In his studio in Brooklyn he began to compose and photograph miniature dioramas on the theme of the Second World War in Italy, referring to his grandmother's memories and stories. In 2006 Contrasto published War Souvenir, a collection of his works, with a preface by Francine Prose. Numerous exhibitions around the world followed the volume. The BBC included Ventura's works in the photography documentary entitled The Genius of Photography (2007).
Three years later Ventura began his second major project, Winter Stories (2009), later published in a volume by Aperture with a foreword by Eugenia Perry.
In the same period he began collaborating with various New York and European galleries, held numerous exhibitions and his works were purchased by museums and photographic institutions around the world.
In 2010 the United States Library of Congress acquired a collection of 142 Polaroids belonging to the War Souvenir series.
In the following years he worked on other projects, including The Automaton, published by Dewi Lewis in 2012, and Behind the Walls, published by Danilo Montanari Editore in 2011.
In 2010 she returned to Italy and moved to Anghiari, a small town in Tuscany. Here, in a studio converted from an old country barn, she dedicates herself to a new project which she gives the title Short Stories, where she uses her family as a photographic subject.
In 2016, Aperture published these photos in a volume entitled Short Stories. In 2012 the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome (MACRO) inaugurated a solo exhibition of Ventura entitled Lo Zuavo Scomparso, which was followed by a volume of the same name published by Punctum.
Canadian director Helen Doyle included Ventura's works in the 2013 film Dans un océan d'images. In the same year, Swiss television dedicated a documentary to Ventura's work, broadcast by the national public service broadcaster.
In 2015, the Dutch director and documentary maker Erik van Empel made a feature film about Ventura entitled Paolo Ventura: The Vanishing Man, which won the Prix Italia in 2016 as best film in the "TV Performing Arts" category.
In the same year, Ventura begins his first collaboration with the world of theater and realizes. Sets for the musical Carousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the Lyric Opera of Chicago directed by Rob Ashford.
In 2018 he continued his adventure in the theater, collaborating with the director Gabriele Lavia, and created the sets and costumes for Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, staged at the Teatro Regio in Turin, and the following year for Cavalleria Rusticana.
In 2018, the Giorgio Armani Foundation in Milan (Armani/Silos) is dedicating an important personal exhibition to Paolo Ventura.
In the autumn of 2020 Camera, the Italian Center for Photography in Turin, will inaugurate a retrospective of the last fifteen years of Ventura's artistic production to the public.
In 2021, his autobiography narrated by Laura Leonelli entitled "Autobiography of an imposter" will be published by Johan&Levi.
In recent years, Ventura has also dedicated himself to the production of children's books, publishing three books with Topipittori.
