francesco ridolfi | chess portraits

F R A N C E S C O R I D O L F I C H E S S P O R T R A I T S

DOINEL GALLERY | FRANCESCO RIDOLFI

Francesco Ridolfi is an Italian portrait photographer who normally shoots for

advertising and editorial projects (his clients include: Rolling Stone Magazine,

Auchan, Caterpillar, Louis Vuitton and Tetra Pak). Born and raised in Bologna, Italy,

he now divides his time between Brussels, Milan and Bologna working for different

clients and carrying out assignments in the editorial and commercial fields.

F R A N C E S C O R I D O L F I

A R T I S T ’ S S T A T E M E N T A B O U T T H E P R O J E C T

“Often, inside each one of us, opposing forces make themselves felt and alternate

within as light illuminates and shadow darkens our minds. Black and White. Good

versus Evil. Chess figures offer an opportunity to explore this dualism. They provide

a set of archetypes that convey different aspects of human nature. They throw us

into relief; they highlight us in shadow and light. Blacks and Whites.”

FRANCESCO RIDOLFI | DOINEL GALLERY

I have always been fascinated by the game of Chess. When I was a child, my

father taught me the rules and we used to play together. So probably, this is

the origin of the whole idea. In terms of the photographic side of the project,

the idea to humanize the different pieces on the chess board came to me

around a couple of years ago, and it took a while to germinate and take

shape in my mind. To me, the most interesting part of the whole undertaking

was the possibility of portraying the same character both in Black and White. To

highlight the different and sometimes contradictory parts of human nature that

often coexist inside each of us. As a portrait photographer, I’ve always been

interested in these distinct emotions that could emerge from the subjects in front

of my lens. The fact that the chess game has a set of six different archetypes

(the King, the Queen, the Bishop, the Rook, the Knight and the Pawn) to work

with gives me the opportunity to explore the diverse sides of the human nature.

And actually, it was a great source of inspiration to play with period dress

and costumes. I did lengthy research to find the right costume style for each

character, then an extensive search for the perfect fabrics, travelling across the

entire region . The fact that each costume has been made both in Black and

White complicated the whole process a little, but in the end the results more

than repaid me for all the efforts I had put in! Probably the longest part of the

entire project has been casting the talent. It took up about three months of my

time in total, but I feel I’ve really got what I was looking for. From the beginning

to the end, the entire project has taken nine months of work.

C H E S S P O R T R A I T S


W H I T E K I N G


B L A C K K I N G


B L A C K Q U E E N


W H I T E Q U E E N


W H I T E B I S H O P


B L A C K B I S H O P


B L A C K R O O K


W H I T E R O O K


B L A C K K N I G H T


W H I T E K N I G H T


W H I T E P A W N


B L A C K P A W N

I N F O @ D O I N E L G A L L E R Y . C O M

W W W . D O I N E L G A L L E R Y . C O M

T H E P R I N T S

The artworks are available in two sizes :

24” x 24” (60 x 60 cm) edition of 7

47” x 47” (120 x 120 cm) edition of 5

Archival Digital Pigment prints

ILFORD Galerie Prestige Smooth Pearl paper

francesco ridolfi | chess portraits

Documents

n c e s c o r i d o

f i c h e s s p o r

f ia r t i s t s s t

different clients

different archetypes

different pieces

entire project

game of chess