Mario Amura was born in Naples in 1973 and studied Photography at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (C.S.C.), under the guidance of the master Giuseppe Rotunno. From 2000 to 2012, he handled the photography for various cinematic works showcased at prestigious international festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale, and the Venice Biennale. In 2003, he was honored with the David di Donatello award from the Italian Cinema Academy for the short film "Racconto di Guerra," set in the besieged Sarajevo of 1996.
Starting in 2005, Amura embarked on the StopEmotion project, initiating his photographic exploration aimed at fragmenting the linearity of chronological time into emotional peaks. Time emerges purified, ceasing to be a measure and becoming a tangible object, with its essence being the visibility of emotions. Employing the StopEmotion technique, he collected photographic material in Bosnia, India, rural China, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Latin America, England, and France. His photographic reportage projects are characterized by the need to mature over extensive periods.
Since 2007, he has been working on the ongoing Fujenti project. "Napoli Explosion" is a project that began in 2010 and is still in progress.
WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Napoli — NAPEX 223181, 2022
Pio Monte della Misericordia, Napoli — NAPEX 7303222, 2017
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025–2026 — Mario Amura: Napoli Explosion. Fogos, Cores e Luzes, Polo Cultural ItaliaNoRio, Rio de Janeiro. Organised by the Italian Cultural Institute of Rio de Janeiro
2025–2026 — Napoli Explosion RAP, Real Albergo dei Poveri, Naples. Curated by Sylvain Bellenger
2023–2024 — Mario Amura: Napoli Explosion, Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples. Curated by Sylvain Bellenger
PUBLICATIONS
Mario Amura. Napoli Explosion. Fogos, Cores, Luzes. Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Rio de Janeiro, 2026. Texts by Joaquim Marçal Andrade and Serafino Murri
Mario Amura. Napoli Explosion. Vol. 2. Vesev Impresa Sociale, 2025. Texts by Sylvain Bellenger, Erri De Luca, Gaetano Manfredi, Serafino Murri, Salvatore Settis. ISBN 979-12-243-1275-8
Mario Amura. Napoli Explosion. Vol. 1. Vesev Impresa Sociale, 2023. Texts by Sylvain Bellenger, Bruno Di Marino, Serenella Iovino, Serafino Murri. ISBN 979-12-210-4935-0
Mario Amura. Fotografie 1995–1999. Memoli Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1999. Texts by Lorenzo Cuna and Serenella Iovino
