Arianna Rinaldo - Visual l Elisava

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Teaches photo editing and supervises Master's Thesis

Arianna Rinaldo is an independent curator, consultant, educator, and editor.

She began her career as director of the Magnum Photos archive in New York (1998–2001) and later worked in Italy as photo editor of Colors magazine until 2004. She led the first ten years of the photo festival Cortona On The Move and directed the documentary photography magazine OjodePez until 2015.

She is now the photography curator of PhEST, the festival of photography and contemporary art she founded in 2016. Her work continues to connect projects, visual languages, and borders.

The main pillars of my professional practice are curating and photo editing. After decades of experience in the editorial world, I bring my sensibility to photographic curation in exhibitions and publications. Among the many projects I lead, my heart is now with PhEST, the photography and contemporary art festival I founded in Italy, where I blend visual languages, tell stories from all worlds, experiment with media and immersive installations, and work to expand audiences for both historical and contemporary projects by established and emerging authors

“As an educator, Arianna adopts a highly dynamic and hands-on approach. Drawing on her professional background and multilayered experience, she guides students in examining their photographic practice, visual grammar, and intentions. With a focus on contemporary documentary work and visual storytelling, she encourages them to explore personal languages and go beyond the borders of conventional definitions. Focal to her teaching is the continuous engagement with historic and contemporary references in the photo and art world.”

xhibition of Andrea Botto’s “Ka-boom” series at Cortona On The Move 2018.

Cooper&Gorfer’s “Between These Folded Walls, Utopia” at PhEST 2022, Monopoli, Italy

Setting up the work of Deanna Dikeman at PhEST 2025. Photo by (c) Nico Palmisano

Working with the team on “What The Rain Might Bring” by Dylan Hausthor at PhEST 2025. Photo by (c) Nico Palmisano

Me enjoying private online mentorships (with photographer Ana Paganini). Screenshot.

Retrospective exhibition, “The Larry Towell Show”, at Cortona On The Move 2016. What you see on the wall is the full layout of the book “Afghanistan”, originally published by Aperture.

Multidisciplinary exhibition at Fabra i Coats: “Besos, a Noble Ecosystem” by Duae collective, 2019, Barcelona.

With the white “curator” gloves setting up Yorgos Lanthimos’ exhibit at PhEST 2025 (in this case the exhibit was curated by João Linneu and Myrto Steirou). Photo by (c) Cosimo Calabrese

Surprise early morning find on the way to set up of Quinn Russell Brown’s exhibit on the ancient wall in Monopoli at PhEST 2022. My iPhone image.

Setting up of the exhibit in a perfect setting 😉 My Iphone video.