Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
A photographer by training, Mark Guglielmo now uses his background as a springboard to explore a range of themes.
A native of New York City, Mark Guglielmo started taking pictures at age 12 with a Kodak Instamatic he purchased with profits from his paper route.
Transfixed by the magic of making images, he studied photography at Hastings High School and Haverford College, often sneaking into the darkroom on weekends and after hours to hone his craft.
Initially inspired by British artist David Hockney’s “Pearblossom Hwy.,” Guglielmo, now based Northampton, Massachusetts, creates layered figurative works exploring themes of identity, migration and power.
His exhibit “Portraits of my People,” which explores the Italian-American experience, was on display in September 2025 at the United Nations, his first solo show in New York City.
The work honored his grandparents, Grace and Angelo, who raised 11 children and were close to Guglielmo and his siblings.
“Combing through thousands of old, black and white, archival and family photographs, the artist drew inspiration from his childhood growing up in a large Italian American family in New York and from those that came before him,” his website states. “Themes of memory, identity, family, and belonging permeate the portraits … (Guglielmo) celebrates this quickly disappearing culture while engaging Italian American identity to spark greater awareness and deeper conversations about some of the most salient issues of our time.”
The exhibition was very well received for its artistic values and uplifting inspirations, said Rong Jiang, curator at the United Nations. “These paintings are about how an Italian immigrant family has made it in the United States, where immigration has become a topical issue.”
“His previous exhibits include “Spirits in the Land,” consisting of painted large-scale photo collages of Sicily; “Cubaneo,” a homage to the people of Cuba featuring 18 large-scale photo-collage portraits, interviews and field recordings; and “Shards of Illusion,” a series of photomontages focusing on how reality, always subjective, can easily be shattered.
The above article appears in the September 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.
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