JACOB BALZANI LÖÖV → ABOUT
ABOUT
28 October 2019

I am an Italian-Swedish photographer and I am obsessed by stories of people intimately attached to a particular place, being it a contested territory or a tropical jungle. My approach is by foot: I believe that to connect to a place, you have to measure it by steps. My home is between Milan and Monte Rosa, by the Italian Alps. Recently I discovered my father’s whereabouts in the highlands of Sweden: Härjedalen, where I started to feel a bit home too. Those became the starting points to explore my own personal connection with the landscape.

I have a Master in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the London College of Communication. Curious about the interconnections between humans and environment, I have a PhD in Atmospheric Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and a Master in Analysis of Environmental Systems from the University of Milano. I am a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IJF-GB13053) and my works appear regularly in the major newspapers and magazines.



GRANTS and AWARDS

2021 – Selected for the first Hamburg Portfolio Review

2020 – PHmuseum Grant 2020 – Winner

2020 – Urban Book Award 2020 – Finalist

2019 – Italy Photo Award – Finalist

2018 – Selected for the PhotoVogue Portfolio Review

2018 – Premio Voglino – Finalist

2017 – World Report Award – Spotlight Award – Finalist

2017 – DAYS JAPAN International Photojournalism Awards – Finalist

2015 – Real 21 Journalism Found – Grantee



EXHIBITIONS

2023 – “Coordination Denied” @ Forum Trentino per la Pace – Trento, Italy

2023 – “/ustica/” @ Bosco Urban Art Project – Gambettola, Italy

2023 – “/ustica/” @ Insight Foto Festival – Varese, Italy

2023 – “/ustica/” @ Gisira Fest – Ortigia, Italy

2021 – “/ustica/” @ Festival delle Geografie – Villasanta, Italy

2021 – “Blod -a preview” @ Festival del Reportage – Ascoli Piceno, Italy

2020 – “The Wampis Nation” @ Kawasaki Peace Museum – Kawasaki, Japan

2020 – “/ustica/” @ PhEST – Monopoli, Italy

2020 – “Sport behind enemy lines” @ Grenze – Arsenali Fotografici – Verona, Italy

2020 – “Coordination Denied” @ Stop – Parma, Italy

2015 – “Media & Myth” collective exhibition @ Format 15 – Derby, United Kingdom

2015 – “Media & Myth” collective exhibition @ WARM Festival – Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina

2014 – “The Africa Yoga Project” @ Angkor Wat Photo Festival – Angkor Wat, Cambodia

2014 – “Global Cities” collective exhibition @ ISOLAB – Venice, Italy

2014 – “Chapters of a revolution” @ Festival Fotografico Europeo – Busto Arsizio, Italy

2012 – “100% Maldives” @ “It is what it was”, collective exhibition – London, United Kingdom



WORKSHOPS

2022 – Il senso dei luoghi – Vergato, Italy