Renato D'Agostin

Renato D’Agostin (b. 1983) is an Italian photographer known for his minimalist black-and-white imagery that explores the relationship between people, space, and architecture. His work dislocates subjects from their immediate realities, translating familiar urban environments into dreamlike compositions that invite viewers into new perceptual realms. Through bold contrast, abstract forms, and refined spatial awareness, D’Agostin constructs a visual language that transforms everyday scenes into meditative, cinematic experiences.

Born in Venice, D’Agostin began his photographic career in 2001, inspired by the interplay of light, architecture, and atmosphere in his native city. In 2002, he undertook a journey through the capitals of Western Europe, using the camera to document fleeting interactions within metropolitan life. He later worked in Milan with the production studio Maison Sabbatini before relocating to New York, where the city’s dynamic rhythms further shaped his approach to photography. It was in New York that he met and assisted acclaimed photographer Ralph Gibson, an experience that deeply influenced his craft and artistic direction.

D’Agostin’s first major solo exhibition, Metropolis, was presented at the Leica Gallery in New York in 2007, launching a series of international exhibitions across the United States, Europe, and Asia. His work has been featured in numerous photobooks that reflect his evolving interests in visual abstraction, travel, and spatial isolation. His photographs have entered prestigious public collections, including the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., the Center for Creative Photography in Arizona, and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris.

Renato D’Agostin continues to travel widely, often working on long-form photographic projects that span cities, landscapes, and concepts of memory and perception. His work is rooted in analog processes, frequently employing traditional darkroom techniques that emphasize his commitment to materiality and craft. Through his signature high-contrast aesthetic and distilled visual storytelling, D’Agostin creates work that is both formally rigorous and poetically evocative.