Daphne Chouliaraki Milner
As head of Global PhotoVogue and director of the PhotoVogue Festival, what first inspired you to champion photography as a storytelling medium?
Alessia Glaviano
I grew up in a family of artists, so I naturally related to photography and art. At the same time, I had two strong drives: a passion for aesthetics—I was always particular about details—and a deep concern for social justice. I initially studied economics, hoping to work for organizations like the United Nations, but my love for art and fashion ultimately led me in another direction.
I think it’s important to focus on what you do best to make an impact and make the world a better place. At one point, I considered becoming a war reporter, but physically, I wasn’t suited for it. I would have been a liability. Instead, I was drawn to fashion—not for the industry itself, but for its creative representation. Fashion photography fascinated me because it allowed for boundless creativity. You can do whatever you want. As a child, I would buy Vogue to just look at the spreads, especially Steven Meisel’s work. I was fascinated by it. In the 1990s, I moved to New York, worked at Pier59 Studios as an assistant, and helped on the sets of all these huge photographers. That’s when I realized I was most drawn to the editorial side.
In 2001, I returned to Italy because my friend at Art + Commerce arranged a meeting between myself and Franca Sozzani, the legendary editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia. We clicked immediately, and working with her was an incredible experience. She was brilliant, funny, and tough—very different from today’s culture, where people are more cautious about what they say and how they say it for fear of offending others.
But what I noticed, especially in the 1990s in New York, were the major injustices regarding who was telling the story in fashion: Stories were told almost exclusively by white men, with a few white women. I wanted to change that. When I gained the influence to do so, I launched PhotoVogue. The idea was to curate the incredible wealth of talent online and amplify global voices in photography. I also noticed how younger generations were more supportive of each other compared to my generation. Today, there’s a stronger sense of community, which may be because we’re all online, and I think that shift is meaningful.
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