About

Salvatore Gullifa (b. 1978, Sydney, Australia) is a photographer and artist based in Amsterdam whose work explores displacement, cultural identity, and the search for home through landscape. Working with shellac, and gold leaf, he transforms the photographic surface into something that evolves over time, marked by chance and memory.

Gullifa's use of gold leaf—inherited from his father, a Sicilian immigrant and painter – connects his Italian heritage to his examination of Australian identity. The gold leaf transforms the surface, catching light in ways that echo the shimmer of ocean waves. Shellac applied to prints introduces unpredictability, allowing images to evolve beyond their moment of capture, staining like time itself.

His ongoing series Before the Day Goes examines the legacy of mid-century Australian racism through seascapes photographed from a clifftop vantage point, creating what the artist describes as an "intimate distance" between observer and place. Thorned and Palmed explores ritual return and landscape as emotional territory across five summers in rural France.

Gullifa has completed residencies at La Babuch, Indre, France, studying under Vanessa Winship, George Georgiou, Raymond Meeks, Adrianna Ault, Israel Ariño, and Clara Gassull Quer. His work has been exhibited at The Gallery Club Presents – The Living Room (2020) and in his first solo exhibition, Disco Vernissage (2024). He received a Finalist in the prestigious Hariban award – Japan (2020) His photographs are held in private collections internationally.

Currently developing Violet Flame, an exploration of color and emotion, Gullifa continues to push the boundaries of what a photograph can hold. Not just an image, but memory, time, and the ongoing question of where one belongs.

Available Works

Works are available for acquisition in limited editions. Each print is handmade by the artist on archival paper, with shellac and gold leaf applied by hand, making every piece unique. For information about available works, pricing, or commissions, please contact the artist.

Commissions & Collaborations

Salvatore is available for portrait sessions, editorial assignments, and creative collaborations.
For inquiries, please get in touch.