In a homage to previous Magnum photographer Philip Halsman’s cult ‘Jumpology’ series of the 1960s, Majoli aimed to reveal the true persona behind the celebrity
– “at the time of jumping, their attention is concentrated on the jump, and at this moment, the mask falls…” (Halsman)

Nearly 120 high profile artists have jumped for Majoli – from politicians to starlets, Al Gore to Monica Bellucci, Samuel L. Jackson and Marianne Faithfull, all willing to abandon the self-preserve usually performed and required of their lives in the spotlight.

His dynamic library of leaping stars was exhibited in November 2007 at la Pinacothèque in Paris, under the title ‘One Jump!’ – so named after Al Gore agreed to do it, “…but only ONE JUMP!”

In ‘One Jump’, Majoli has created a huge and energetic series, the perfect contrast in the context of Cannes Film Festival, of choreographed yet momentarily free
personalities.

Also published by Trolley: Leros (2002)

Alex Majoli, born 1971 in Ravenna, Italy, joined the f45 studio in his native city, working alongside Daniele Casadio. He was just 15 years old.

In 1989 he became a full-time photojournalist and joined the Grazia Neri agency the year after, where he remained until 1995. In 1992 and 1993 he travelled to Yugoslavia to document the conflict there, and in the following years followed the strife into Kosovo and Albania.

In 1994 Majoli dedicated himself to a long-term project on the insane asylum on the Greek island of Leros. This notoriously brutal institution, a former political prison, housed the outcasts from the country?fs psychiatric hospitals. Majoli documented the closing down of the asylum and the introduction of the inmates to island society, the result of the pioneering work of Dr Franco Basaglia, from Trieste. Majoli?fs Leros was published in 1999, as well as other photo essays on the closing of psychiatric hospitals throughout the world.

In 1995 he worked in South America where he began his personal project Requiem in Samba. The project is now focused on Brazil, where he has travelled every year since 1996.

Alex Majoli began Hotel Marinum in 2001, covering the life of harbour cities worldwide, the year he became a full member of Magnum. In 2004, together with Thomas Dworzak, Paolo Pellegrin and Ilkka Uimonen, he conceived and produced the exhibition and installation Off Broadway, shown in Soho, New York.

Alex Majoli continues to document conflicts worldwide for several major magazines including Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, Granta, and National Geographic.