Antonio Di Cecco, In Pieno Vuoto, 2013

The visual narrative of this book is a sort of double musical score: a geographical survey and chronological cadence. The territory Antonio Di Cecco covers is the crater of the seismic wave that hit L’Aquila and the surrounding area on April 6, 2009. Di Cecco’s documentary work lasted three years, from 2009 to 2011. It covered L’Aquila, the state housing plan (c.a.s.e. and m.a.p.) and the non regulated construction of new buildings; the smaller town centres.

The events in the book are in reverse chronological order, to call immediate attention to two fundamental aspects of this project: the present urge to deal with this territory, and Di Cecco’s intention to focus more on the actions human beings had and are having on the reconfiguration of the territory of L’Aquila, rather than on the devastation the earthquake caused. Thus the book begins with photographs taken in 2011 and goes backwards to 2010 and 2009.