrait of Michael Buble in which the brim of his hat prevents the viewer from seeing the singer’s eyes.
The photographer offers an authentic yet fascinating look, pervaded by an intense allure of glamor. Each image is a result of the empathy created between him and his subject.
Born in Milan, Alan Gelati has been published in prestigious magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Italian Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times and more. Leading lights such as Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Francis Ford Coppola, Eva Herzigova, Janet Jackson, Yasmin and Amber Le Bon, and Anya Taylor Joy are just a handful of the stars who Gelati has immortalized during his prolific artistic career.
