This artist talk with Nicoletta Grillo took her photographic book Noi (Boîte Editions, 2022) as its point of departure. Built from a rediscovered archive of her mother’s photographs and personal diaries, Noi weaves together the atmosphere of 1970s Milanese feminist demonstrations with intimate moments of daily life, friendship, and self-discovery.
Moving continuously between the personal and the political, the discussion traces Grillo’s broader artistic practice while placing Noi into dialogue with selected volumes from the Vue Gallery collection and beyond. Together, these works examine how photography can function as an active tool for documentation, memory, self-representation, and lived experience.
Featured Reading List & Related Titles
- NOI (Us) — Nicoletta Grillo (Boîte Editions, 2022)
A dialogue between past and present that intertwines family history with collective memory through rediscovered 1970s film rolls and personal journals. - Putting Myself in the Picture: A Political, Personal and Photographic Autobiography — Jo Spence
A foundational text exploring how photography can be reclaimed for self-examination, political resistance, and subverting patriarchal representation. - Daily Self-Portraits 1972–1973 — Melissa Shook
A pioneering sequence of daily photographic observations documenting domestic space, motherhood, and female presence without idealization. - Women in Revolt!
An extensive survey documenting two decades (1970–1990) of radical feminist cultural production, activism, and visual art in the UK. - Donne è Bello — Liliana Barchiesi
Taking its title from an iconic slogan of the Italian feminist movement, this volume critically examines visual culture and the reclamation of female autonomy. - Immagini del No
An archival collection of graphic materials, posters, and photographs produced during Italy’s historic 1974 divorce referendum, illustrating visual art as a catalyst for political change.
