Photomanipulation nominee

Concept:
With the series 'Marvellini Vogue', Foto Marvellini continues in the declination of the perturbing feeling aroused by dystopian images of a differently reproduced past. This work deals with the phenomenon of 'Fashion', easily demonstrating how this is only apparently a superfluous feature of any civilisation. In fact, it’s the modus that affirms aesthetic and cultural style, at a particular historical moment and in a defined geographical area, in order to adopt elements of internal cohesion within a group of distinction with respect to others. Denying with photographic evidence even the determination of when a certain fashion spread inevitably leads one to question the entire civilisation and mentality of the women and men of that period. Because even unconsciously, we know that Fashion is influenced by external factors such as, for example, technology and economics (which have an impact on the way it evolves over time) and by historical and political events (sometimes simply related to the availability and use of materials).
Technique:
Digital processing from originals photos on glass by C.M. Bell (Washington, 19th cent., from ) Digital post-production insertion of contemporary accessories from studio shooting and computer-generated textiles. Darkroom prints on Bergger Wart-Tone barytapaper with silver salts.

Foto Marvellini is the collective fouded by Andrea and Carlo Marvellini, based in Milan (Italy). Friends
for decades, they started their first joint artistic project in 2011, sharing their cultural interests, as well as their respective preferred techniques (Andrea the installations, Carlo photography).
In the project they embody two brothers, descendants of a legendary family of Milanese
photographers, the Marvellini family, from which also derive their pseudonyms. Foto Marvellini is a
loving tribute to photography from the 19th century to the beginning of 20th. With perturbing
language, somewhere between the familiar and the fantastic, the collective declines the theme of
the 'fake' in photography, plays with the absurd, celebrates past techniques, creates credible
ancestors and faithful post-mortems. With their deliberately "deceptive" works, Foto Marvelli invites
the viewer to remember that images in general, by nature, trigger and shape his emotions and his
understanding of the world. The limited edition fine-art works are produced on baryte paper
printed in darkroom, often treated with a chemical processes that antique the supports without
affecting the silver salts of the support.