Valentina Tamborra was born in 1983 in Milan, where she lives and works.
She is a professional photographer and publicist journalist, focusing mainly on reportage and portraiture. In her work, she combines writing and imagery.

She collaborates with some of the leading NGOs and national and international organizations such as AMREF, Doctors Without Borders, Albero della Vita, Emergency Smiles, and the Italian Red Cross.

Her projects have been exhibited in Milan, Venice, Rome, and Naples. She has numerous publications in major national media outlets (Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, Repubblica, Il Manifesto, La Lettura, Famiglia Cristiana, Gioia). She has also been a guest on various radio and television interviews (Rai 1, Rai 3, Rai Italia, Sky TV, Radio 24, Radio Capital, and Rai Radio 2).

Valentina is a photography instructor at the Italian Institute of Photography in Milan. She has conducted workshops and given speeches at some of the most prestigious Italian institutions, including NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Milan) and IED (Istituto Europeo di Design).

She has developed projects with tourism boards and embassies.

Her first major personal project, “Doppia Luce,” after being exhibited, became a series of conferences at NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) in Milan.

In April 2018, during the Milan Photofestival, she won the AIF New Photography Award.

In 2024, she published the photographic and narrative volume “I Nascosti” with minimum fax, in both Italian and English editions.

EXHIBITIONS

2024

  • October 18 – 20 “With Our Voice – Stories of Freedom” curated by Giuseppe Creti – Teatro Franco Parenti for the “Incontro” Festival by Vidas – Milan (solo exhibition)

  • October 19 – 27 “I nascosti” – The hidden” curated by Giuseppe Creti – Casa Morandi – Saronno Fotofestival (solo exhibition)


  • March 1-5: “I nascosti –The hidden” curated by Giuseppe Creti – Teatro Franco Parenti for the “I Boreali” Festival – Milan (solo exhibition).

2023

  • April 18 – June 30: “Ahkat TerraMadre” – national preview – curated by Claudio Argentiero and Giuseppe Creti – SEA Milano Malpensa Airport Photosquare (solo exhibition).

2022

  • May 27 – September 4: “SKREI – IL VIAGGIO,” curated by Roberto Mutti, and “MI TULAR – IO SONO IL CONFINE,” curated by Giuseppe Creti – Museum of Rome in Trastevere, Rome (solo exhibition). During the exhibition, meetings and round tables were held with leading experts and science communicators working on climate change.

2021

  • October 1 – October 31: “SKREI – IL VIAGGIO,” curated by Roberto Mutti – Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice (solo exhibition).

2020

  • November 2 – February 26, 2021: “SKREI – IL VIAGGIO,” curated by Roberto Mutti – Fondazione Stelline, Milan (solo exhibition).
  • October 31 – November 8: “MI TULAR – IO SONO IL CONFINE,” curated by the Royal Norwegian Embassy – Festival “Segni New Generations” – Mantua (solo exhibition).

2019

  • June 15 – September 8: “CHOKORA” – IL MONDO NELL’OBIETTIVO – I FOTOGRAFI DELLE ONG – curated by FIAF (Federation of Italian Photographic Associations) and CIFA (Italian Center for Author Photography) – Bibbiena (group exhibition).
  • May 9 – June 2: “POVERI NOI, UN RACCONTO DELL’ITALIA CHE NON SI ARRENDE,” curated by Roberto Mutti – Interface Hub Art (solo exhibition, project by Monica Triglia and Valentina Tamborra), Milan. Texts curated by journalist Monica Triglia. Project carried out for Albero della Vita (solo exhibition).
  • April 4 – June 7: “MI TULAR – IO SONO IL CONFINE” – Apres Coup Gallery – Milan. Project by Valentina Tamborra, exhibition curated by Sarah Lanzoni (solo exhibition).
  • March 30 – April 13: “LA SOTTILE LINEA ROSSA” – project in collaboration with Doctors Without Borders – Villa Brivio – Nova Milanese (solo exhibition).

2018

  • December 26 – December 31: “VOCI DI CONFINE” – as part of LecceFilmFest – Festival del Cinema Invisibile (solo exhibition). Project carried out for Amref Health Africa (solo exhibition).
  • October 14 – October 21: “NIEN’ALTRO CHE FINZIONI” – FOTOCLUB IL SESTANTE for the event DuemilaLibri – Gallarate (VA) (solo exhibition).
  • July 19 – August 15: “CHOKORA” for VOCI PER LA LIBERTÀ – Amnesty International – Rosolina Mare (solo exhibition).
  • June 20 – June 30: “NIEN’ALTRO CHE FINZIONI” for PHOTOFESTIVAL 2018 at KASA DEI LIBRI – Milan (solo exhibition).
  • March 9 – March 12: MIA PHOTO FAIR – THE MALL – Porta Nuova Varesine Milan.
  • January 29 – February 25: “NIENT’ALTRO CHE FINZIONI” – Journey to Norway in the footsteps of Ibsen with Federica Fracassi – Nonostante Marras – Milan (solo exhibition).

