Street Photography nominee

This series of photos were taken in the Rione Sanità (literally, 'Health district') in Naples, Italy. Since its origins, this area has been a sacred and burial site where the inseparable connection between man and death stretched out over the centuries.

The images show a butcher carrying a chunk of meat over his shoulders as he proceeds down the street to deliver the slaughtered animal. His arms stretched out to hold the heavy weight, the old man following along, and the obituaries affixed to the walls infuse this everyday routine with a religious aura, as if we were attending a funeral procession, or a peculiar reenactment of the Way of the Cross.

Born 1977 - Italian - Based in New York

Having indulged for years in taking my camera out for a walk, I came to a point where I realized that a coherent body of work was spontaneously taking shape, much like branches sprouting from a tree.

This occurrence led me to conclude that whenever a street photographer, consciously or not, is able to imbue random chance with form and meaning in the twinkling of an eye, to make the opposing factions of fortuity and intent collide and deliver a spark — be it an impression, a thought, an emotion, a memory —, that is when this peculiar craft rises to an art form.

Something akin to an arcane divining practice where its acolytes, relying on intuition and fate, walk unknown grounds in search of 'water' holding a camera in place of a dowsing rod. In this sense, my work strives to evoke, if not reveal, the transcendent quality that seems to permeate reality, a fundamental aspect of life that the distracted and skeptical attitude of our times is in much need of recovering.