Maurizio Galimberti was born in Como in 1956. He now lives and works in Milan. In his initial approach to the world of photography he used a Widelux rotating lens camera before making his radical, definitive commitment to polaroids in 1983.

In 1991 he began collaborating with Polaroid Italia and soon became their official testimonial. For the company he produced the book Polaroid Pro Art, published in 1995, now a cult object for fans of polaroid integral film. He was appointed “Instant Artist” and he devised the Italian Polaroid Collection. In 1992 he was awarded the prestigious Gran Prix Kodak Pubblicità Italia. For Kodak Italia, he staged a travelling exhibition in The Maestri series in 2000. Continuing his research with the polaroid, he reinvented the technique of the “photographic mosaic”, which he initially used for portraits. His first mosaic experiment was conducted in 1989 when he portrayed his son Giorgio. This was followed by portraits of Michele Trussardi, Carla Fracci and Mimmo Rotella. These works had obvious references to the pioneering Bragaglia brothers and the exploration of rhythm and movement. He then proceeded to portray leading figures from the world of cinema, art and culture. His images of faces became so popular and critically acclaimed that he was invited to the Venice Film Festival as official portraitist.

In 1999 the Italian magazine Class ranked him as the number one Italian portrait photographer in the monthly’s own classification. His portrait of Johnny Depp, shot at the 2003 Venice Film Festival, was chosen as a cover picture for The Times Magazine in September. Galimberti soon began using the mosaic as a technique not only to portray faces, but also landscapes, architecture and cities. In a balanced way he alternates a feeling for composition, in which there is an increasing emphasis on the search for rhythm (the Mosaics are an example of this) with an interest in detail, i.e. the exploration of an intimate scene to be captured and immortalized, rendered by one single polaroid. His works on the landscape, cities and the surrounding space characterizing these places are alternatively based on one of these two approaches; they are two different ways of narrating the same reality.

From 1997 to 1999 he produced two major works for the cities of Paris and Lisbon. This marked the beginning of his thinking on the importance of being able to narrate the history, music and lived experience of places through images. In 2003 he directed his efforts to the publication of the book Viaggio in Italia, (“Italian Journey”), a narrative concerning some places in Italy, retold in single polaroids. In 2006, during his first trip to New York, he began his research into light and energy, inspired by the city, which was new for the artist and became the ideal representation of the contemporary world. He also devoted another work to New York in 2010 when he produced a large collection of polaroids, both singles and mosaics. In this case he alternated details – stories of human intimacy – with images that lend themselves to the mathematically rigorous study of various compositional harmonies, expressed in powerful pictures of New York skyscrapers, skies, light and streets.

After New York he continued this kind of study in other cities such as Berlin, Venice and Naples. He also further developed his research into other ways of representing and crossing over these places that he had encountered and their distinctive features. Pursuing a desire to make objects of the past contemporary, he also began creating readymades of Duchampian inspiration; they are now a significant part of his production. At the same time his research and the special techniques that he has developed have become increasingly widely admired. Galimberti’s work attracts interest from people operating in various fields often leading to collaboration on new artistic and creative projects. For the AC Milan soccer company he produced a centenary series of portraits called Il Milan del Centenario, which was presented in an exhibition in the Palazzo della Triennale, Milan in March 2000.

He contributed images to a lavishly illustrated book on the company Jaeger-LeCoultre, edited by Franco Cologni. For FIAT Auto he produced the calendar of the same name in 2006 and the book Viaggio in Italia… Nuova Fiat 500… For Kerakoll Design he published photographs in the book New York Matericomovimentosa. In collaboration with the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte, he illustrated the volume_ Il fotografo, mestiere d’arte, edited by Giuliana Scimè. For Polaroid he published the book _Made in Italy. Viaggio con Polaroid in 2003. In October 2009, to mark the relaunch of Polaroid, he was invited as the official testimonial to photography fairs in Hong Kong and Las Vegas and to the Tribeca Film Festival, where he did a number of portrait performances with Lady Gaga, Chuck Close and Robert De Niro.

In 2011,_ Impossible, a new producer of instant film, dedicated a black and white instant film to him: Impossible Maurizio Galimberti Special Edition_. Maurizio Galimberti is a visiting professor at the Domus Academy and the Istituto Italiano di Fotografia, Milan. He regularly holds creative photography workshops at the major photography festivals. His works are found in some of the most important photography collections. At present is working on a book featuring the city of Milan, which will be launched to mark the Expo 2015.