‘AI is killing photography’, words of Paolo Gasparini, Hemingway Prize 2026

Paolo Gasparini is one of the most important names in social photography of the 20th century: since the end of the 1950s he has traveled between Latin America, Europe, Cuba and the United States documenting inequalities, social marginalization, urban transformations and contrasts between architectural modernity and poverty. He lived in Cuba during the years of revolutionary fervor, between the ’60s and ’70s, associating with figures such as Gabriel García Márquez and documenting the birth of the new society. Che Guevara occupies a central place in his work: in his reportages and photobooks, such as the famous Le Ciel Est Dans La Rue, Gasparini immortalized Che and the climate of social transformation in Cuba. And to seal the bond with Ernest Hemingway is a memorable encounter, experienced by Gasparini in the Cuba of the 1960s: the one with the fisherman Gregorio Fuentes, the legendary commander of the Pilar, the boat on which Hemingway went away for days to conduct his fishing trips.

“Adiós a la photography” (Ediciones Mal de Ojo, 2026) was, explains Gasparini, «a long work in progress: it would not be equally stimulating to dedicate ourselves to a book if we already knew exactly the result of our commitment». Adiós a la photography involved a journey through Gasparini’s endless archive, a selection of images, different phases of viewing the work, but also some certainties: «I wanted to offer a reflection and a conclusion on what photography has been in the 70 years of my profession, and above all on what it is becoming today – says the artist, from Caracas where he still lives – The conclusions are inevitable, we are witnessing the daily crescendo of the diffusion of fictitious images produced by artificial intelligence: images which dehumanize our gaze and cloud our way of understanding reality. The photograph is no longer a credible record. Herbert Marcuse said in the 1960s that art ends when we can no longer distinguish true from false, ugly from beautiful, good from bad. Well, the truth is that we are entering this moment in the history of photography and the world.”

In Lignano Sabbiadoro the 42nd edition of the Hemingway Prize will see four other voices of thought and writing as protagonists this year: the writer Niccolò Ammaniti winner for Literature, the psychiatrist Paolo Crepet who wins the Adventure of thought category, the essayist and sinologist Giada Messetti in the Lignano per il Futuro 2026 section, the Turkish-Kurdish writer Burhan Sönmez in the Witness of our section time. The meetings with each winner will mark the salient phases of the Award on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th June. A program that will culminate on Saturday at 8.30pm at Cinecity, in the awards ceremony hosted by journalist Monica Giandotti. The Hemingway Award is conceived and promoted by the Municipality of Lignano Sabbiadoro with the support of the autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia – Departments of Culture, Productive Activities and Tourism, through the consolidated collaboration with the Pordenonelegge.it Foundation.