Luigi Fieni
Luigi Fieni has photographed landscapes, culture, and the cultural heritage of the Himalayas for nearly two decades, while working as a conservator of Tibetan art, for a project funded by The American Himalayan Foundation.
Born in Italy, Luigi Fieni studied aeronautical engineering at the University of Rome, and then conservation of mural paintings at the “Arts Labor Conservation Institute” in Rome. He started his career as an art conservator in 1999, assisting in a prestigious project in the Himalayan region. As lead conservator he has worked mainly in Nepal, Bhutan, and China, restoring ancient Buddhist art and training local people to preserve their own cultural heritage. His work as a conservator of Tibetan art has been featured in many major newspapers and magazines worldwide, including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, The National Geographic Magazine, and Geo Magazine.
His photography has been exhibited in America, Europe and Asia. His work is part of private collections worldwide including: The Manggha Museum (Krakow, Poland), The Taragaon Museum (Kathmandu, Nepal) and The Contemporary Art Collection of The Vatican Museums (Vatican City). Fieni has collaborated with The National Geographic Society, The North Face, The Getty Images, The Mill Valley Film Group, Skydoor Productions, The American Himalayan Foundation, The Kham Aid Foundation, HPRC and Bauer Media.
Currently he is represented by PhotoEye Gallery (Santa Fe, USA), The Art of Wild Gallery (Hohenfels, Germany), HyPHen Gallery (Bucharest, Romania), Streaming Art (The Hague, The Netherlands) and Pandora Art Gallery (Bangkok, Thailand). He works as a photographer for Getty Images and The American Himalayan Foundation, and devotes his time to photography and to the preservation of the Tibetan culture.
“My job has taken me all over Asia to restore wonderful paintings, statues and artifacts as well as to teach my craft to the villagers. We have specially trained over seventy local individuals as restorers. Of this achievement I am most proud. Working on masterpieces of oriental art has become a means to the virtue of helping others, who otherwise would have spent their lives in the fields.
The Himalaya means more to me than just restoration. In the silence of the mountains I have discovered true voice and creative expression. Behind a lens, or through a paintbrush, my experiences have been manifested. Every one of us has a wish in life. Mine is to show you the wonders of the Himalayan world through my eyes...”
–Luigi Fieni