Artist

UMBERTO D'ANIELLO was born in Capri in 1963. When he was aged 22, Umberto D’Aniello was granted a cultural trip to Paris funded by the Villa San Michele/ Axel Munthe Foundation. It was in Paris where Umberto, whilst flicking through art books at the Beaubourg library in Paris, first came across the work of Cartier Bresson, Robert Doisneau and Edouard Boubat, whose work has greatly inspired the photography by D’Aniello.
Umberto’s infinitive dedication to his art as well as meaningful encounters with masters such as Franco Fontana, and Eikoh Hosoe have evened the photographer’s journey as a self-thought artist who by now has established himself as one of the most prominent and most excellent photographers of Capri.

During the years, Umberto’s primary focus of attention has been the island of Capri. His photographs can be perceived as mirroring images emerging from a deep and continuous relationship between the artist and the island, reflecting the photographer’s infinitive, yet ever unsatisfied quest to capture the island from another, almost unknown angle. The result of this are stunning yet refreshing images of subject matters, that, although having been photographed millions if not billions of times never seem to be kitsch or dejà vu." (Corriere del Mezzogiorno / Francesco Durante).

The magazine Capri Review featured Umberto, amongst other photographers such as Helmut Newton, Mimmo Jodice, and Fulvio Roiter etc., as being one of the greatest photographers to have ever shot Capri.

However, despite his great passion for Capri, the artist has also applied his poetic neo classical style to the glamour and mystery of great cities such as Paris, Venice, Rome, Positano, Havana to name but a few.

His recent work is bringing his mystical delicate vision to its most minimalist state: Landscapes of Tuscany and Sicily are reduced to the purity of simplicity, silence and texture. Furthermore the pictures he has taken of the sea reach the utter spiritual abstraction of Rothko's paintings, whereas the series called "apparenze" captures mainly details as to highlight ‘the dream’ and’ the beyond’.

He has done numerous solo exhibitions including "Amada Havanna" at the Brescia museum in th 2000 and "Visione di un isola" at the Hartman Photo Gallery in Munich in 2003. His pictures illustrate the books "Footnote on Capri" by Norman Douglas (2003) and "La jeunesse d'amour" (2005), both pubblished by La Conchiglia