Gian Paolo Barbieri’s cinematic style images

The photograph is currently on display as part of ‘Eternal Elegance: The Timeless Photography of Gian Paolo Barbieri’ (until 15 January 2026), a new show curated by Calini and his 29 Arts in Progress co-founder, Luca Casulli, at the recently opened headquarters and art space of Zurich Italy (notably, it neighbours the historic opera house, Teatro alla Scala).

While perhaps less widely recognised than some of his peers, Barbieri was a major protagonist of 20th-century fashion photography, shooting the inaugural cover of Vogue Italia in 1965 and, subsequently, shaping the industry’s visual culture through his collaborations with major fashion houses – Versace, Armani and Valentino among them. His partnership with Gianni Versace, in particular, was hugely important and Barbieri, who passed away last year, described the relationship as one of his most creative. ‘We looked at the world through the same lens, understood and trusted each other immediately,’ he told The Guardian in 2023. ‘Gianni had blind faith in my imagination, gave me total freedom.’

‘He never limited himself to illustrating a garment or a face, instead building worlds, atmospheres, characters,’ continues the gallerist. ‘His archive is a living and invaluable resource, and his legacy is twofold. On one hand, the extremely high technical level he achieved – a formal rigour and mastery of light – and on the other, his ability to transform the image of fashion into a story suspended between elegance and theatricality. Many contemporary photographers look to him precisely for this balance.’

Across the new exhibition, which features work made between the mid-1960s and early 2000s, Italy, and oftentimes Milan, become active participants, such as in the A/W 1991 campaign Barbieri shot for Gianfranco Ferré. In one image, a glamorous restaging of Hitchcock’s 1963 picture The Birds, the model Aly Dunne poses in front of the Duomo di Milano, pigeons taking off all around her. ‘Milan was Barbieri’s creative ground, and the Piazza del Duomo is the symbolic heart of Milan – choosing it meant intertwining the architectural strength of Ferré’s garments with that of the city itself,’ suggests Calini. ‘It unites fashion and architecture beyond a simple editorial.’

‘He constantly reinvented the language [of photography],’ the gallerist adds, reflecting on what set Barbieri apart during his lifetime. ‘Many photographers of his era were tied to more rigid frameworks – Barbieri merged the sense of theatre, painting, and cinema. He was a visionary, but possessed a rare artisanal precision, and was always ready to experiment. It’s striking to realise how tireless he was in his pursuit of perfection and beauty. Not just creating beautiful or technically flawless images, but truly memorable ones. He loved looking back, reinterpreting past images – never with nostalgia but the desire to understand them better.’