Under the guidance of Witty Books publisher Tommaso Parrillo, designer Giulia Boccarossa and PhMuseum curator Rocco Venezia, a group of photographers will be followed through the advanced phase of their projects with the goal of concluding the work and having it ready for publishing. At the end of the 6-month masterclass, all participants will be ready to present their work to an international audience in the form of a dummy or a photobook. Furthermore, Witty Books will select one of the participants’ work to be published as a 500-edition photobook as part of its catalogue. Production will be fully financed by Witty Books, with a contribution from the PhMuseum. The program will be conducted online, with one final gathering at PhMuseum Days International Photography Festival (Italy) where photobooks and dummies will be shown. To apply, simply fill in the form with your personal details, insert a link to your project and submit for free. If your application is successful, we will notify you and you will then be able to Enroll in the Program.
During 6 online 3.5-hour group classes Tommaso Parrillo, Giulia Boccarossa and Rocco Venezia will give you a general grounding in the contemporary photobook world, editing strategies and design techniques to develop your project into a photobook.
With these 2 online 60-min individual sessions you will have the time to engage in specific discussions aimed at working on your ideas and improving your method.
To grant you further insight we have also organized 5 interactive studio visits’ with guest artists, curators and gallerists to let you know about their practice and get a better understanding of their approach and role in the photography industry. More info soon.
At the end of the program, all the dummies produced by the participants will be presented and displayed at PhMuseum Days. Witty Books will select one work to be published in the form of a book. All participants will still benefit from dissemination opportunities through PhMuseum editorial initiatives and its network.
Tommaso Parrillo is an Italian publisher and founder of Witty Books, a publishing house founded with the name of Witty Kiwi in 2012, that aims to promote photography and visual arts. Since 2016 he is also co-founder of JEST, an independent space dedicated to enhancing culture and photography in Turin. He also teaches photography in institutions as IED Torino, private school and workshops.
Giulia Boccarossa (b. Pesaro, 1995) is an independent graphic designer and art director specializing in photography and art books based in Milan. She graduated from the faculty of Industrial Design at the UNIRSM-IUAV University of San Marino. Then she achieved a Master's Degree in Communication and Design for Publishing at ISIA in Urbino with a thesis entitled "Designer's role in the photo publishing industry: graphic designer's influence on the Italian photobook". Her projects obtained recognitions including the HISTORICAL BOOK AWARD 2020 by Les Rencontres d’Arles (winner), the ADI Index Catalog 2020 (finalist), the Marco Bastianelli Award 2020 (finalist), the Fedrigoni Top Award 2020 (finalist) and the PHotoESPAÑA Awards 2023 (finalist).