Italia in-attesa

Twelve Italian photographers of international fame cross gazes on urban and non-urban landscapes, all bereft of human presence. The opportunity, one quite exceptional and – we might hope – never to be repeated, was offered by the first COVID lockdown: a suspended time where even space, architecture and the environment become ‘other’ elements when no longer inhabited by humans. Albeit each with his or her own style and sensitivity, the photographers develop a visual analysis of the anthropic impact on the landscape, on the relations between culture and nature, architecture and environment in a number of places (both well-known and anonymous) throughout Italy. Does the Colosseum remain the same with or without people moving around it? Tourist cities like Rimini and Venice – how do they feel when they are completely deserted? Almost two years later, how can we ‘reread’ those images? As was said at the time, we should use that extraordinary and terrible experience to learn something. But have we?