About
The imprint, and the photographer.
PadPlaces is an editorial imprint founded and directed by Andrea Pistolesi, dedicated to the development and publication of documentary photography books and long-term visual research projects.
Created in 2010, PadPlaces originated as an early experiment in digital publishing for photography — one of the first photography-based self-publishing applications for the Apple iPad. The application was discontinued in 2018. The imprint continued without it, as a curated editorial structure supporting author-driven projects rooted in extended fieldwork, geographical research, and cultural inquiry.
Publications released under the imprint focus on themes such as landscape, belief systems, cultural identity, and the relationship between human communities and their environments. Books are conceived not as isolated products, but as reference outcomes within broader documentary and artistic projects that may also include exhibitions, fine-art print series, and institutional collaborations.
Andrea Pistolesi
Andrea Pistolesi is a documentary photographer and filmmaker whose work focuses on people, culture, and the relationship between human communities and their environments. His projects are developed through long-term research and combine documentary rigour with a strong authorial visual approach.
Born in Florence, he studied geography before beginning his professional career in photography in 1981. That background has shaped a practice grounded in direct observation, field research, and long-term engagement with places and communities rather than short-term production.
Over more than four decades he has developed documentary projects across Europe, the United States, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania. His work has been published internationally by major magazines and cultural institutions, including National Geographic, Time, Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times and Geo.
More than a hundred books with publishers, and more than seventy self-published under this imprint. The full account, title by title and figure by figure, is on The Record.
He lives and works between Italy and Asia. His images are represented by Getty Images and Hemis.
The five properties
Five properties, one body of work. The Record is the complete account — every project, story and film, made to be checked. Portfolio is the selection made for commissions. Archive is where photographs are licensed. Prints are the fine art editions of twelve. Books are the titles published under the PadPlaces imprint.
They are separate because the questions are separate: what has he done, can he do this job, may I use this image, may I own this print, may I read this book.