And in darkness you find colors

“And in darkness you find colors” is a participatory photo project I’m doing since the beginning of quarantine in Italy (5th March 2020) together with my two sons, Davide, 11, and Giovanni, 8. 

They can’t go to school neither see friends nor doing sports or music classes. They are aware that outside the fence of our garden there’s a serious epidemic going around in the world. They have a lot of questions about it and fears and imaginary. To cope with these feelings, which sometimes could be overwhelming for young, we decided to create a universe of dreams and magic thanks to the connection with the natural environment of the countryside around us. Each night, we carve our imaginary out of complete darkness by enlightening the scene with different sources of lights. We never know how exactly the picture is going to be: we sketch the idea on a notebook but then we adapt it to the place, our bodies and our feelings. We let the momentum and our connections play roles. Every picture triggers inspirations for the following one. We use items that we find at home: old toys, sheets, masks, old stuff from the garage. Then, we discuss the photos together, creating and enforcing bonds among us. I choose a vertical orientation of the pictures to remind the idea of a door, opening onto our inner world. The title of this project both refers to the visual narrative we use and to the hope that in any situation, even the worst one, we would be able to find the positive aspects.

For me, the silver linings of this confinement is the precious long suspended time with my sons, out of the world, into our own world, where I can enjoy the last colors of their childhood.

This project has been awarded Happiness ONTHEMOVE 2021 by Cortona ONTHEMOVE Festival and 78th POYi in the “Covid-19 personal expression” category. It has been published on New York Magazine – The Cut and The New Yorker