Gusmano Cesaretti
Gusmano Cesaretti (born 24 July 1944) is a self-taught Italian photographer and artist born in Porcari (Lucca), Italy to Bruno Cesaretti and Delfa Cesaretti. He has also worked in films as a producer and visual consultant. He is one of the first photographers to document the East Los Angeles street culture, and has produced photojournalistic works in locations around the world, including North, Central, and South America, Southeast Asia, China, Africa, and the Midwest.
Gusmano Cesaretti
- Name
- Gusmano Cesaretti
- Born
- 24 July 1944
- Birthplace
- Porcari, Lucca, Italy
- Occupation
- Photographer, artist, film visual consultant
- Spouse
- Rosa Cesaretti (m. 1984)
- Nationality
- Italy
- Languages
- Italian
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Documentary summary
Gusmano Cesaretti (born 24 July 1944) is a self-taught Italian photographer and artist born in Porcari (Lucca), Italy to Bruno Cesaretti and Delfa Cesaretti. He has also worked in films as a producer and visual consultant. He is one of the first photographers to document the East Los Angeles street culture, and has produced photojournalistic works in locations around the world, including North, Central, and South America, Southeast Asia, China, Africa, and the Midwest.
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Note VALÉORINE
Gusmano Cesaretti (born 1946) is an Italian photographer. The photographer was born in Porcari.
Languages used include Italian. Works by Gusmano Cesaretti are held at Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Gusmano Cesaretti • Born — 24 July 1944 • Birthplace — Porcari, Lucca, Italy • Occupation — Photographer, artist, film visual consultant • Spouse — Rosa Cesaretti (m. 1984) • Children — 2 • Parents — Bruno Cesaretti, Delfa Cesaretti • Website — gusmanocesaretti.com
Los Angeles street life
Los Angeles street life
Cesaretti is known for his photo documentations of Los Angeles lifestyles, the Klique car club, Chicano street barrio culture, and LA gang life.
Other locations
Other locations
Cesaretti created series of photographs in Cuba, Bolivia, Panama, Brazil, Mexico, China, Thailand, Lebanon, Israel, Africa, and Chicago's South Side and Cabrini–Green Housing Project. These photographic studies are documented on his website.
Curator and publisher
Curator and publisher
Cesaretti has curated many exhibitions, beginning with his Pasadena, California, gallery Cityscape Foto Gallery, which he founded in 1977. He was instrumental in arranging the exhibition of several major works by Los Angeles street artists in the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art's blockbuster 2011 Art in the Streets show, including works by the Chosen Few MC. In 2014, he started publishing Los Angeles FOTOFOLIO, an underground journal of black-and-white photography by well-known and emerging photographers, distributed free of charge in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London, and Mexico City.
Personal life
Personal life
Gusmano has been married to Rosa Cesaretti since 1984. They have a son, Vasco Cesaretti. Gusmano has a daughter, Tosca Cesaretti, from a previous marriage. He also has a sister, Manuela Cesaretti.
Books and exhibitions
Cesaretti's photographs have appeared in many books and magazines as well as several artist monographs, including Street Writers (Acrobat Books, 1975), 5 x 5 = 24 (Arte Povera, 1979), Fragments of Los Angeles (Damian/Alleged Press, 2013), and Dentro le Mura (Arte Povera, 2014). His work has been exhibited at the Huntington Library, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Smithsonian Institution. In 2025, his work was featured in Gente di Fotografia, issue 84, in a portfolio titled Close Up.
Work in films
Cesaretti has worked closely with film directors Michael Mann, Tony Scott, and Marc Forster, to create the look and feel of many feature films, including Last of the Mohicans, The Insider, Public Enemies, The Taking of Pelham 123, Quantum of Solace, Collateral, Heat, Miami Vice, Stay, Manhunter, and Ali.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Gusmano Cesaretti”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q5620918: Gusmano Cesaretti
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Beronius, George. The Sight and Sounds of East LA. Los Angeles Times. 11 April 1976.
- 2.Jones, Mark. Six Photographers in Search of the City of Angels. Los Angeles Times Calendar. 13 November 1977.
- 3.Elliot, Gilbert. East LA's Klique Car Club. Lowrider. February 1995.
- 4.Cahill, Tim. Moonwalk Serenade. Rolling Stone. 13 July 1978.
- 5.Gusmano Cesaretti. Picture Magazine. 1–2. July–August 1976.
- 6.Gente di Fotografia – Anno XXXI, n.84. Gente di Fotografia.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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