Italians
“In 2011 Italy celebrated the 150 th anniversary of the founding of a modern state. Many events were held on March 17th the official birthday, and every participant to these events, including foreigners who live in the country, showed their pride in being Italian. On that day I felt a kind of joy, maybe because I feel like I am half Italian after almost 16 years since I moved here from Tokyo.
At the beginning, I decided to work on the Italian identity after reading for the umpteenth time in a newspaper article about racial discrimination in the country. I felt I needed to illustrate the present and future of this society photographing Italians, specially those who are mixed blood (half-Italian half-foreigner) to help the fight against prejudice. Eventually I noticed that the path I took to search for the Italian identity overlapped with the journey to find my own identity – that of full blood Japanese girl, with an Italian soul.”
Michi Suzuki was born in Tokyo in 1971. After receiving a degree in North American Literature in Japan, she moved to Florence in 1994 where she took the three-year photography course at the Fondazione Studio Marangoni. During her studies she participated in the Biennale of Young Artists in Rome and the International Photography Triennal in Tampere, Finland, as well as other national and international photography events. Her work has been exhibited in Italy, Japan, Finland and France. A freelance photographer from 2000 and a member of the Grazia Neri agency from 2006 to 2010, she has worked mainly for editorial and specifically with national and international newspapers, with a particular focus on topical issues and portraits. In recent years her artistic research has concentrated on the evolution of identity and on the cultural and social encounter with situations apparently distant but associated with one’s own personal experience. She currently lives and works in Milan.
Facing youth
September 14 – October 28, 2012
Mosteiro de Tibães
Rua do Mosteiro – Mire de Tibães
Braga, Portugal
