biography
Federica was born in Rome, Italy in 1983, but spent most of her adult life between Boulder, Co. and Washington, D.C. where she pursued her education. During a family trip to Peru in 2005, she picked up her father’s Minolta and spent hours photographing Peruvian kids, bribing them with candies, so they’d pose longer in front of her lens. Before she left for Peru, photography hadn’t been one of her passions, but within a few weeks, she’d found her career. In 2008, Federica received a Masters in Journalism with a strong focus in photography and documentary production at American University in Washington, D.C. and, soon after, started documenting the historic Presidential race and inauguration in the streets of D.C. Federica’s shot "She Had a Dream," was featured as one of the 100 finalists in the FOTOBAMA Week Photo Contest in the Newseum on Pennsylvania Ave. in downtown D.C. and later published in the book "Fotobama: Picturing The President."
Since 2009, Federica has been a freelance news photographer first based in Washington, D.C. and lately sharing her time between New York City and Rome, Italy. Her breaking-news freelance work (photos, articles and videos) has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, on the Magnum Photos' Web site *(http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/) and on a number of Italian newspapers such as: La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera, La Gazzetta dello Sport, La Stampa, DMagazine,Panorama, L’Espresso and Shalom. She has also been published in burnmagazine.org, Climbing magazine, Alternate.org, Inthefray.org and americanobserver.net., Ansa and Iber Press. Until the summer of 2010 Federica was also an active, touring staff photographer for the Professional Beach Volleyball Tour (AVP.com).
Until the summer of 2010 Federica was also an active, touring staff photographer for the Professional Beach Volleyball Tour (AVP.com. Her work has also been published on Dig and Volleyball, the foremost beach volleyball news media magazines.
When she is not on shooting assignment, or at her desk editing pictures or writing a story, she can be found teaching Power Vinyasa Yoga classes in Brooklyn or training for the 2011 Paris marathon.
photographer statement:
Federica’s news photography and personal projects both focus on people. Her fascination with humans– particularly those who find self-expression difficult in a world full of societal (and in some cases, personal) taboos – is rooted in her own unique and challenging experience as an Italian immigrant in a foreign country.
Federica is interested in getting as close as possible to her subjects’ life, a la Eugene-Richards. She applies a narrative layer to the visual story-telling, portraying the struggles of her subjects, as they push the boundaries of societal restraints. By layering these two skills and pushing her own boundaries, she is able to extract and expose truth when cameras and reporting are not always welcome.
Federica’s most recent project, “Crescent City of Hope” analyzed the sweet hope residing in the musical notes of New Orleans’ Jazz lineage, in the Mardi Gras Indians’ masking traditions and in the humanitarian efforts of volunteers five years after the Hurricane Katrina. After spending three months in the “Big Eazy,” Federica felt that despite Katrina (then) and the oil spill (now,) the city lives on thanks to residents’ genuine belief that music is the soul’s strongest medicine. Her photography is bound to show an almost mystical dimension where trumpets, tubas, steel guitars and hand-sawed feather costumes can heal the broken heart of a widow because everyone in New Orleans “got soul!”
Currently, Federica is working on “Daughters of the King,” a long-time project exploring the deep roots of the Orthodox Jewish women of Brooklyn. Since the summer of 2010, she has been focusing on depicting and documenting the women of the Chabad Lubavitch of Crown Heights, shedding light on the common misconception that Jewish Orthodox women’s sole role in society is to make babies and be modest. While Jewish Orthodox women can indeed be righteous, they are more often than not entrepreneurs supporting their own families.
Federica is also working on a portrait series on the Coney Island locals. Since October 2010 she has been taking daily trips to the tip of Brooklyn to meet with the people who are trying one way or the other to “keep Coney Island Americana,” by fighting the system that wants “change for the better.” The point of her work goes behind showing the magic of the weird that has attracted the eye of every curious worldwide for years onward. She wants to portray the necessity to save a landmark of history. If the new owner of the board walk want to rebuild a modern version of Coney Island against the will of its natives, part of their past lives and their immigrants roots will be lost forever. Federica wants to do her part in recording as much as possible what may not be here for very much longer.
With her latest work "Born Twice" Federica revisited the Roman holocaust survivor’s stories in the camps through the lens of their daily lives back after the massacre. Her photos want to show a light out of the broken pieces of a horrific past in an age of Nazi negationism and persisting anti-semitism. Of the 1,022 Roman Jews captured the morning of October 16, 1943, only about 100 came back. During the next few months, until the war was over, a total of 3,000 Italian Jews were taken to the concentration camps. Of the 45 thousands Jews that lived in Italy in the 1930s, today we can count only 15 thousand left. Lello Di Segni, Sabatino Finzi and other 12 are the only holocaust survivors still alive in Rome.
