MONIA
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I'm Giovanni Cocco, an independent Italian photographer. I live between Rome and Berlin. I'm interested in reportage photography through an anthropological and social approach. Among the many topics discussed in my career, the work that represents myself is "Monia", a long-term project on my sister's life. The photographs came first, before the story which they belong to. They are the result of an experience and the desire to tell it.</p>
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Monia is 45 years old. She is disabled since birth. She lives in habits, simple gestures and long moments without words or actions. A world away from everything else, solitary, confined, but not empty, where time is made up of moments, a present that does not need to project into the future.</p>
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<img alt="Monia_32-1444920717" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/241607/Monia_32-1444920717.JPG"></p>
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Photographing Monia is an act of knowledge and research. It is a way to understand her, wondering what she thinks and what she wants. From life, from me. Soon it won’t just be the approach through photography, which will bring me to her, to remember the gestures and glances with which she seems to touch and see the world. One day she will be part of my life, she will have to deal with me, every day, with the way I see her and love her. Telling her story and her life is the first step for one to enter the life of the other, with both the joy and the difficulty of the encounter.</p>
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Since "Monia" is the recipient of the Reminders Photography Stronghold Grant 2015, I decided to give a new shape to the project. My aim is to create a traveling exhibition around the world, starting in March 2016 in Tokyo, at the Reminders Photography Gallery. I need your help to produce the prints and the exhibition book. I wish my photos could bring Monia where she can not go, and I want the viewers to enter for a moment in her universe.</p>
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<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/04/health/cnnphotos-monia-sister-disability/" target="_blank">Monia on CNN Photo Blog</a></p>
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<img alt="Monia_03-1444920877" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/241608/Monia_03-1444920877.JPG"></p>
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<img alt="Monia_02-1444920897" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/241609/Monia_02-1444920897.JPG"></p>
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The 8000 euro collected will be used to cover the costs of printing, frames, transport, insurance, communication, travel and the exhibition book for the first inauguration held in Tokyo. All proceeds extra (over 100%) will finance part of the costs of the following exhibitions.</p>
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The book will be printed in 250 copies - 100 limited editions signed by the author. The introduction text is by Caterina Serra, writer and screenwriter, Paola Biocca prize for reportage, who published "Tilt" and “Padreterno” for Einaudi. Graphic design by Filippo Nostri, specialized in book design.</p>
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Book specifics: 40 pages glued on the back cover, with coated paper 150 gr. and paperback Cacciari special. A4 color. Cover GMUND 300 gr. </p>
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<img alt="Monia_04-1444924170" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/241635/Monia_04-1444924170.JPG"></p>
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Monia has been recognized by several international prizes, including:</p>
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Selected as the 10th winner of the <a href="http://reminders-project.org/rps/10th-rps-grantee-giovanni-cocco/" target="_blank">Reminders Photography Stronghold</a> Grant, 2015.</p>
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Winner in the "personal" category at <a href="http://www.shutterloveonline.com/contest_galleries/photoannual/2015/Gallery.php?ShowCase=77#77-Giovanni_Cocco" target="_blank">PDN Photo Annual</a>, 2015.</p>
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Selected for the 6th <a href="http://organvida.com/past-editions/6th-international-photography-festival/" target="_blank">Organ Vida - International Photography Festival</a>, 2014. </p>
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Honorable mention FotoVisura Grant, 2013.</p>
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Honorable mention Prix Roger Pic, 2012.</p>
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Runner up at <a href="http://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2012/06/giovanni-cocco-monia/" target="_blank">EPF</a> Grant of Burn Magazine and Magnum Foundation, 2012. </p>
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Second prize of the International Winephotocontest, 2009.</p>
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<img alt="Monia_05-1445246025" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/242485/Monia_05-1445246025.JPG"></p>
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