The layers of the land
The Malta photographs of Vincenzo Castella are portraits not of the people, but of the landscape. They are not stories but observations regarding the cities and the land. The shots and views are usually taken from a high point; the sky is generally...
The Malta photographs of Vincenzo Castella are portraits not of the people, but of the landscape. They are not stories but observations regarding the cities and the land.
The shots and views are usually taken from a high point; the sky is generally excluded to concentrate on line and form. The observation starts from far away to slowly discover the details of the frame and the density of the landscape.
The light is uniform and defines the sharpness of detail, while colour never overwhelms. The images explain, without critical aim, places and their complexity: an ethnographic search lasting the time of the shot; a search that begins with the unique selection and the “viewpoint” of the camera lens.
This Malta project is born from the idea that images capture the way local people look upon their land and they become a point of contact and direction for those looking from the outside. The discovery and understanding of the island is indeed a very complex endeavour – one to be slowly acquired one step at a time. It doesn’t reveal itself, unless through the spirit of the land and cannot be felt contextually in all its aspects.
A voyage that enters the landscape to discover the different layers of the land: architecture and transparencies, superposition of history with stories, archaeological sites and modernity, sharp images that show the density of the matter, both in term of time and space, a cut between the past and post shot.
Malta protects and shows a very strong identity, an intertwined reality of historical and religious traditions and a very relevant geopolitical identity within Europe.
The island is a hinge – somewhat unknown – and at the same time a stepping pillar in the middle of the Mediterranean.
This exhibition, titled Layers of Malta, intends to stimulate attention, enhance the knowledge and create a dialogue between the island and the world.
• Vincenzo Castella’s exhibition opens tomorrow at the Upper Galleries of St James Cavalier and runs till November 21. www.studiolacitta.it