Michele Martinelli

Born in Pietrasanta (Lucca) on August 29, 1979, I currently live in Lucca. After a long artistic training journey, I work as a freelance documentary and corporate photographer, and I am also involved in the restoration and conservation of cultural heritage.
Sensitive to communication through artistic forms of expression, I turned to photography in 2009, a passion that, combined with the curiosity of a traveler, has profoundly transformed and given new direction to my life.

In 2015, I attended a masterclass in photojournalism and documentary photography at the Fondazione Studio Marangoni in Florence. Since then, I have worked as a freelance photographer, creating personal projects and consistently investing in my growth in visual storytelling.
My parallel experience as a restorer of artworks, accumulated over 15 years of work, has taught me the importance of patience, precision, and aesthetic sensitivity, elements that deeply influence my photographic approach, enriching it and allowing me to highlight details and cultural context in my projects.
My research primarily focuses on anthropological, cultural, and environmental themes, with particular attention to the essence of the human being in the Mediterranean territories.

Some of my works have been published in various magazines, including GEO, Altreconomia, Messaggero di Sant’Antonio, Credere, Vi Menn, Daily Mail, Prier Magazine, L’oeil de la Photographie, ArtDoc Magazine, Asian Geographic, National Geographic Traveler USA, and National Geographic Italia, receiving international recognition.

I am currently developing MEDITERRANEUS, a long-term project conceived as a contemporary odyssey. The project is divided into chapters that tell stories of land and sea, exploring the plurality of cultures and the current challenges of the Mediterranean area.

Currently, I am working on the chapter AGRATERRA, which narrates the authenticity of rural communities in the high mountains of the French island of Corsica. The first part of this work was carried out thanks to an artist residency at the Centre Méditerranéen de la Photographie and was exhibited at the Photolux Festival 2024 (Italy). In addition, I am dedicating myself to a project that explores an ancient swordfish hunting practice carried out by fishing communities in the Strait of Messina, Italy.

I collaborate with companies in the agro-food, tourism, and industrial sectors, building personal projects that use visual language as a powerful means of expression, in search of authenticity and essence, which often remains hidden behind conformity