GIANNI GREGUOLI (1926-2020)

For over forty years Gianni Greguoli has photographed the greatest music legends: international stars like Miles Davis and Billie Holiday as well as Italian pop icons Giorgio Gaber and Adriano Celentano.

In the Fifties Gianni began capturing with his camera the live perfomances of jazz greats like Lester Young, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and even Billie Holiday during her only concert in Italy. In 1957 he took portraits of the great opera diva Maria Callas at Teatro alla Scala in Milano. Some of these images got used on the cover of two albums with the recordings of an historic Medea by Cherubini.

Gianni luckily found himself at the heart of a burgeoning golden era of the Italian pop music. Few people know that his were the very first photo shoots of such artists as Luigi Tenco with his Cavalieri, Enzo Jannacci, Giorgio Gaber, Umberto Bindi, Fabrizio De André, Adriano Celentano, Milva, Tony Renis, Renato Carosone, Mia Martini, Riccardo Cocciante, Franco Cerri and many more. He would usually shoot in his tiny studio in the center of Milano, or on location, in recording studios or in concert.

Gianni has always fancied shooting with available light, ideal to effectively capture on film the mood of the moment, preferring a “real” picture, even with some flaws, to a posed one. His photographs have been featured on countless music magazines, advertisements and record covers. Gianni has often been in charge of their graphic design, collaborating with many record companies with their logo design and corporate identity: particularly with La Voce del Padrone, Dischi Ricordi, Mercury, Fonit Cetra, Music Records, Saar Dischi, Ariston Dischi e Produttori Associati.