BEYOND*THE*RIBBON
The genius of Jennifer Welker

Photography

Attorney Turned Photographer

Ricardo Piantini is a young Dominican photographer who graduated from the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) with a law degree. Although very successful and accomplished as a practitioner of law, Piantini fell in love with photography when he began to take courses with the best photographers in the Dominican Republic. Eventually, he took off to Casa de Chavon and was faced with making the difficult decision of choosing between law, a lucrative and secure endeavor, and photography, his true love and passion. Around this time, he was presented with the opportunity to work in production with photographer Jatnna Tavarez, and thus his decision was made. The road hasn’t been easy for Piantini — he suffers from diabetes, which doctors failed to diagnose for some time, leaving him severely ill and even comatose for an entire day, due to low blood sugar. Doctors finally realized what ailed him, and now his illness is under control. Now, Piantini is able to continue his passion: photographing the faces of poverty and hardship in the Dominican Republic to call attention to the suffering peoples of the world, and more and more exhibits, expositions and companies around North America, Latin America and Europe are beginning to take notice. He has held expositions in New York City at Columbia University, Mexico City, and in his native Santo Domingo, and recently won an award for his black and white photography at an Ibero-American Photography conference held in Sweden, and hosted by Save the Children.