Tatì Space 7/2/24 Tatì Space 7/2/24

Andrea Martino

Andrea Martino is a young Italian photographer with a background in architecture. Born in Naples in 1996, his hometown shaped his worldview, teaching him to observe space and understand the intricate relationships that are created with it. Each shot represents an attempt to absorb the atmosphere of the place, allowing the context to suggest its stories. Photography thus becomes a form of visual narration that seeks to capture the essence of places and human connections in a delicate balance between art and documentation.

Caveat

Andrea Martino is a young Italian photographer with a background in architecture. Born in Naples in 1996, his hometown shaped his worldview, teaching him to observe space and understand the intricate relationships that are created with it. During his university studies in architecture, he developed a parallel interest in photography, using it as a tool for research and documentation. The photographic language became his main means to explore and narrate what he sees through the lens, investigating the physical environment that surrounds, scrutinizing not only the architectural elements, but also the human relationships that interact with space. Each shot represents an attempt to absorb the atmosphere of the place, allowing the context to suggest its stories. Photography thus becomes a form of visual narration that seeks to capture the essence of places and human connections in a delicate balance between art and documentation.

In his photography project Caveat, the eye of the photographer and the sensibility of the architect are visible. We are pleased that Andrea accepted to be interviewed by Tati Space in order to learn more about the context of the project, his photography process and approaches.

Summary of the Project:

Caveat: a Latin word that sounds like a warning, “beware”. It is the title of a photographic series that explores the caves of Vallone di San Rocco in Naples, a hidden and endangered treasure, a challenge for the eye and the memory. The caves are ancient cavities dug in the yellow tuff, the volcanic material that formed after an eruption of the Campi Flegrei about 12,000 years ago. From these caves Naples grew, which used the tuff for its constructions, but which also gave the caves other uses: shelter, workplace, storage, landfill. Today these caves are covered by an urban jungle that hosts an extraordinary biodiversity, but that leaves an open wound in the rock and in history. The photographic series tries to return a historical and formal “portrait” of these caves, showing their architectural, landscape, environmental, social value. The Caves of Vallone present themselves as urban rooms, where space is a void, where air is closed by matter that traces its boundary. A system that has its own logic, its own geometry, its own aesthetics, but that has remained invisible and inaccessible for a long time, and that now proposes itself to discovery and enhancement. This investigation aims to demonstrate that these quarries are an integral part of Naples’ history and culture, but they are also at risk of degradation and oblivion. The quarries are a dormant giant waiting to be awakened with care and respect, not only as geological heritage but also as a custodian of Neapolitan cultural memory.

Tati Space: How came your interest in photographing the Caves of Vallone di San Rocco in Naples? What was the moment of inspiration?

Andrea: In reality, the project came about somewhat by chance. I learned about this place through some friends, and after an initial walk, it was love at first sight. The awareness of the project I was undertaking didn’t come immediately; rather, it emerged towards the end, following a wealth of stimuli that guided my final work.

The photography process was accompanied by an extended period of information gathering and, most importantly, extensive reconnaissance. Navigating within the valley was not easy, especially considering its current state (with paths that are difficult to traverse and hidden by dense vegetation). Initially, when I visited the first quarries, I didn’t have this project in mind. Everything changed when a friend and university colleague, who was working on a design thesis related to the valley, provided additional details and insights for me to continue my research.

Tati Space: Are the Caves you describe a natural monument, or a historical monument, protected by any law, Italian or international? What is their use for the moment? Are they in public or private ownership. Can you give more information to create an idea bout the context?

Andrea: The photography project focuses solely on abandoned quarries. By examining the Urban Implementarion Plan, it’s possible to determine that the quarries are subject to the constraints of Law 1497 of June 29, 1939, which pertains to the protection of natural beauty. Regarding ownership, some quarries are definitely privately owned and fenced (for example, the quarries where buses are located, such as Cava Aloschi, which is also used as a bus depot). Others, however, are difficult to attribute ownership to, as the area underwent chaotic development in the 1960s, making it challenging to identify the owners.

Vallone San Rocco received an interesting recovery project in 2012, following the initial park redevelopment project that began in 2003 and concluded in 2011. Some of the quarries in the San Rocco valley are privately owned and are currently being used as workshops by local artisans.

Tati Space: What was your approach in photographing the Caves, for example the camera that you used, or any other curiosity from the process of photographing them?

