Andrea Tonellotto

Good Bye Berlin

Sep 05, 2022

Andrea is an Italian self-taught photographer and one of the most prominent figures currently working with Polaroids. In his series ‘Good By Berlin’, Tonellotto portrays the icons of this distinctive city making a clear reference to Becker’s film, and in order to reinterpret the historic transition experienced by Berlin and its inhabitants. These unique Polaroid collages are another example of Tonellotto’s artistic ability to express his affinities in a unique and extraordinary way.

First of all thank you very much for your contribution to our project. Can you please introduce yourself for us?

I am Italian and live in Piazzola del Brenta, a nice little town between Venice and Padova. I am a self-taught photographer and work with Polaroid instant photography. My photographs have been published by international magazines and I’ve been exhibited in Italy and abroad and some of my works are part of prestigious private collections, including the ‘SpallArt Collection’ in Salzburg and ‘Artphilein Foundation’ in Lugano.
During ‘Milan Fashion Week 2015’, the stylist Giulia Marani presented a fashion collection inspired by my polaroids, and in 2018 I published my first book ‘Just a perfect day’.
At the moment I am working on a project in wich I put 8x10 Polaroids next to my beloved Sx70 format. The 8x10 Polaroids drive me crazy, I love them so much.
Besides photography, I am extremely passionate about Rugby.

How did you start in photography?

I started photography when I was eighteen… I crashed my car in an accident and with the compensation I bought a new… Canon :) The following year I met my first Leica and from there it was a continuous evolution that led me to Polaroid. The subjects of my photos have always been urban landscapes and only recently I felt the need to work with abstract or surreal subjects.

What is 'Good Bye Berlin’ about?

Good Bye Berlin is a trip in a city that I love. A journey through the years and the icons of this unique city, certainly inspired by Wolfgang Becker’s amazing film ‘Good Bye Lenin’, which poses an interesting analysis of those transition days of 1989.

What attracts you to work primarily with polaroids?

The use of Polaroid as an expressive medium was born from the evolution of my way of doing photography. Going from 35mm to medium format, I arrived at Polaroid, and the instant film gave to the square format the characteristics that I really like, the colors and shades I was looking for. Also, in a time when digital is king, the fact of not being able to change the shot but having to put everything in the right place without the possibility of post-producing the photo, is a challenge with a perverse charm. Without considering that each work is unique and irreproducible.

Who are your favourite photographers / artists?

My favorite photographer is, without doubts, Luigi Ghirri, but at the same time I love the work of Herbert List, Jaroslav Rossler and Sarah Moon. In painting, on the other hand, I have a great passion for Italian Futurism and Russian Avant-garde.

Artistically, what are your plans for the future?

I would like to publish a book with my pictures and finish all my projects that are still in the making, to start new ones that are already in my mind.

What is your favourite photobook?

There are many photo books the have sparked my imagination, but I want to name two in particular. The first is ‘Una volta’ a book by Wim Wenders, because, in my opinion, describes what photography should be. The second is ‘Dusha - Anima russa’ a book by Davide Monteleone, a delicious vision of the life in the former soviet republics.