Artist Statement

My name is Giada Otten, and my love for photography began in childhood. In 1997, when I was 12, war broke out in Albania. My family was forced to flee to Italy, and in the process, we lost all our family photographs—including every image of me as a baby. That absence left a deep imprint on me and ignited a lifelong passion for documenting life through the lens.

In 2008, my mother gave me my first digital camera. I began photographing life on the streets while studying painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara. One day, I captured an image I later titled The Umbrella Man—a simple portrait of an old man holding an umbrella. That moment shifted everything. Photography, unlike painting, felt spontaneous and alive. It allowed me to connect with the world in a way that was immediate and deeply human.

In 2016, I began focusing more intently on landscapes. Still, regardless of subject—whether people, streets, architecture, or nature—my work continues to center on one driving theme: the exploration of self and the inevitability of transformation.

Much of my landscape work explores ideas of reconstruction—where the old is dismantled to make room for the new. Even in the absence of people, a strong human presence is always implied through our interaction with space and the natural world. Across all my work, I seek to express the beauty and necessity of change as a vital force in growth, memory, and identity.