This project was not born as a cohesive body of work. In fact, it surfaced from an editing process during my first semester of residency at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, where I am currently studying to get my MFA in Photography. It was shot mainly in the United States, and in Canada over the course of 3 years.
“Windows” interest me, both metaphorically and literally. Looking in and out, concealing, peering through, the contrast between inside world and outside world; texture, wood, light, peeling paint, glass, reflections, are all aspects and concepts that I enjoy and want to explore.
In this project, the photographs of the windows are not representing one, consistent space, but many. It is not relevant to me to give spacial homogeneity (one physical space) to the viewer, as much as showing how the places are connected by a common atmosphere.
All the windows in the photographs have a hidden history. For example, the “Birth Room”wasshotin anoldhouseinHarwichPort,Massachusetts.Theroomwassmall, dedicated specifically to host and give a safe place to young women about to give birth.
I realized that I am drawn to details and observations of the quotidian in an introspective process that moves from the particular to the general. Being a foreigner in the United States, I lose all points of reference. Details become important to establish a sense of place and a sense of belonging. In this case, window are the common thread between Italy, my home country and the United States, where I live now, since 2010. The lace of the curtains, the condensation on the glass, the atmosphere itself, is something universal, that can be easily recognized and referenced. It could be exactly here in space and time or nowhere. The emotional quality of everyday objects emerges in a quiet atmosphere, allowing contemplation and almost a meditative state.
I am also interested in the viewer’s point of view and feedback. As Roland Barthes states in his book Camera Lucida, I believe that there is an element, the punctum, that “rises from the photographs, shoots out of it like an arrow, and pierce the viewer. A photograph’s punctum is that accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me)”. Often this project will bring back emotions and memories in the viewer, that I did not anticipate. Many people associated the lace or the old creamer pitcher with their grandmother’ one. This creates a conversation, which is part of what is photography to me. [Official Website]
