I’ve always been interested in exploring the dialogues with man. Socrates argued that the conversation is the best form of connection between men. The sophists, on the other hand, gave the word unlimited power to influence other people. I particularly love this quote by Emmanuel Lévinas:” The essential event in each person’s life is to meet up with the other; the authentic contact with another person occurs the moment you meet face to face, and that’s when the so called EPIPHANY OF FACE happens”. However, the dialogue was not enough for me to understand men. I needed something else, such as a mean to fix those moments of encounter, something to allow me to maintain the epiphany of face and body… And first of all, I had to understand that the image anticipates the words; this vision is the foundation that constitutes our space and our places; the words instead indicate “HOW MUCH” or “WHAT” can cause the alliance between IMAGE and WORD. This alliance is an inseparable truth from the process of creating reality.So every human being has got stories within, stories that he built up alone, the daily life that he choreographed, and the intimate life, through his vision, words, sensations and feelings. Each story is a tale/gospel nourished by the value of one’s own experiences and self- acceptance in the contemporary world. Over the years, my cognitive autopsy, as a penetrating observation, allowed me to create a photographic archive, in which I make a choice from my know-how, pick up my codes, and document the social classes.As a photographer, I understand that when I take a picture, I find myself “between moments” - between the story of the person portrayed and my own awareness. Once I’ve identified the limits of the random chance my form of figurative composition and my form of feeling can complete each other. I have invited and I am inviting people who are creating their reality, to be part of the GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MAN project; I am calling people who, through their passions and love, take care of their COMMUNION with the cosmos/universe, without prejudice. Anyway, it’s important to remember that the contemporary and capitalistic world dominates the men. The 21st century social condition is showing a society of consumerism and digitalization. Therefore the man’s values and lifestyles are changing in a thorough way. Photography, as an instrument, allows me to represent a revealing example of the contemporary evolution of men, whose identities have been produced and recorded partly by images, and the rest by the information and industrial system.
In the project called VSL’U I’ve split and chosen 3 different Typologys of contemporary man’s portrait:
Typology 1 - ALLIANCE/UNIVERSE
Typology 2 - INTERFACES/GARDENS
Typology 3 - SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY / TREATMENT OF ACTUALITY
Currently, a documentary film about this project is being made: UN UOMO SECONDO KURENIA "directed by Anna Zoll.