Biographie
Andrea Olga Mantovani worked for 6 years in Europe on environmental issues. Since 2015, she has been a photographer working on personal and commissioned projects.
She is currently a photo correspondent for the New York Times.
A geographer by training, with a Masters in Human and Social Sciences in Environment conducted in Paris, Madrid and Montpellier, her passion for individuals and the territories they inhabit naturally found its way into the lens of the camera.
In 2010, she took a photography course at the Institut d'Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya in Barcelona.
Looking for ways to express her emotions, she uses a variety of production techniques and scenographic media.
Today, she uses photography as a militant artistic act. In her approach, she refers to the complexity of the environmental crisis, evoking certain aspects of the challenges facing our society in a metaphorical way.
Her latest work focuses on the Bialowieza primary forest and the battles being waged to save it.
Winner of the Emerging Talent Prize at the 2018 La Gacilly Festival, the Obs "Les Femmes S'Exposent" Prize and the Focale Prize, she is currently pursuing her work with the support of the National Commission for the Plastic Arts in the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine.
In 2022, she published "S'enforester" in collaboration with the philosopher Baptiste Morizot, published by Une Rive à l'Autre.
Présentation
In 2016, the Bialowieza Forest, Europe's last primary lowland forest, covering 142,000 hectares and formed 10,000 years ago in the eastern part of Poland, became the scene of intense environmental conflict. In 2017, the Ministry of the Environment launched a deforestation campaign, triggering 187 lawsuits against activists, a first in Poland's history. In April 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that logging in the Bialowieza Forest violated EU law, forcing Poland to halt logging. This decision set a significant precedent, making Bialowieza the first case law for ancient forests in Europe.
Bialowieza has thus become a symbol of resistance and a reminder of an exceptional human experience. During several periods of immersion, I inhabited this place to understand its history, its present and its future potential. Starting with everyday life and local struggles, I sought to grasp the challenges facing the world. Gradually, a different perception emerged, revealing the magic of a natural forest and unshakeable convictions. My photographic work bears witness to this encounter, giving voice to the peoples of the forest, their struggles and their imaginations, highlighting what they have in common and what is current.