2016 – 2017

  • October 13 – October 19, 2017: “DOVE NESSUN ALTRO ARRIVA – un volo lungo 60 anni” – Event Exhibition MAXXI – National Museum of XXI Century Arts – Rome (group exhibition).
  • July 14 – July 28, 2017: “Doppia Luce” – Magazzini Fotografici – Naples (solo exhibition).
  • June 22 – July 21, 2017: “CHOKORA Il barattolo che voleva suonare” – Galleria Mario Giusti HQ – Milan with the patronage of Fondazione Cariplo (solo exhibition).
  • December 6, 2016 – January 14, 2017: “Solo l’Arte fa Natale” – Galleria Mario Giusti HQ – Milan (group exhibition).
  • October 13 – November 5, 2016: “Doppia Luce” – Galleria Mario Giusti HQ – Milan (solo exhibition)

 

PROJECTS

May 2024 – October 2024: She is working on the project “Sibling” for Vidas. A narrative in images, audio, and text to tell the stories of children living daily with the illnesses of their siblings.

May 2019 – ongoing: For the NGO “Emergenza Sorrisi,” she is developing the project “Per un sorriso in più,” documenting the work of the NGO in Benin, Burkina Faso, Iraq, and Mali. A team of volunteer doctors operating in some of the poorest and most complex countries to restore hope.

August 2019 – April 2022: She developed the project “I Nascosti”: a story and a four-year reportage on and with the last native people of Europe, the Sami. From the project, a book was published by minimum fax.

May 2020: For the Italian Red Cross, she developed the project “Quei bravi ragazzi – L’Italia che aiuta,” documenting the work of young Italian Red Cross volunteers from north to south during the COVID-19 emergency.

May 2019 – March 2020: For the Norwegian Seafood Council and Tørrfisk fra Lofoten, she developed the project “Skrei – il viaggio”: the story of a friendship between Norway and Italy from 1432 to today. From the Arctic Circle to Venice, among fishermen and ancient markets, a journey through the tradition of cod fishing.

May 2019 – March 2022: For the NGO “Emergenza Sorrisi,” she developed the project “Per un sorriso in più,” documenting the work of the NGO in Benin, Iraq, and Mali. A team of volunteer doctors operating in some of the poorest and most complex countries to restore hope.

November 2018: “VOCI DI CONFINE” – participated in the project for Amref Health Africa, documenting migration from a different perspective: stories of success, integration, and rebirth. From Bolzano to Lecce, passing through Ancona, the story of a journey towards a new life.

September 2018: Together with journalist Monica Triglia, she documented the project “Varcare la Soglia” for “L’Albero della Vita,” focusing on new poverty in Italy: from north to south, a narrative in images and words of those living below the poverty line.

June 2018: With the support of Innovation Norway, she developed the project “MI TULAR – Io sono il Confine” – a journey to the Svalbard Islands to discover the identity of those who choose to live at the edge of the world in a place where one cannot be born or die.

September 2017 – January 2018: In collaboration with Doctors Without Borders, she developed the project “La sottile linea rossa,” traveling to the border between France and Italy in Ventimiglia, documenting those who, after the emergency, remain in this strip of land with the vain hope of crossing the border.

August 2017: Together with actress Federica Fracassi, she developed the project “nient’altro che finzioni” – a journey in Norway in the footsteps of Ibsen and Peer Gynt. A photographic diary of a journey between dream and reality.

June 2017: For the “L’Albero della Vita” Foundation, she developed the project “Giocare è una cosa seria,” traveling to the earthquake-affected areas of the Marche region, collecting images and testimonies of the families involved in the events.

February 2017: Together with Mario De Santis, journalist of Radio Capital, and AMREF HEALTH AFRICA, she documented the story of the Chokora, the street children of Nairobi, and their rebirth through the recycling of objects found in the city’s dumps.

March – May 2017: Series of conferences in collaboration with NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) with the protagonists of DOPPIA LUCE (guests: Gino & Michele, Federica Fracassi, Guido Silvestri, Emilio Isgrò).

January 2016: She developed the project “Doppia Luce.” Double portrait and double question “who are you? What do you do?” to the characters who have marked contemporary history. To discover the person behind the well-known face, the man behind the work.