EFFETTO ROMA

Fotografie di Antonio Giannetti

“Circa tre anni fa ho iniziato a riscoprire, anche per mezzo della fotografia, la bellezza di Roma. Ma Roma è un soggetto molto complesso: nel fotografarla si incorre facilmente nello stereotipo, nella fotografia già vista.

Ed è per questo che ho inseguito la luce migliore nell’arco della giornata, il punto di vista più insolito e ho scelto di inserire molto spesso la figura umana, solo come silhouette, come presenza suggerita.

Molte volte l’ho sorpresa ancora addormentata e ho assistito al suo risveglio, quando, in pieno inverno, osservandola dal Gianicolo, alle 7 in punto, centinaia di sbuffi fumosi delle caldaie la fanno sembrare una città ottocentesca del nord Europa.

È all’alba che ho udito l’alticcio canto a squarciagola di due attempati amici, reduci da qualche festa a Campo di Fiori; è nella stessa ora che ho urtato un solitario turista-maratoneta trafelato e sudato nel fare su e giù dalla scalinata di Trinità dei Monti.

È la mattina presto che la sento respirare.

È in queste ore che la sento la mia città”.
(Antonio Giannetti)

THE ROME EFFECT

Photographs by Antonio Giannetti

“About three years ago I began to rediscover, also by virtue of the photographic medium, the beauty of Rome. But Rome is a very complex subject. All too easily one falls into the trap of capturing stereotypical images – clichéd and conventional shots. This is why I’ve explored the best lighting available throughout the day, the most unusual perspectives, and why I’ve often chosen to feature the human figure, merely as a silhouette, as an evocative feature of the image.
On numerous occasions I caught the city unawares as she slept, and then was present for her reawakening. Such as the time in midwinter at seven o’ clock sharp as, from the Janiculum Hill, I observed hundreds of puffs of smoke rising from the furnaces creating the impression of an 18th Century city in Northern-Europe. At dawn, I witnessed the drunken crooning of two elderly friends as they sang at the top of their voices, groggy after a night of festivities at Campo de Fiori. At the same time of day, I bumped into a solitary marathon-tourist as he ran, breathless and sweating, up and down the Spanish Steps.

It is during the early morning hours that I sense the city breathing.

It is at this time of day that I truly feel at one with my city.”
(Antonio Giannetti)

The Rome Effect, as seen through the lens of Antonio Giannetti, is an evocative and meticulous photographic narrative concerning his rediscovered and renewed relationship with Rome. The title of the exhibition recalls the meta-cinematographic cult classic Effetto Notte (Day for Night – 1973). In Effetto Roma, the technique featured with Truffaut conjures up a style of photography which acts a means to express a narrative or a journey, a concept or a principle, an ideal or a contemplation.Here the photographic lens merges with the overwhelmed and marginal eye of the humble observer and sublimates into a universal lyricism and dedication of love. In this way, it is the city itself which leads the spectator along a photographic journey, an intimate view which shuns a more sugar-coated and romantic representation, yet at the same time cannot overlook this aspect.
Antonio Giannetti’s photographic style is unhurried and mellow, it examines the elusiveness of time stood still in our present-day Rome. It is a journey through images spanning almost three years based on an awareness of the fleeting nature of time. It represents his birthplace and his love of it, as well as how he holds it in awe.
Through his lens the she-wolf emerges solely at twilight. Likewise the Colosseum which, as it makes its comeback, is barely captured in the shot. At sunset, St. Peter’s dome casts it’s almost spectral shadow over the city. The smoking chimneys at dusk anticipate the fog which covers the Tiber River at dawn. The artificial eclipse created by the Acqua Paola fountain on the Janiculum hill is segued by a snap-shot of the neon lighting of the Umberto I underpass as it spurs the startled seagulls to take flight. Distant and fleeting human presences contemplate the brooding sky over Sant’Angelo Castle as they wander between the profiles of marble busts and statues, around the charming streets and through the glorious history of the city. It is during its solitary hours that, in a state of grace, the Eternal City pauses, the mask is removed, and it abounds with sentiment and melancholy.
A lingering reflection produces a dissolve effect deferential to a nostalgically Felliniesque image reminiscent of La Dolce Vita – the film which contributed to the concept of Rome as an ideal city in the collective imagination, immortalising the familiar idea of its connection with ancient times.A legend since challenged yet not laid to rest. The transfigured archetype of legendary Rome is the common thread which is brought to the fore with Effetto Roma – amidst the ideas, the recollections, the pursuit of an intimate atmosphere. When all is said and done, Rome cannot be condensed into a single image.
Retaining the grandiose immanence of a Rome which casts its light and its shadows onto the rest of the world, Antonio Giannetti worships the moments of his days with outstanding prudence. The majestic and imperial character is sustained: hic et nunc, Roma ramen regnat. Roma, Aeterna.