World Press Photo Exhibtion, Lucca

Today Manuela, Stefano & I went to see the World Press Photo Exhibition.

A huge collection of contemporary photographs displayed in various villas, theatres, museums and churches located in Lucca (Toscana) (17 artists represented in 12 different locations).

The photographs covered a diverse range of topics: flenir-like images by street photographer Alex Webb in "fotografie"; confronting photojournalist images by Paolo Pellegrin in "as I was dying" which earnestly exposes the suffering of others; contemporary images of the 2nd Battalion Airborne US Infantry in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan by Tim Hetherington in "battle company"; beautiful black and white fantastical portraits by Mario Carvo Neto in "l'eterno presente"; modernity images of 'modern life' and 'leisure' represented in beach scenes of Northern Italy by Massimo Vitali in "portfolio"; Andrew Zucherman's colour images of animals in posed studio portraits in "creature"; Matteo Basile "the sanits are coming" deconstructs social and religious norms with unusual and staged portraits; Enzo Cei "trapianti" depicting organ donation; and Mario Daniele "ocean" tries to depict the invisible line between sand and water, water and wind, sun and clouds.

Alex Webb (below first); Enzo Cei (second); Mario Cravo Neto (third & last).

'Sometimes I puzzle if the real world is truly separated from the imaginary one. In ones infancy adults force us to neglect fantasies and open eyed dreams and call us to be anchored to the so called reality. We are taught that the realm of imagination is false, dangerous. In fact, a small or great part of our inner - it depends upon the individual power - stills in the shadowed world of imagination which helps us to survive'. Mario Carvo Neto