Michele Spatari is a documentary photographer and videographer based between in Addis Ababa.
About
Michele documentary practice has been shaped by his architectural background and it is focused on the study of bodies and space: how politics, religions and social rituals shape contemporary societies. The melancholic loneliness and alienation of our world, the relationship between people and their surroundings, the belief that personal stories can bear the weight of history are recurrent and sought-after elements of his work.
His first long-term project Rising Water about public showers and housing crisis in Turin won the 2018 Canon Italy Young Photographer Award - Multimedia and has been exhibited at Cortona On The Move Festival, Geopolis - Centre du Photojournalisme, Lumix Festival, among others. In 2019, he has been selected by Canon as the Italian representative in Visions from Europe, an artistic residency for Matera European Capital of Culture 2019. In 2020, Michele has been assigned a grant by Cortona On The Move Festival to document the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa: the final project has been exhibited internationally and it has won the 1st Prize at the 2021 WARS Photography Award. At the beginning of 2022, he produced and shot a short documentary on a Spanish dial a poem emergency initiative that is reshaping the meaning of experiencing art into a weirdly intimate practice.
From 2019 to 2023, Michele was one of the main contributors in Southern Africa for Agence France-Presse. With AFP, he has covered some of the most significant events in the region: the deadly waves of xenophobic violence in Johannesburg and the general South African elections in 2019, the devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, the years long drought in the Somali region of Ethiopia, the 2022 Kenyan general elections, the 2023 Nigerian general elections, and countless other stories from more than 12 countries.
Since 2023, he is based in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
His work has been featured on various international media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, Le Monde, Libération, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, El País, Internazionale, amongst others.
Michele has also worked for UNICEF, FAO, MSF - Doctors Without Borders, WWF - World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, European Commission, FIFA, FactStory, AFP Services. As a videographer, DP or camera assistant he has worked with CNN, Vice News, FIFA, African Development Bank, AFPTV, VOA, and more.
Michele completed a certified Hostile Environment First Aid Training (HEFAT) in 2023.