Ilaria Sagaria

Salerno ITALY
1989

Ilaria Sagaria was born in 1989 in the province of Salerno, Italy.

After graduating in Painting and Photography from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples, she worked as a photographer between Naples and Munich.

Her work has been shown in contemporary art galleries, museums, and Italian Cultural Institutes across Italy and abroad, and has featured in a variety of international photography festivals. Selected venues and major festivals include the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (2018); Verzasca Photo Festival, Switzerland (2023); Maja Arte Contemporanea, Rome (2023); Format Festival, United Kingdom (2024); Museo Civico di Foggia (2024); Alessia Paladini Gallery, Milan (2025); and the Centre de la photographie Genève (2025). Her work has also been featured in leading publications such as Il Fotografo, Gente di Fotografia, Artribune, Exibart, Il Giornale dell’Arte, Finestre sull’Arte, Elle, and The Guardian.

In 2021, she presented a solo exhibition at the Gallerie degli Uffizi (Florence). She returned in 2023 by invitation, donating one of her works to the museum’s permanent contemporary self-portrait collection.

She has received several awards, including the Sette Opere di Misericordia Prize (2015) from the Museo del Pio Monte della Misericordia in Naples; the Biennale dei Giovani Fotografi Italiani (2018); Portfolio Italia (2021); the New Talent Prize (2023); and the Portfolio Prize at the Festival Fotografico Europeo (2024). She was also a finalist for the Passepartout Photo Prize (2023).

She currently lives and works in Milan, where she continues her artistic research while teaching photography, graphic design, and audiovisual and multimedia disciplines.

Her work stems from a meticulous study of the past, aiming to create complex and layered imagery that explores the inner world and human emotions, with particular attention to their social and psychological dimensions. Both intimate and visionary, her practice is rich in symbolism and artistic references that bridge past and present, generating striking and unexpected visions.