Elisa Pellacani's series recalls the classic iconography of the photographer portrayed with his inseparable tool, testifying to his “having been” in a particular place which then attains uniqueness through the photographer's presence there and through the emotions it has aroused in him. The ancient enchantment of being behind the camera lens reflects an unconscious desire for immortality and a search for beauty. But above all it re-arouses the sense of wonder for something that one is already familiar with and which the photographer knows how to revalue: like looking at one's own land and one's own origins with a new eye. The photographer's portraits, introduced like silent presences in the urban context, turn the subjects of the images – in constant movement in the squares and streets of the city centre – into spectators sharing in the enchantment with their own city.
The installations will be located at the entrance of via Farini and in piazza Prampolini. The full project will be visible at Spazio Km129, piazza Prampolini.
Elisa Pellacani (born in Reggio Emilia in 1976) is a freelance journalist. She graduated in Cultural Heritage Conservation from the University of Parma in 2000, presenting a thesis on the development of colour from the Seventies to today. Through her critical approach to photography as an expressive tool, she has experimented with photographic investigation in the darkroom and, as a way of analysing the real, has delved personally into the situations she wished to portray. Some of her works have been exhibited at the 2002 Perpignan Visa Festival and at the 2003 Venice Biennale Art Festival. Her development path was consolidated at the Venice International School while working to perfect her graphic techniques. Her photography exhibits Infanzia moldava and Gujarat. Un’India che c’era in 2001, Palestina promessa in 2003 and her publication of MadreIndia in 2004 and L’India che cammina dalla tradizione al futuro in 2005 underscore her interest in human matters.
After spending a year at the Escola Massana in Barcellona, she completed the four-year diploma at the ISIA Institute in Urbino in 2004, during which time she built up a strong collaborative relationship with Dolcini Associati in Pesaro and participated in the FotoMercé 2004 competition organized by the Instituto de Cultura in Barcellona. In 2005 she started her teaching activities at the Massana school, working at the same time with Catalan public institutions concerned primarily with organizing photography exhibits and plastic arts events applied specifically to the publishing context. Her taste for anthropological and ethnographic research has led her to combine ideas from the imagination with facts from real life, and her shots are characterized by a strongly descriptive quality. She applies herself to portraying the Mediterranean identity through the eye of her inseparable Nikon FM2, while striving to promote her “travelling school of the book”. Her contribution to the volume Opposte sponde (2010) produced with Guido Giannini is a clear expression of this choice.
Info
Strade di Reggio Emilia
Tel. 0522 451152, 0522 456249, 0522 456635, 0522 456448
Single ticket for all exhibitions 10€. Concessions 7€
Open Times: Opening Friday 7th May, 19.00
7th May from 19.00 to 24.00; 8th - 9th May from 10.00 to 23.00
From 10th May to 13rd June: from Tuesdays to Fridays from 20.00 to 23.00; Saturdays, Sundays and festivals from 10.00 to 23.00. Monday closed. Open in the morning for schools.
.