top of page

Chronicle of a quarantined photographer.

"The heat came and the street looks like a nice place to be on. The sky has got a dreamy blue shade and each detail out under the sunshine transmits a sense of comfort and peace. Few people out but more than the usual. Every path welcomes you with a wonderful harmony, the shadows of the trees are now the best refuge when it's too hot elsewhere. The white fences are so charming, they limit the estates but with softness, never too rough. They are more kind than tall dull walls, unfriendly to strangers. They are white and that's also a reason why they're quite an important element in this estate complex. The gardens here are large, most of them completely green if not for the small spots that some playground or some benches may be within it. Every subject comes almost like magnet to the frame. It takes less than few seconds to find something that pleases you and makes you press the shutter. I select mostly fragments but together they fairly well represent what my instinct is chasing. The silence and the clicks of the lonely man with the camera is anything but loneliness. Loneliness sets on you a craving to find an activity or a company that fills the hollow space in your mind, or soul or as you wish to name it. But taking photographs doesn't leave that blankness, not even a bit. Once you start wandering and you find what to shoot at, it then turns into an obsession to get that perfect representation, already in your brain just waiting the moment to combine the pieces and allign the elements and come to life. The longer the experience of wandering streets with your camera, the more evident it becomes that you must keep that self filling everyday. The photos might differ from place to place as days go by and you find yourself somewhere else. You are not really sure at the beginning about what you can really do with the photos besides sharing on Instagram or on Facebook, but as your archive grows your habit becomes a way to remind yourself of the episodes of your life, the photographs illustrate the moment and stage of your life you were living by the time you took them. That's what in big part keeps you in this course, you see a diary as you look through your folders and this matters more than the actual profit you intend to make out of this occupation. At a certain point of your walk, you finally feel the need to sit and have your rest. You haven't really got tired but somehow you realize that you've had the satisfaction you needed and the accomplishment can only be recognized by yourself when you take the time to do it. And then, once the camera is on the fresh green grass you get back to your normal sight, you at last spin your head around, slowly, to observe the events happening within the view. You get kinda hypnotized as you stare at the reflection of the sunlight vibrating with the short quick waves on the surface of the lake in front. The water now in this warm week of May will not let any bad feeling overhelm you as long you keep your eyes at this visual dance. Peace steps into the mind and soul, soothing down the stupid expectations. All you need for relief from the troubles of life lies right in front of you. And maybe as involuntary need, you might end up shooting with the camera if you feel the view can be framed too. "