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| The London photography community is a small and vibrant one, and Gigi Giannuzzi, who has died aged 49 after suffering from pancreatic cancer, was one of its most well-known characters. | The London photography community is a small and vibrant one, and Gigi Giannuzzi, who has died aged 49 after suffering from pancreatic cancer, was one of its most well-known characters. |
| A maverick, a radical and a legendary reveller, Gigi founded Trolley Books in 2001 and went into partnership with Hannah Watson in 2005. The imprint championed photography as a medium for change; its books merged often hard-hitting documentary with stylish design. The photographer Robin Maddock described Gigi as "a principled man with vision and tons of flair, making our piles of pictures into a thing that has life in it". | A maverick, a radical and a legendary reveller, Gigi founded Trolley Books in 2001 and went into partnership with Hannah Watson in 2005. The imprint championed photography as a medium for change; its books merged often hard-hitting documentary with stylish design. The photographer Robin Maddock described Gigi as "a principled man with vision and tons of flair, making our piles of pictures into a thing that has life in it". |
| I first came across Gigi in 2002, when Trolley published Deirdre O'Callaghan's photobook Hide That Can, which looked like a style bible, but turned out to be a documentary portrait of Arlington House in Camden Town, a hostel for alcoholics and homeless men. In 2003, it won the award for photography book of the year at the Rencontres d'Arles photography festival. At Arles, you often heard Gigi before you saw him – that frazzled voice raised in greeting or in encouragement. And then, you invariably spent the night trying to keep up with him and his appetite for argument, alcohol and provocation. | |
| Trolley published acclaimed books by Maddock, Paolo Pellegrin, Thomas Dworzak, Nina Berman and Philip Jones Griffiths. Recently, Berman described Gigi as "an activist, a rebel, a manic, blazing genius who used photography to shake his fist at power and hypocrisy". There is perhaps no better illustration of that commitment than a recent Trolley book, The Only House Left Standing, by Tom Hurndall, the young British peace activist who died in 2004 after being shot by an Israeli sniper in Gaza. | Trolley published acclaimed books by Maddock, Paolo Pellegrin, Thomas Dworzak, Nina Berman and Philip Jones Griffiths. Recently, Berman described Gigi as "an activist, a rebel, a manic, blazing genius who used photography to shake his fist at power and hypocrisy". There is perhaps no better illustration of that commitment than a recent Trolley book, The Only House Left Standing, by Tom Hurndall, the young British peace activist who died in 2004 after being shot by an Israeli sniper in Gaza. |
| Born Luigi Giannuzzi in Rome, he was raised in northern Italy. He landed his first job in publishing with Allemandi Books and left there to start his own company, the short-lived West Zone, which published Nan Goldin's book Ten Years After in 1998. In 2001, he famously pushed his book proposals around the Frankfurt Book Fair in a supermarket shopping trolley, an act that gave his new publishing venture its name. Trolley initially established its reputation with a run of politically radical and beautifully designed photo-books that included Dworzak's Taliban, Carl de Keyzer's Zona: Siberian Prison Camps and Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin's Ghetto. | Born Luigi Giannuzzi in Rome, he was raised in northern Italy. He landed his first job in publishing with Allemandi Books and left there to start his own company, the short-lived West Zone, which published Nan Goldin's book Ten Years After in 1998. In 2001, he famously pushed his book proposals around the Frankfurt Book Fair in a supermarket shopping trolley, an act that gave his new publishing venture its name. Trolley initially established its reputation with a run of politically radical and beautifully designed photo-books that included Dworzak's Taliban, Carl de Keyzer's Zona: Siberian Prison Camps and Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin's Ghetto. |
| In 2011, Trolley opened a new office and gallery in central London named TJ Boulting, which hosts contemporary art as well as photography exhibitions. In September 2012, an art auction entitled Situation Gigi, including works donated by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and the Chapman Brothers, raised around £230,000 towards Gigi's alternative cancer treatment in a Munich clinic. This month, Trolley marks its 10th anniversary with a retrospective exhibition, Trolleyology. A book of the same name will follow in the spring. His maverick spirit and radical vision will be apparent in the works on the wall and the words on the page. | In 2011, Trolley opened a new office and gallery in central London named TJ Boulting, which hosts contemporary art as well as photography exhibitions. In September 2012, an art auction entitled Situation Gigi, including works donated by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and the Chapman Brothers, raised around £230,000 towards Gigi's alternative cancer treatment in a Munich clinic. This month, Trolley marks its 10th anniversary with a retrospective exhibition, Trolleyology. A book of the same name will follow in the spring. His maverick spirit and radical vision will be apparent in the works on the wall and the words on the page. |
| At Gigi's funeral, his wicker coffin was placed on two welded-together shopping trolleys full of books and red roses. | At Gigi's funeral, his wicker coffin was placed on two welded-together shopping trolleys full of books and red roses. |
| He is survived by his mother, Bianca, two brothers, a sister, and his girlfriend, Masumi Rioja. | He is survived by his mother, Bianca, two brothers, a sister, and his girlfriend, Masumi Rioja. |