About Mirella Ricciardi
Mirella Ricciardi was born into a stimulating Franco-Italian lineage and brought up in Kenya. The prophetic gift of a camera caught her imagination; after apprenticeships in Paris and New York, she had the skills to give a purpose to her nomadic instincts and to her intense curiosity. With her equally independent-spirited husband, Lorenzo, life was defined by their shared appetite for adventure.
Today, Mirella Ricciardi's archive, of words and of images, bears poignant and inspiring witness to a world that has gone, to the ways of life of people's in Africa, in what was evocatively called 'Arabia', and in unspoilt territories of South America. Further chapters record their involvement in the glamorous worlds of film and of fashion in Rome, Paris, and London.
Phillipe Garner, Former Head of International Photography, Christies, 2008

MIRElla
An Evening of Adventure with Mirella Ricciardi: Premiere of Film “Mirella”
at the Royal Geographic Society
This very special evening at the prestigious Royal Geographical Society will celebrate the premiere of the feature-length documentary film "Mirella", the adventurous story of the legendary photographer Mirella Ricciardi, who captured the vanishing beauty of life with her camera.
The director of “Mirella”, Oliver Bruck, is an award-winning documentarian and biologist. In 2019, he released his debut documentary feature "Exploring Hans Hass", a rediscovery of life and work of the legendary diving pioneer and filmmaker.
The event will feature a short keynote talk by photographer Mirella Ricciardi who celebrates her 92nd birthday this year. The renowned photographer, born in Kenya, began capturing the beauty and diversity of the African continent with her camera in the 1960s. Her seminal book "Vanishing Africa", published in 1971, became an international success and her work continues to inspire.
The event will also include an update on the work from the Mirella Ricciardi Archive by archivist and founder Amina Ricciardi-Dempsey. VIP ticket holders will also have access to a drinks/canapés reception with a special Q&A with the photographer Mirella Ricciardi, the director Oliver Bruck and the main film team, with original work by Mirella Ricciardi on display.

FINE ART Collections
The following are small selections from the thousands of photographs that Mirella Ricciardi took over the course of her sixty-year career. Mirella consistently worked across genres, encompassing wildlife, portrait, reportage, and fashion photography. Click on an image for information about the photograph.

Vanishing Africa is a valuable historical record of East Africa's traditional customs and ceremonies.

Vanishing Africa is a valuable historical record of East Africa's traditional customs and ceremonies.

This collection takes a tour through three Indigenous communities in the Amazon, sharing the vision of a woman, mother, and artist.

Contemporary mixed media hand colour archival pigment prints.

Mali, West Africa, 1984

François Baschet, A New Sound in Music, 1957
Mirella has published a number of books.

Vanishing Africa
Mirella Ricciardi
William Collins Sons and Co Ltd
London 1971
ISBN 0 00 2118769
The Voyage of the Mir-El-Lah
Lorenzo and Mirella Ricciardi
William Collins Sons and Co Ltd
London 1980
ISBN 0 00 211887 4
African Saga
Mirella Ricciardi
William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd
London 1982
ISBN 0-002175126
African Rainbow - Across Africa by Boat
Lorenzo and Mirella Ricciardi
William Morrow and Company, Inc.
New York 1989
First published by Ebury Press an imprint of Century Hutchinson Ltd, London 1989
ISBN 0-688-08959-3
Vanishing Amazon
Mirella Ricciardi
Harry N Abrams Inc.
New York 1991
ISBN 0 8109 3915 0
African Visions: The Diary of an African
Photographer
Mirella Ricciardi
Weidenfeld and Nicolson
London 2000
ISBN 1 841 88162 7