Mimi Mollica Explained

Mimi Mollica (born 1975) is an Italian photographer,^{[1] [2] [3]} based in London. His work concerns "social issues and topics related to identity, environment, migration and macroscopic human transitions."^[4]

Mollica creates self assigned series—his book Terra Nostra (2017) is about the permanent scars left behind by the Sicilian Mafia—and works on documentary and photojournalism commissions for magazines and NGOs, and mentoring photographers. His work has also been shown in various group exhibitions and been included in survey publications on street photography.

Life and work

Mollica was born and raised in Palermo, Sicily^{[5] [6]} and is based in London. He began working in photography as an assistant to architectural photographer Hélène Binet. He works professionally on documentary and photojournalism commissions for magazines and NGOs.^[7] In 2015 he founded Photo Meet in London, a mentoring service for photographers.^[8]

Mollica also creates self assigned series. Over four months in 2007 and 2008 in Senegal, he photographed during the building of a road from Dakar to the new city of Diamniadio, for his series En route to Dakar.^[9] Work from this series was praised as "excellent photography" by Anita Sethi in The Independent.^[10] From 2009 he spent seven years working on his book about the permanent scars left behind by the Sicilian Mafia,^[11] Terra Nostra (2017).^[12] The book was well received by critics^[13] —Gerry Badger said its photographs "are eloquent and poetic, and in an era where so much photography is trite and shallow, dense enough to feed both mind and eye";^[14] and Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, said "it is a work that repays close attention [...] a deft merging of the quotidian and the unsettling".

Publications

Publications by Mollica

• En route to Dakar. Self-published via Blurb, 2010.^[15]
• Terra Nostra. Stockport, England: Dewi Lewis, 2017. . With an introduction by and an afterword by Sean O'Hagan.^[16]

Publication paired with others

• Castelbuono: la città gentile: indagine per immagini e parole su una città e i suoi abitanti. Palermo: Passaggio, 2009. With Roberto Alajmo. . Italian.

Publications with contributions by Mollica

• Granta: Lost and Found. Issue 105. London: Granta, 2009. . 255 pages. Edited by Alex Clark. Includes "The road," photographs from Mollica's series En route to Dakar and text by Elena Baglioni.
• Flash Forward: Emerging photographers from Canada, the United Kingdom & the United States: 2009. Toronto: The Magenta Foundation, 2009. .
• Street Photography Now. London: Thames & Hudson, 2010. (hardback). London: Thames & Hudson, 2011. (paperback). Edited by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren.
• London Street Photography: 1860–2010. London: Museum of London; Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2011. . Selected from the Museum of London collection by Mike Seaborne and Anna Sparham. Published to accompany an exhibition at the Museum.
• In the Life of Cities. Zurich: Lars Müller, 2012. Edited by Mohsen Mostafavi. . Includes "En route to Dakar," eight photographs by Mollica.
• Street = Calle. C Photo, Vol. 9. London; Madrid, Spain; Gilly, Switzerland: Ivorypress, 2014. . 299 pages. Edited by Elena Ochoa Foster. Text in English and Spanish.
• The World Atlas of Street Photography. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2014. . Edited by Jackie Higgins. With a foreword by Max Kozloff.
• Photographers' Sketchbooks. London: Thames & Hudson, 2014. . Edited by Stephen McLaren and Bryan Formhals.

Awards

• 2005: Second prize, The Observer Photographic Hodge Award.^[17] For a story on the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
• 2009: Winner, European Parliament Guest Photographer.^[18]
• 2012: Finalist, Palm Springs Photo Festival Slide Show Contest, CA.^[19]
• 2012: Winner, Renaissance Photography Award, Expression Category, for Terra Nostra.^[20]
• 2013: Shortlist, Terry O'Neill TAG Award 2012, for Terra Nostra.^{[21] [22]}
• 2013: Second prize, Syngenta Photography Award.^{[23] [24]} For his series En route to Dakar.^[25] Mollica won funding for a photography project.^[26]
• 2014: Finalist, LensCulture Portrait Award, for a photograph from Terra Nostra.^[27]

Group exhibitions

• 2010: This Must be the Place, Jerwood Space, London, November–December 2010. With photographs by Mollica, David Campany, Camille Fallet, Xavier Ribas, Eva Stenram, Lillian Wilkie, and Tereza Zelenkova.^{[28] [29]}
• 2010: Street Photography Now, Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff, October–November 2010,^[30] and toured to Contributed Studio for the Arts, Berlin, December 2010 – January 2011;^[31] Museum of Printing, Historical Museum of Warsaw, Warsaw, November 2011 – January 2012.^{[32] [33]} Photographs from the book Street Photography Now (2011) by Mollica and others
• 2010: This Must Be the Place, Jerwood Space, London, November – December 2010.^[34] With work by Tereza Zelenkova, Camille Fallet, Xavier Ribas, Walker Evans, Eva Stenram, Lillian Wilkie and Mollica. Curated by David Campany.
• 2013: Rural–Urban: The Syngenta Photography Award Exhibition, Somerset House, London, May 2013.^[25]
• 2014: Terry O’Neill Awards 2013, The Strand Gallery, London, January 2014.^[35]

