Backhaus, Maria Vittoria
Maria Vittoria Backhaus is an Italian photographer born i 1942. She attended the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera; during those years, she also frequented the legendary Bar Giamaica, which other big photographers, such us Ugo Mulas, Alfa Castaldi and Mario Dondero, revolver around too.
The beginning
Backhaus works in Milan and is considered among the main photographers in still life: accessories, jewels, novelty, cooking. She started her career as reporter (for the weekly publication Tempo), in the second half of ’60s, when she shot during cultural, political and musical beat events. Then, at the beginning of ’80s, she entered the fashion system with her discriminating gaze: indeed she considered photography as a way to document the real and fashion as a celebration of excess.
The big friendship which tied her to Walter Albini was really important in defining her career: indeed she said that “I shot photos while Walter was on the set and he organized fashion shows, while I used to sew sequins on his items, in the dressing rooms. Walter taught me that aesthetic isn’t something superfluous, but a discipline”. So she began partnering with L’Uomo Vogue and Casa Vogue, which was at the time directed by Isa Tutino Vercelloni. From then, she specialized in still life, fashion photography and design photography.
The style of Maria Vittoria Backhaus
She immediately showed her talent, a sure taste and her know-how in the use of lights: she employed big formats and her point of view often seemed to be “untrendy”. For example, in a period when women were characterized by a fragile and thin figure, positioned in front of a white background, Maria Vittoria used to put a “real” woman in a huge set which told a history itself.
Her unexpected cut wasn’t given only by her sets, but also by her particular use of light, her photography techniques and her choices in cameras and films. It was given by her working method: she didn’t start from the objet she had to shoot, but she was interested especially in what an image can tell to spectators. Only later she decided which objects include in the scene, choosing them among the most functional to the story she decided to tell.
In addition to photography
Maria Vittoria Backhaus organized many exhibitions: the first one was organized in 1998 for Vogue Italia and the last one in 2023 the Casale Monferrato Castle. The content of her first exhibition, A noir, also became a book. This one wasn’t the only one, because, in addition to photography, she also concentrated on personal projects which often ended in catalogues and artist books in limited editions; furthermore, she works as archivist, listing and classifying her personal archive.
Private life
Maria Vittoria his Arnaldo Mussolini’s granddaughter; her father was Vito Mussolini, the last director of Popolo d’Italia. She married Giorgio Backhaus, who translated Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, philosophers at the Frankfurt School. She lives and works in Milan, but she spends part of her time in the Filicudi island.
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