Too Much Information

I am an Italian-born photographer, raised in Sicily and based in London. This project, ‘Too much information’ is my response to several years of living and adapting my rhythm to big city life, where everything runs faster than I could have ever expected and it overloads my eyes and thoughts with thousands of inputs and data, often without positive purpose or outcome. The images represents a series of metaphorical symbols found on the city streets. During my walks, I look for physical and symbolic links to my thoughts and feelings. Figures and words appear suddenly in front of my eyes, ready to be processed, developed and printed onto photographic paper. The work becomes a visual representation of the stream of consciousness, thoughts of an outsider wondering through the heart of the City. Today there are no limits to the invasive power of information, running wild over our synapses, polluting what is left of our power to think and judge clearly. Today there is no limit to the amount of information, the proactive and the disruptive, to the endless flow that fails to ask permission and goes without filter and verification. These photos are a personal document of this time when I feel like a puppet at the mercy of the media system. I walk around London, with a film camera in my hands, recording signs and images then processing them as consequence or as unconscious reaction of one individual to the ‘information overload effect’. This project takes its name from a National Autistic Society campaign, created with the purpose of explaining and showing how autistic people perceive, react and process information from the outside world. ''Autistic people can get overloaded by everything around them. It’s like all the senses are firing, all at once. Like there’s no filter. Like they’re getting too much information.'' (The National Autistic Society, 2016) I hope, with this project, to raise awareness about the long-term consequences of too much information, to open my eyes and reject the system I’ve been thrown in and then to close my eyes and see anew.