Speciale Diciottoventicinque
Tutor: Anush Hamzehian and Vittorio Mortarotti
Workgroup members: Fabiola Colla, Giulia Druda, Emma Graziani, Ariya Karatas, Sara Lepore, Alberto Michelotti, Virginia Morini, Giulietta Palombarini, Noemi Pittalà, Gaetano Sorbo, Agnese Subacchi
The greatest freedom is to have no choice. Confining yourself to certain parameters can actually lead to discovery of a universe of subject matter that is hard to find when you (if you are like me) tend to wander endlessly.
Christopher Anderson
The Speciale Diciottoventicinque 2022 course tutored by Anush Hamzehian and Vittorio Mortarotti started with this phrase from Christopher Anderson, interpreted not as a quotation in the strict sense of the term but as a piece of advice, a necessity and a vital part of their own image-building approach.
Each participant was given a route to walk, an area to traverse without a camera or phone. All they had was, initially, a map and a pencil for notetaking.
After recceing a local area and a story, the images arrived for them all.
This practice may be summed up in René Char’s phrase, “Act like a primitive, plan as a strategist.”
The starter was this: the boundaries of documentary as a space for cross-pollinating with other stylistic approaches to photography and with the variety of contemporary visual approaches, a shared reflection on the various experiences that may help enrich a photographic project.
Throughout the course, they strove to ensure that an idea of shared, debated art underpinned the participants’ work.
Ultimately, each of them found an individual, personal space, as well as giving their input to the workshop during the long work sessions of conversation and comparison. Every young person collaborated on one another’s projects, sometimes physically accompanying others, sometimes lighting a smoke bomb, sometimes lending themselves to improvised theatrical workshops.
The result is a tabloid that showcases how these projects in the making unfolded during intense months when the whole group debated, built and even took a few photos.
You can pick up a copy of the tabloid at the entrance of the Biblioteca delle Arti (Piazza della Vittoria, 5) during the opening days of the festival.