Il paesaggio siamo noi, by Massimo Siragusa, published by Postcart edizioni

In this book, Massimo Siragusa pauses the camera and relies on words, weaving photography books and literary works into a reflection on the deep connection between places and identity. At the center of this tale is that little piece of the world with which we have an intimate relationship – made up of memory, belonging and affection – that defines us and returns an image of us every day. The landscape, here, is much more than a background: it is a mirror, a living body that tells who we are, our habits, aspirations and contradictions.

“There is a beautiful text by Julio Cortàzar, ”Some Aspects of Storytelling,” which, in defining what a story is, explains exactly what a photograph is. For Cortàzar, the short story is a condensation of emotions packed into a few pages. There is no room for gratuitous elements. A short story writer must make sure that all the events present have a definite meaning, that they all contribute to stimulate in the reader sensibility, emotions and knowledge. A short story does not reveal everything; it shows only a small part of what it has to show. Then there is all the rest, the unspoken. Therein lies the real fascination. In the importance that the unspoken takes on in the balance of the whole. And so, if this is the way a writer goes about it, what does a photographer who offers us a story of his own do differently? Practically nothing.” – MASSIMO SIRAGUSA