Blue of Matteo Natalucci and Luca Santini

Emilia Romagna is a flat region in northern Italy, where most of the Italian excellences of salami and cheeses famous all over the world come from.

8,704,544 is the number of pigs present in June 2018 in Italian farms, of which almost 40% only in Emilia Romagna. These animals are sent to the slaughterhouse when they reach 100/150 kg in about 8/12 months, with an average growth of about 700 grams per day thanks to enriched soy-based feed.

2,249,722 is the number of Friesian cows reared in Italy.
Like all mammals, cows produce milk only after giving birth, which is why the animals are repeatedly artificially impregnated. Therefore passing from 17 liters per day in 1985 to today they produce about 30, therefore almost double.

There were 37,261,188 laying hens reared in Italy in 2017, of which only 8% of these reared biological outdoors.
Broiler farms are concrete, ventilated and artificially lit sheds where up to 30,000 animals are crammed with a density of up to 20 animals per square meter. Genetic selections have transfigured the body of these animals, managing to be ready for slaughter in just 40/50 days.
Due to the overcrowded conditions, large doses of antibiotics are needed to protect the animals themselves.

The photographers Matteo Natalucci and Luca Santini, for about a year and a half sneaked into numerous intensive farms. Returning, thanks to the use of the flash as sharp and ruthless as possible, aesthetically powerful images of an extremely saturated environment.

The project received an honourable mention at the Umbria Word Fest 2018 and was published in numerous international magazines and sites such as: P3 Publico, WuMingFoundation, LifeGate, Internazionale, Corriere della Sera, FotoIT. In 2020 the photographers self-produce Blue as a photo book with a text by Wu Ming 2. The Blue project was exhibited at the Mole Vanvitelliana in Ancona during the Adriatic Mediterranean festival and presented at the Sifest in Savignano sul Rubicone.

The two photographers will be there in the open air to talk with you about the project and the book.

Matteo Natalucci was born in Osimo (AN) in 1993. In 2014 he subscribed to a three-year master programme at the Roman School of Photography where he specialised in documentary and landscape photography. In the meantime, he perfected his post-production studies at Daniele Coralli’s Interno Grigio studio. In 2016 he received an honourable mention in the Landscape category at the IPA international photo competition and began collaborating with various photographic studios as a post-producer and assistant photographer. In 2017 he carried out a six-month internship at the Paolo Pellegrin studio in Rome; in the same year he began working as an assistant for the architectural photographer Andrea Jemolo. In March 2018 he received the Arturo Ghergo Award as young talent from the photographer Piero Gemelli, with the Rainbowland project. In 2018 he attended the BOOK training course by Door Academy, held by Massimo Mastrorillo with the collaboration of various international experts. In the same year he created and exhibited Sentinelle a series of portraits of the hunters of Montefano (MC) for the Arturo Ghergo Award. The continuous collaboration over the years with the photographer Andrea Jemolo made Matteo discover architectural photography on which he has recently been orienting himself. The forthcoming publication will entail a volume on the churches and historic buildings of his hometown produced in collaboration with Rotary Club.

Luca Santini was born in Rome in 1992. He began to approach photography in 2014, by enrolling in the three-year Master at the Scuola Romana di Fotografia e Cinema after he became the assistant of Paolo Pellegrin, collaborating in the publication of his book Paolo Pellegrin – An Anthology. Luca immediately focused mainly on long-term personal projects, with a specific attention on wide-ranging social, environmental and anthropological issues. In 2019 he was selected to participate in the XXXII Eddie Adams WS in New York. His works have been awarded at Umbria World Fest 2018, Lugano Photo Days 2018 and 2019, Italy Photo Award 2019 and PX3 2019.