Notes

1. News: Sean . O'Hagan . Sean O'Hagan (journalist) . The mafia and me: Mimi Mollica's portraits of Sicilian society . 14 December 2009 . 7 February 2017 . . London.
2. News: Sean . O'Hagan . Sean O'Hagan (journalist) . Terra Nostra by Mimi Mollica – review . 7 February 2017 . 7 February 2017 . . London.
3. Web site: Paula . Cocozza . Mimi Mollica's best photograph: 'The haunted face of Sicily' . 24 March 2016 . 7 February 2017 . . London.
4. "Profile". Mimi Mollica. Accessed 16 February 2017
5. Web site: Photographing Sicily’s Modern Mafia. 19 October 2016 . 16 February 2017 . Tom . Seymour . .
6. 2009. Sicilian photographer Mimi Mollica documents the insidious influence of the Mafia. British Journal of Photography. 7752. 16–20.
7. Web site: Patrick . Burgoyne . Mimi Mollica: The Dakar Road . 31 October 2007 . 8 February 2017 . Creative Review.
8. Web site: Show and tell. 10 March 2015. 9 February 2017 . . Apptitude Media .
9. Web site: Mimi . Mollica . En Route to Dakar . 18 February 2017 . LensCulture.
10. News: Anita . Sethi . Anita Sethi . Granta 105: Lost and Found, ed Alex Clark . 19 April 2009 . 20 February 2017 . . London.
11. News: Seeing Sicily's scars. 12 August 2014 . 7 February 2017 . .
12. Web site: The Mafia’s Cancerous Grip On Sicily Is Exposed In Mimi Mollica’s Terra Nostra. 28 October 2016 . 17 February 2017 . Rick . Boost . Bokeh Media . .
13. Web site: Sean O’Hagan’s Best of 2016 and 2017. 28 December 2016 . 7 February 2017 . Sean . O'Hagan . Sean O'Hagan (journalist) . . Apptitude Media .
14. Web site: Mimi Mollica: Terra Nostra: Book review by Gerry Badger. 17 February 2017 . Gerry . Badger . Gerry Badger . 1000 Words Photography . 1000 Words .
15. En route to Dakar is described here within Blurb.com.
16. Terra Nostra is described here within the Dewi Lewis website.
17. Tom Templeton, "Shutter release", The Observer, 6 November 2005.
18. "Mimi Mollica's migrant in Dakar scoops best photo contest", European Parliament, 22 June 2009.
19. Web site: 2012 Palm Springs Photo Festival Slide Show Contest Finalists. 9 February 2017 . Palm Springs Photo Festival .
20. "2012 Winners", within "Prizes", Renaissance Photography, as archived by the Wayback Machine on 15 June 2013.
21. Web site: Terry O’Neill Awards Runner up, Mimi Mollica. 30 January 2013 . 9 February 2017 . The Strand Gallery .
22. Spectrum: Concrete Ideas: Entrants for the Terry O'Neill Awards, Emma Broomfield, The Sunday Times Magazine, 13 January 2013
23. "Winners 2013: Mimi Mollica: Professional Commission Second Prize Winner", Syngenta Photography Award.
24. "Mimi Mollica: Professional commission second prize winner", Syngenta Photography Award.
25. News: The Syngenta photography award 2013 – in pictures . 20 May 2013 . 8 February 2017 . . London.
26. News: Stuart . Forster . The 2013 Syngenta Photography Award - Exploring Global Challenges . 25 July 2013 . 8 February 2017 . The Huffington Post.
27. Web site: Finalists: 2014 LensCulture Portrait Awards. 9 February 2017 . .
28. Web site: David . Campany . David Campany . This Must Be the Place . 24 March 2016 . 18 February 2017.
29. Web site: Jerwood Encounters: This Must be The Place: Camille Fallet, Mimi Mollica, Xavier Ribas, Eva Stenram, Lillian Wilkie, Tereza Zelenkova, David Campany. This Must Be the Place . 18 February 2017.
30. News: Street photography now. 4 October 2010 . 6 April 2016 . Phil . Coomes . .
31. Web site: Contributed Studio for the Arts: Street Photography Now . 18 February 2017 . Contributed . dead . https://archive.today/20120723184538/http://www.contributed.de/ . 23 July 2012 .
32. Web site: 'Street photography now' – exhibition. 5 April 2016 . City of Warsaw .
33. Web site: Street Photography Here And Now. 5 April 2016 . .
34. Web site: Jerwood Encounters: This Must Be the Place . 13 March 2015 . Jerwood Visual Arts . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125500/http://jerwoodvisualarts.org/3096/Jerwood-Encounters-This-Must-Be-The-Place/99 . 2 April 2015 .
35. Web site: Terry O’Neill Awards 2013 at The Strand Gallery. 13 January 2014 . 9 February 2017 . The Strand Gallery .

External links

• • Sicilian connection: How Mimi Mollica captured the mafia – photographs in The Guardian