General Entry - Emerging Talent Awards

Before You, Santa Claus, Life Was Like a Moonless Night With its black and white, light and shadow, photography is a metaphor of life. The night hides and at the same time unveils what we do not see in the daytime. The artificial lights mix with the glare from the stars and the moon, fooling our senses and promising a better quietness, a destination or a safe reference point. Andrea Alessio lingers on the detail, trying to control chaos and at the same time appeasing his rationality. That’s what the camera does; it’s an instrument that we use to create what might not even exist and for sure, it shows us things differently from what we would have expected. A night journey through Northeast Italy, immersed in the silence and in the darkness of the night, if it weren’t for those Christmas lights. A small light and everything is transformed, we see the road, we understand where to look, where to go. Photography is made of forms, sounds and silences, the same silences and those subtle sounds that fill these night images. Here, Christmas lights become a pagan ritual, a new religion, a way to seek comfort. Andrea Alessio observes reality and the result is a balanced optimism or moderate cynism, diluted with good intentions. The landscape is transformed and we have a very clear sensation of facing something unreal. Lights and shadows…light invading the night and shadows fading at first light. When the night turns into the day, the eagerness for images is allayed. Flavio Franzoni - Micamera