Influenced by Conceptual art, Ghirri began producing color photographs of landscape and architecture in the 1970s and gained renown for his depiction of the tenuous balance between people and their surroundings. He photographed parks, beaches, and urban scenes of his native Italy in relatively pale hues.

As seen in Napoli, he frequently presented a cropped or enclosed image of the landscape as seen from an interior, and he often made reference to photography’s role in the relationship between fiction and reality with a deadpan, ironic wit or sense of mystery. The compositions and hues of his photographs also suggest subtle emotional tones and a rich way of experiencing the world through photography.