During the long weekend from 2nd to 4th of May the 9th edition of Fotografia Europea, the international photography marathon held in Reggio Emilia since 2006, opened its gates. Dealing with different topics every year, this edition’s well-structured program of exhibitions and installations was guided by a reflection on the importance of the gaze: “Vedere. Uno sguardo infinito” (Seeing. An infinite gaze).
The main event of the festival was the huge retrospective devoted to the Italian master of contemporary photography Luigi Ghirri, entitled “Pensare per immagini. Icone, Paesaggi, Architetture” (Thinking in images. Icons, Landscapes, Architectures), and previously presented in Rome at Maxxi. The exhibition was based on three hundred shots, album covers, mock-ups, books, postcards and magazines retracing the amazing career of one the most eminent observers of our age.
“Divine Violence”, a show by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin presenting here their latest work – “Holy Bible” – was also definitely worth a visit. Following their personal research that plumbs depths of the recent past to assemble stereotyped images representing conflicts, the photographer duo chose to reinterpret the holy book. The result is a publication which combines words of the original text and images taken from the Archive of Modern Conflict, a London publishing house which released the book, showing violent and illogical periphery of human beings.
Among other numerous proposals hosted in different venues scattered around the city, the shows by two Magnum photographers Herbert List and Erich Lessing brought the viewers back to a black and white past made of refined still lives, landscapes and images of normal people contributing to the reconstruction after the Second World War.
Jumping from past to present, the festival, as usual, kept an eye on the young generations, presenting the gazes of Silvia Camporesi with her ghost places and their poetic desolation, Andrea Ferrari and his animals that observed the observers by blending in with the rich naturalist collection of the Lazzaro Spallanzani gallery, and Massimiliano Tommaso Rezza, who records ordinary things, negligible and ephemeral details of our everyday life through xeroxes glued directly on walls and pictures gracefully arranged in vacuum-sealed envelopes.
Once again Fotografia Europea proved the high quality of its agenda, proposing a series of main shows and collateral events that liven up the pleasantly relaxing town of Reggio Emilia, allowing people from all over the world to discover its charming, and in some cases hidden, locations. See you there next year!
Monica Lombardi – Images courtesy of Agota Lukyte
