TEMPO BELLO
Cecilia Pignocchi
Tempo Bello is a journey of self-discovery, born from a year spent reconnecting with nature and sunlight. Through photography, it explores the complexities of womanhood, identity, and breaking free from societal taboos to embrace freedom.
“I’ve always felt like a fish out of water in my hometown, my country, Italy, and even in my own womanhood. A constant sense of inadequacy weighed on me, fuelled by the suffocating taboos, stereotypes, and machismo that defined the culture I grew up in. For years, I distanced myself from my roots in search of my identity.”
“In 2023, feeling an urgent need to reconnect with the sun, I left my full-time job and embarked on a year-long sabbatical. I lived first in a tent, then in a van, immersing myself in nature. Over 408 days, I found two essential things: time and sunlight. From this combination, Tempo Bello was born. The phrase, meaning Good Weather, is commonly used in Italy and reminded me of how deeply the weather shapes who we are.”
Cecilia Pignocchi
Cecilia Pignocchi is an Italian art director and multidisciplinary artist working across photography, film, collage, and illustration. With over a decade of experience in the advertising industry, she developed a distinctive approach to visual storytelling, leading global campaigns.
In 2021, she co-directed and co-produced Grottaroli, a short documentary filmed in her coastal hometown, capturing a group of local fishermen. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2023, after eight years at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, she left the commercial world to embark on a year-long sabbatical. The first half of this journey saw her cycling 5,500 km and living in a tent; the second took her through remote landscapes in a van, chasing sunlight.
In 2025, she began an intimate dialogue with her mother about inherited ideas of femininity and identity. The result was Be Independent, a visual tribute to her mother and a reconciliation with her own story as a woman.
Now based in Italy, Cecilia balances creative commissions with personal artistic exploration. Her poetic, often surreal work merges lived experience with a playful visual language, and has been featured in It’s Nice That, Fisheye Magazine, and Adweek.
