The genesis of my series Scuola feminile finds its essence in a book dedicated to The School of Athens, that fresco by Raffaello Sanzio, one day when I was studying the art of draping the characters’ togas. The play of light is at the heart of my photographic approach, just as my artistic approach focuses on engaged subjects. This masterpiece only features men philosophers, because they are the ones who made history. That struck me somehow. So I decided to put philosophy in a female perspective. With a gentle and peaceful femininity, of all ages, just like real life, without makeup or retouching. With this new series, I also question the place of women in the intellectual sphere.
To recreate the elegance and finesse of the work, I enlisted the help of a costume designer, who wrote a thesis on ancient togas, as well as two photo assistants, an HMC, and eight female models of all ages. On top of that, there were about fifty meters of fabric (taffeta, satin…).
