Luca Santese (Milan, 1985) is an Italian artist, photographer, and curator. He studied at the State Art Institute of Monza and at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan.
While pursuing his academic studies, he worked as an assistant in Alex Majoli’s printing studio and, in 2008, co-founded Cesura, an independent collective dedicated to documentary photography, visual research, and publishing.
In 2010, he was selected for the World Press Photo with the project Detroit 2009–2010. That same year, he presented Found Photos in Detroit for the first time at Le Bal in Paris, followed by exhibitions at the Kulturhuset in Stockholm, the OGR in Turin, the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) in Chicago, and numerous international venues.
In 2012, he published Found Photos in Detroit, which received seven nominations for Best Photobook of the Year and was selected by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger for The Photobook: A History, Volume III, a survey of the 200 most significant photobooks published since World War II.
The curatorial research initiated through Found Photos in Detroit continued with Italy & Italy, a book collecting vernacular photographs from the Italian Riviera Romagnola during the 1990s. He also curated Immaginario, an exhibition celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Touring Club Italiano, featuring 125 original photographs from the organization’s archive. The exhibition was presented at the Palazzo della Regione Lombardia in Milan in 2019. In parallel, Santese undertook a photographic journey across all twenty Italian regions on assignment for the Touring Club Italiano.
His recent work focuses on photographic research and experimental documentary practices, developed through projects such as Realpolitik (2018–2024) and the photobooks Il Corpo del Capitano (2020) and Texas Trigger (2025).
His photographs and writings have been published in major international and national publications, including Time, Vogue, L'Espresso, Libération, Vanity Fair, Internazionale, Vice, Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 Ore, Le Monde, Stern, Die Zeit, La Repubblica, Essenziale, Sportweek, Der Freitag, and Politico Europe.
His work has been exhibited throughout Europe, the United States, Russia, and Asia.
While pursuing his academic studies, he worked as an assistant in Alex Majoli’s printing studio and, in 2008, co-founded Cesura, an independent collective dedicated to documentary photography, visual research, and publishing.
In 2010, he was selected for the World Press Photo with the project Detroit 2009–2010. That same year, he presented Found Photos in Detroit for the first time at Le Bal in Paris, followed by exhibitions at the Kulturhuset in Stockholm, the OGR in Turin, the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) in Chicago, and numerous international venues.
In 2012, he published Found Photos in Detroit, which received seven nominations for Best Photobook of the Year and was selected by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger for The Photobook: A History, Volume III, a survey of the 200 most significant photobooks published since World War II.
The curatorial research initiated through Found Photos in Detroit continued with Italy & Italy, a book collecting vernacular photographs from the Italian Riviera Romagnola during the 1990s. He also curated Immaginario, an exhibition celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Touring Club Italiano, featuring 125 original photographs from the organization’s archive. The exhibition was presented at the Palazzo della Regione Lombardia in Milan in 2019. In parallel, Santese undertook a photographic journey across all twenty Italian regions on assignment for the Touring Club Italiano.
His recent work focuses on photographic research and experimental documentary practices, developed through projects such as Realpolitik (2018–2024) and the photobooks Il Corpo del Capitano (2020) and Texas Trigger (2025).
His photographs and writings have been published in major international and national publications, including Time, Vogue, L'Espresso, Libération, Vanity Fair, Internazionale, Vice, Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 Ore, Le Monde, Stern, Die Zeit, La Repubblica, Essenziale, Sportweek, Der Freitag, and Politico Europe.
His work has been exhibited throughout Europe, the United States, Russia, and Asia.