Biography | Photography & Films

Matteo Bastianelli (b. 1985) is a freelance documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Rome, Italy. He is a National Geographic Magazine contributor and a member of Italy’s National Order of Journalists since 2009. Above all he works on personal and long-term projects related to social, environmental and human rights issues, with a keen interest in consequences of wars and contemporary issues affecting our society.

He spent almost five years working in the former Yugoslavia, mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on the theme of memory and identity. The result of this visual documentary work has been resealed as his first book and documentary film, “The Bosnian Identity”. In 2012, for his ongoing commitment and documentation on the legacy of the Bosnian war, he was nominated honorable member of the international team of experts for the “Institute for Research of Genocide” in Canada.

Bastianelli was a member of Reportage by Getty Images Emerging Talent till 2014. His photographic and film projects have been published and commissioned by a number of national and international magazines, such as Al Jazeera, Burn, CNN, Corriere della Sera, Der Spiegel, Discovery Channel Interactive, D- La Repubblica, El Pais, Internazionale, International New York Times, Lens – The New York Times, L’Espresso, L’Europeo, La Repubblica, La Stampa, MSNBC, National Geographic Magazine, Newsweek Japan, PDN, Super 8-La Repubblica, Stern, Sky News, TIME Lightbox, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Voice of America, Washington Post, XL Semanal, among others. Since 2016 he has also been working on assignment for NGOs such as Amnesty International, AVSI, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, Human Rights Watch and International Committee of the Red Cross.

His projects have been shown in Belgium, Brazil, Estonia, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, The Netherlands and USA. He has received various awards for his work, among which PDN’s Photo Annual, Emerging Talent Award at Reportage by Getty Images, Canon Young Photographers’ Award, Honorable Mention from the NPPA- Best of photojournalism, finalist for the Burn Emerging Photographer Fund, Marco Bastianelli Prize for the Best First Book and “Vittorio de Seta” prize for the director of the best documentary film at BIF&ST- Bari International Film Festival 2013.

In 2013 he started working on “Souls of Syrians”, an ongoing project which stems from the concern to document the effects of war on the life of Syrian youth. “Souls of Syrians” received the Italian Doc Screenings Development Award for best documentary film in 2015, the AP32- American Photography Awards in 2016 and was a finalist at Luchetta Prize in 2017.

New projects are under and away in his home country, Italy, where since 2016 he has been working on “Green gold”, which aims to highlight the dynamics linked to the Cannabis business in Europe and to analyze the effects of Prohibition. The project has been published as cover story of 2017 June’s issue of National Geographic Italia and along with an interview on National Geographic Magazine. “Green gold” was also screened on September 2017 during the International Festival of Photojournalism “Visa pour l’image” in Perpignan, France.

In 2018 Bastianelli documented the world’s worst humanitarian disaster caused by the ongoing civil war in Yemen, focusing his attention on the resilience of civilians trapped in a life of violence and disease. His Yemen project appeared in the August 2018 issue of National Geographic Magazine and has been used worldwide by Doctors Without Borders in 2019 for advocacy campaigns to help and protect Yemeni civilians. His documentary film “Yemen Unveiled” was screened during the 2019 Human Rights Film Festival in Berlin, Germany and has been included in the Official Selection of the Health for All Film Festival 2020, organized by the World Health Organization in Geneva.

In 2019 he documented various issues affecting the Mexican society between the States of Guerrero, Puebla and Oaxaca for the AVSI Foundation, realizing the documentary film “Fortaleza, México”, screened at the 15th edition of the “Short Mexico” International Film Festival. In 2020, Matteo Bastianelli started documenting the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak and resulting quarantine on Rome’s community of homeless, migrants and refugees. His project proposal was selected and supported by the National Geographic Society’s Covid-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists. His project was also selected to participate in the “Inside the curve” book and exhibition, produced by National Geographic.

Education

“Kidnap for Ransom Avoidance and Survival Training”, workshop by National Geographic, 2022.
“Bilder Nordic School of Photography”, workshop with Eugene Richards, 2011.
“Officine Fotografiche”, workshop with Christian Caujolle, 2011.
“Scuola Romana di Fotografia”, Master in reportage and photojournalism, 2007-09.
High school diploma, 2004.

Filmography

Awards and recognitions

“Water Science Policy/Unesco” Prize, 2nd place 2023
Italian Sustainability Photo Award (ISPA), Finalist 2021
Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography, Honorable mention 2021
National Geographic Covid-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists, Recipient 2020
DIG Awards for Short Documentary, Finalist 2020
“Mani Tese” Award for Investigative Journalism, Finalist 2019
Abitare/Mufoco Grant, Finalist, 2017
Luchetta Prize, Finalist, 2017
FC Barcellona Photo Award, Finalist Prize, 2017
Nominated World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass 2017
AP32- American Photography Awards, Winner 2016
Tokyo International Photo Award, silver winner 2016
Life Framer Award, Honorary Winner 2016
5th Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism, Multimedia Award Finalist 2016
Italian Doc Screenings Development Award for Best Documentary Film, Winner 2015
CineEco International Film Festival, Official Jury Honorable Mention 2015
CineEco International Film Festival, Youth Jury Honorable Mention 2015
Photocrati Fund, Finalist 2014
PixPalace-Visas ANI award, Shortlisted 2014
Nominated World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass 2013
Doc/it Professional Award, Finalist 2013
Emerging Talent Award, Reportage By Getty Images, Winner 2013
Marco Bastianelli Prize for the Best First Book, Winner 2013
Vittorio de Seta Prize for the Best Documentary Film at BIF&ST, Winner 2013
Nominated World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass 2012
IPA, Deeper perspective category, Honorable Mention 2012
Institute for Research Genocide, Honorary membership 2012
3rd Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism, Multimedia Award Finalist 2012
Fotovisura Grant, Finalist 2012
Gomma Award, Shortlisted 2012
IPA, Feature Story category, Honorable Mention 2011
IPA, Environmental category, Honorable Mention 2011
IPA, People category, Honorable Mention 2011
NPPA-Best of photojournalism, Honorable Mention 2011
Multimedia Photojournalism Award (MEI), Honorable Mention 2011
Sodalitas Award for Social Journalism, Finalist 2011
Freedom to Create Prize, Highly Commended Artist 2011
Amilcare Ponchielli Award-GRIN, Shortlisted 2011
Connect Slide Show Contest, Finalist 2011
Canon Young Photographers Prize, Best project, Winner 2010
Emerging Photographer Fund- Magnum Foundation, Finalist 2010
JFF -Blur magazine, Winner 2010
PDNs Photo Annual, Winner 2010
Foiano Fotografia, Winner 2009
Fotografia-Roma, 2nd prize, 2009
Fotoleggendo, 3rd prize, 2009

Clients

Collective catalogues

FC Barcelona Photo Award, 2017
5th Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism, 2016
Blacklie, Limes Images, 2014
3rd Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism, 2012
Metropolis, Noorderlicht Photography Foundation, 2011
Voices of courages, Freedom to Create Prize, 2011
The Dreamers, Foiano Fotografia, 2010

Book

The Bosnian Identity

ISBN: 978-88-86795-99-9
Author: Matteo Bastianelli
Graphic Design: Daniele Zendroni
Editing: Tiziana Faraoni
Preface: Gigi Riva
Pages 208
English Edition | cm. 18 x 24
118 B&W pictures
Released: October 2012
Hardcover