Federica was born in Rome, Italy in 1983, but spent most of her adult life between Boulder, Co. and Washington, D.C. where she pursued her education. During a family trip to Peru in 2005, she picked up her father’s Minolta and spent hours photographing Peruvian kids, bribing them with candies, so they’d pose longer in front of her lens. Before she left for Peru, photography hadn’t been one of her passions, but within a few weeks, she’d found her career. In 2008, Federica received a Masters in Journalism with a strong focus in photography and documentary production at American University in Washington, D.C. and, soon after, started documenting the historic Presidential race and inauguration in the streets of D.C. Federica’s shot "She Had a Dream," was featured as one of the 100 finalists in the FOTOBAMA Week Photo Contest in the Newseum on Pennsylvania Ave. in downtown D.C. and later published in the book "Fotobama: Picturing The President."
Since 2009, Federica has been a freelance news photographer first based in Washington, D.C. and lately sharing her time between New York City and Rome, Italy. Her breaking-news freelance work (photos, articles and videos) has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, on the Magnum Photos' Web site *(http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/) and on a number of Italian newspapers such as: La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera, La Gazzetta dello Sport, La Stampa, DMagazine,Panorama, L’Espresso and Shalom. She has also been published in burnmagazine.org, Climbing magazine, Alternate.org, Inthefray.org and americanobserver.net., Ansa and Iber Press. Until the summer of 2010 Federica was also an active, touring staff photographer for the Professional Beach Volleyball Tour (AVP.com).
Until the summer of 2010 Federica was also an active, touring staff photographer for the Professional Beach Volleyball Tour (AVP.com. Her work has also been published on Dig and Volleyball, the foremost beach volleyball news media magazines.
When she is not on shooting assignment, or at her desk editing pictures or writing a story, she can be found teaching Power Vinyasa Yoga classes in Brooklyn or training for the 2011 Paris marathon.
photographer statement:
Federica’s news photography and personal projects both focus on people. Her fascination with humans– particularly those who find self-expression difficult in a world full of societal (and in some cases, personal) taboos – is rooted in her own unique and challenging experience as an Italian immigrant in a foreign country.
Federica is interested in getting as close as possible to her subjects’ life, a la Eugene-Richards. She applies a narrative layer to the visual story-telling, portraying the struggles of her subjects, as they push the boundaries of societal restraints. By layering these two skills and pushing her own boundaries, she is able to extract and expose truth when cameras and reporting are not always welcome.
Federica’s most recent project, “Crescent City of Hope” analyzed the sweet hope residing in the musical notes of New Orleans’ Jazz lineage, in the Mardi Gras Indians’ masking traditions and in the humanitarian efforts of volunteers five years after the Hurricane Katrina. After spending three months in the “Big Eazy,” Federica felt that despite Katrina (then) and the oil spill (now,) the city lives on thanks to residents’ genuine belief that music is the soul’s strongest medicine. Her photography is bound to show an almost mystical dimension where trumpets, tubas, steel guitars and hand-sawed feather costumes can heal the broken heart of a widow because everyone in New Orleans “got soul!”
Currently, Federica is working on “Daughters of the King,” a long-time project exploring the deep roots of the Orthodox Jewish women of Brooklyn. Since the summer of 2010, she has been focusing on depicting and documenting the women of the Chabad Lubavitch of Crown Heights, shedding light on the common misconception that Jewish Orthodox women’s sole role in society is to make babies and be modest. While Jewish Orthodox women can indeed be righteous, they are more often than not entrepreneurs supporting their own families.
Federica is also working on a portrait series on the Coney Island locals. Since October 2010 she has been taking daily trips to the tip of Brooklyn to meet with the people who are trying one way or the other to “keep Coney Island Americana,” by fighting the system that wants “change for the better.” The point of her work goes behind showing the magic of the weird that has attracted the eye of every curious worldwide for years onward. She wants to portray the necessity to save a landmark of history. If the new owner of the board walk want to rebuild a modern version of Coney Island against the will of its natives, part of their past lives and their immigrants roots will be lost forever. Federica wants to do her part in recording as much as possible what may not be here for very much longer.
With her latest work "Born Twice" Federica revisited the Roman holocaust survivor’s stories in the camps through the lens of their daily lives back after the massacre. Her photos want to show a light out of the broken pieces of a horrific past in an age of Nazi negationism and persisting anti-semitism. Of the 1,022 Roman Jews captured the morning of October 16, 1943, only about 100 came back. During the next few months, until the war was over, a total of 3,000 Italian Jews were taken to the concentration camps. Of the 45 thousands Jews that lived in Italy in the 1930s, today we can count only 15 thousand left. Lello Di Segni, Sabatino Finzi and other 12 are the only holocaust survivors still alive in Rome.
