italiano
Nel 1776 il filosofo svizzero Jean-Jacques Rousseau scrisse l’opera Le fantasticherie del passeggiatore solitario, un testo che raggruppa i suoi ultimi pensieri e riflessioni settimane prima della sua morte. In questo testo, il filosofo racconta in modo molto dettagliato gli intorni del suo rifugio nello Château d'Ermenonville, un luogo senz’altro circondato da un paesaggio piuttosto selvaggio.
Il testo è suddiviso in 10 capitoli o promenade (passeggiate) in cui ci racconta vari episodi della sua vita in un’epoca molto importante, dal momento che quindici anni dopo la sua morte si scatena la rivoluzione francese.
Le mie fotografie presentate sono un omaggio allo scrittore e rappresentano le mie fantasticherie, le mie passeggiate che percorrono luoghi distinti e speciali in vari parti di questo nostro continente europeo e ritraggono in sé situazioni di contemplazione e riflessioni intrinseche di qualsiasi paesaggio.
english
In 1776 the Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote The Reveries of a Solitary Walker, a book that summarises the author’s postulations in the last years of his life. The book is divided into ten Walks (or Reveries) recounting observations, events and feelings, and is, as such, highly, biographical in nature.
My work is in conversation with Rousseau where each one represents a walk, a reverie, ranging from observing nature and its landscapes to the varied human encounters carried out in different places, countries where I’ve been residing.
In one of his walks Rousseau states: “I was deafened by the tumult of the world and bored by solitude, I was always wanting to move and never happy anywhere”.
This emphasises his feeling of unrest and highlights the spirit that most travellers have, an inexhaustible thirst for new horizons, a wanderlust. He touches upon the idea of how a person might be looking for that special place but has to keep moving in order to keep on searching within themselves.
I can draw many paradoxes from this quote with my own experiences, having lived in many countries and not found what I am looking for.
These works act as a visual bridge, bringing into light a distant past. They act as a way of remembering familiar places and a way to not forget one’s roots and personal identity.