If we look at the latest work of Alessandro Ciccarelli, what catches the eye is exactly the calm attempt to represent an emotional etymology of (his own) wild side. It’s about the images of an instinct, a trace of an exploration and the resulting sensations. They are all frames of a mental and physical ecosystem to recompose from founding elements, evoked by a human representation: it is on the film and its colors that we can find the idea of water, air, earth and fire, but not into the portrayed reality, because this it is not immediately accessible.
From the total, emerald green of logs aiming at the sky – and of the sky – to the off-white of the dense fogs, from the red that comes when natural and human enter into a relationship with the brownish of the undergrowth, the colors become the photographer’s accomplices and contribute to an archaeological activity on instincts: no one knows to what time or space the film, colors and intentions belong. It’s only possible to recognize the guessed sense of our own wilderness, sensed from a nature that queries and incites doubt, a nature whose strength is to be found precisely in fogs and fadings.
It is also an ecological operation that cleans ourselves of all artificial residues. Sometimes the image happens to open itself and, pacified, embraces all surroundings: some doubt is lost, but it only lasts a moment. These are photos of an uninhabited space, the space of wilderness. We could see paths suggested as a possible reconnection but, if we pay close attention, none of them are really recommended. Fallen, broken or cut logs, imperviuos corners, and a vague sense of mystery, are the proof that the path is troubled. It can not be shown, but only undertaken in a very intimate way, and evoked, in a very personal way.
Alessandro Ciccarelli (Rome, 1979) began to study photography under the guidance of visual artist Akiko Young, then perfecting the techniques of darkroom and digital post-production. He explores the connections between video and photo with the group Visuelle-Kiste, with whom he took part in several group exhibitions. In recent years he created the editorial project Monkeyphoto and he animates the photographic collective OcchiRossi, an independent photo festival in Rome now in its fourth edition. He founded Funzilla – Rome Photozine Festival. He teaches photography and darkroom in Rome at Faqtotum Lab, photo retouching at Lelio Basso Journalism Master and he writes about photography on the e-magazine Archivio Caltari. He alternates reportage projects with personal photographic research. He collaborates with several national magazines and he participated in various exhibitions.
Website: alessandrociccarelli.monkeyphoto.org
