Andrea Rocchelli was an Italian freelance photojournalist. He founded the independent photographers collective Cesura.
Biography
Rocchelli graduated in 2007 at the Polytechnic University of Milan where he was awarded a master's degree in Communications Design. Subsequently, he was trained by Magnum Photos photographer Alex Majoli. In 2008, with other four photographers, he founded Cesura, a photographic collective aiming to produce independent projects. He worked as a freelance photojournalist with a diversified curriculum. He documented the Arab Spring in Libya and Tunisia, the violation of human rights in Kyrgyzstan and Ingushetia, the conditions of migrants in Southern Italy and organized crime. His principal interest had been eastern Europe and Russia. His photos have been published by a number of journals and magazines such as Le Monde, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta. When Rocchelli died, his first book, Russian Interiors, was about to be completed. The work was published posthumously by Cesura.
Death
Rocchelli was killed in Andriivka, Ukraine, near Sloviansk, on 24 May 2014 while reporting on the war in Donbass. He was travelling with the human rights activist and interpreter Andrei Mironov, a French photo reporter, and a local driver. When they stopped to take some pictures near a railway line, the group was hit by mortar fire. The Italian authorities described the attack that killed both Mironov and Rocchelli as murder.
Investigation and sentence
Rocchelli's death was investigated by the Italian authorities. An international rogatory to their Ukrainan counterpart was requested, but this action did not achieve any significant result. Nevertheless, further inquiries were carried out by the Italian prosecutor in collaboration with the investigative unit of the CarabinieriSpecial Operations Group. In July 2017 these inquiries led the Italian authorities to arrest Vitalii Markiv, an Italian citizen from Ukraine, a former member of one of National Guard units. In response to the arrest by Italian prosecution Ukrainian prosecution proposed a joint investigation that will conduct visit and examination of the place of Rocchelli death, however, according to Ukrainian media, this proposal was ignored by Italian prosecution. On 12 July 2019 the Court of Assize of the Tribunal of Pavia has sentenced Markiv to 24 years of detention in prison in concurs of guilt with the Ukrainian state, the public prosecutor had asked for Markiv a 17 years sentence. The same sentence, furthermore, calls for the forwarding of the file concerning Commander Bogdan Matkiwsky for investigation by the Rome Prosecutor's Office because he is deemed the direct superior of Markiv during the operations that killed Rocchelli and Mironov. Raffaele Della Valle, the lawyer of Markiv, had claimed his complete innocence and declared that he is going to appeal the tribunal sentence, he will have to file for appeal within ninety days of the publication of the sentence motivations by the Tribunal of Pavia.
Last pictures
The last pictures Rocchelli took before his death precisely document the attack that killed him and Mironov and permanently injured Roguelon. These photographs testify to the duration of the shootings, the morphology of the area, and the civilian clothing worn by the victims.
Exhibitions
2014 September 4– 9 Ukraina Revolution, curated by Cesura and Ilaria Alpi Association; Palazzo Graziani, San Marino, SM. 2014 September 20– 2 November. Evidence, retrospective curated by photographer Gianluca Grossi and Cesura; Spazio Reale, Monte Carasso, Bellinzona, CH. 2015 June 5– 5 July. Stories, retrospective curated by Cesura and Lucia Rocchelli; Palazzo del Broletto, Pavia, IT. 2015 September 30– 15 November. Stories, retrospective curated by Cesura and 3/3; Museo di Roma in Trastevere, Rome, IT. 2017. 3–7 May. From the last front: the Ucraine of Rocchelli and Mironov, curated by Leonardo Brogioni; The Triennale Design Museum, Milan, IT. The exhibition was part of the International Human Rights Festival of Milan. 2017. 23 November.– 2018 January 14 Andy Rocchelli: Letzte Front, curated by Miklos Klaus Rosza in collaboration with COOPI; Photobastei, Zurich, CH.
Publications
Rocchelli's portrait of the feminine universe in the post-soviet era, Russian Interiors has been published in late 2014. It has been positively reviewed by the international critique throughout the last years, e.g. it has been listed among the best 10 photobooks of 2014 by Martin Parr on the British Journal of Photography.
Awards
2014 June 13. Photo prize Ponchielli 2014 dedicated to Andy Rocchelli, Milan, IT. 2014 September 7. Kamerton Prize to independent journalism conferred to Andy Rocchelli and Andrey Mironov. The prize is named after the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Moscow, RU. 2014 December. San Siro civic award assigned by the municipality of Pavia, IT. 2015 April 25. World Press Photo, 2nd Prize of the section Portraits, Stories to the photowork Russian Interiors, Amsterdam, NL. 2015 June. OSCE dedicated a commemorative plate to Andy Rocchelli as a tribute to those fallen for OSCE values in areas of conflict, Parliament, Rome, IT.
