Alberto Terrile (born 11 March 1961) is an Italian-born photographer. Mostly known in France, Italy and the US for his work-in-progress about angels, he is also active in publishing, theatre, music, cinema and advertising. He specialises in black-and-white portraits, for which he has won several prizes; his most acclaimed works include live performances of Corrado Rustici, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Ute Lemper. Personal expositions of his pictures have taken place in Milan, Rome, Berlin, Paris, Avignon, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto. Biography Born in Genoa, Italy, 11 March 1961, of a middle-class family, Terrile shows a strong interest in the figurative arts since he is a child. His years until a teenager are spent in his home town, located on the sea and a prominent port of the Mediterranean, and Iola di Montese, a small village in the Apennine Mountains at the border of Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, where Terrile's family has a countryhouse. The stark cultural and human contrast between the two places lies at the heart of his later artistic development; it is also probably at this time that Terrile develops his love for wild, uncontaminated nature (especially woods and mountains) and solitude – an attitude which is clearly visible throughout his work as a photographer. Early years and education At the age of 14 Terrile enters the Artistic High School Nicolò Barabino of Genoa, officially as an apprentice painter. His natural attitude to painting and arts in general is not apparent, at least to his teachers, to the extent that in his first year he is suggested to move away from the artistic career and "find a good job instead." Nevertheless, after the high school and with the support of his parents, Terrile enters the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti (Ligurian Academy of Fine Arts) in Genoa, where he further pursues his interests in visual arts and music. At the Academy, Terrile uses his fellow coursemates as models. The general atmosphere of rebellion against the rules and the desire to experiment lead him to realise, among others, a series of colour portraits shot in low key, almost monochromatic, but with overtly red lips or blue eyes. Bodies and faces are crammed into a single frame as if immersed in water or boxed in a fish tank. The set called Fluttuare ("To float") is a good example of his early style. In these years his activity is extremely heterogeneous,