Andrea: Regarding my approach to photography, I adopted pure contemplation—a method that characterizes my way of working. Despite using digital technology, I deliberately slowed down, favoring observation. I take only a few photos because I already know what I’m looking for when I shoot. I like to describe my process using the words of Gabriele Basilico: “I arrive at a place and move around like a dowser searching for the right viewpoint. I walk back and forth; the important thing is to find the right balance between myself, the eye, and the space.”

From a technical perspective, I chose to use the square format and black and white to create timeless images. These cavities are portrayed in their entirety, anthropomorphized as an almost maternal figure that, throughout history, provided material and shelter for the growth and survival of the city and its citizens in Naples.

Post-production was equally important, allowing me to organize the narrative and rediscover and appreciate the locations, uncovering elements that had eluded me during the photographic campaign. In my personal projects, I intentionally slow down in all image processing stages, from pre-production to post-production, almost as if I were working in analog. This approach allows me to appreciate what I am representing and avoid a gluttonous collection of images that I would struggle to synthesize and relate to my thoughts.

Tati Space: Thank you Andrea for sharing your work with us.

The Readers can see more of Andrea’s work at his website

http://www.andreamartino.com

Interview by Alketa Misja, for Tatì Space

Tatì Space 6/12/20 Tatì Space 6/12/20

Gabriele Basilico

Gabriele Basilico is an italian photographer known for its urban and cityscape photographs. He is one of the best european and international contemporary photographers of the 20th century. Graduated as an architect from the Polytechnic University of Milan in 1973, he devoted his entire career documenting urban and metropolitan landscapes transformed from an industrial to post-industrial society.

Gabriele Basilico

(Milano 1944-2013)

© Gabriele Basilico, Milano Ritratti di Fabbriche, 1978-1980

Documenting the urban change was his main objective. In his autobiographical book "Architecture, Cities, Visions: reflections on photography" he states : “I had given myself a kind of mission, to witness how urban space changes… Cities resemble each other, but they are not all the same: there are social differences, of history, of size, of latitude, of climate. I think that urban space, subjected to an unprecedented change in history, presents itself as a real metaphor for our society, which certainly deserves to be observed with great attention”.

On the issues of transformation, shape and identity, Gabriele Basilico has published over 100 photography books during his 40-year career. The main cities he has documented are Milan, Rome, Bari, Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid, Lisbon, Naples, Hamburg, Beirut, Genoa, Istanbul, Moscow, Paris, Shanghai, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, etc. His first project was in 1978-1980 "Milan-Factory Portraits", presented in 1983 at PAC Milan (Contemporary Art Pavilion). The first international project came in 1984 when he and other photographers were commissioned by the French government in Mission DATAR to document the transformation of contemporary landscape. From here the book "Bord de Mer" was created. The theme of ports and the sea accompanies him, as in the project of Genoa, concluded in the book “Porti di Mare” (1990).

© Gabriele Basilico. LeTouquet, France 1984

In 1991 he took part in the internationally renowned project, photographing Beirut destroyed by the 15-year civil war, along with other photographers such as Rene Burri, Robert Frank, Jodeph Koudelka, Raymond Depardon and Fouad Elkoury. In 1996 he participated in the Venice Biennale with the exhibition, “Cross Sections of a Country”, where he received the Osella d’Oro Award for Contemporary Architecture Photography. In 1999 he published the book "Interrupted City" and "Cityscapes" with over 300 urban photographs taken since the early ‘80s. In 2000 he photographed the Berlin metropolitan area, from which the book “Berlin” was created that won the best photography book award in 2003. In 2007, he was invited by SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), to develop a photography project in the Sillicon Valley metropolitan area, published in the book "Gabriele Basilico-Sillicon Valley". Another project of this year is "Vertical Moscow", photographed from the seven towers of the Stalinist period. In the coming years 2010-2012 his work will be extended to other world metropolis; Istanbul, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro. The latest project is in Milan 2012, documenting the construction of Porta Nuova from its inception to the completion.

The photography of Gabriele Basilico is known for its monumentality and silence, the lack of people, the contrast in black and white, which reinforce the grandeur of architecture and gives the place a metaphysical character. He is interested in social and historical stratifications. As he states : "I can not help but see the city as a large body that breathes, a body in transformation, and I am interested in grasping its signs, observing its shape, like the doctor who investigates the modifications of the human body to study its nature. I am constantly looking for new points of view, as if the city were a labyrinth and my gaze was looking for a precise point of penetration”.

Gabriele Basilico's photography is documentary in character, but far from advertising and propaganda. He doesn’t capture the 'decisive moment' as Bresson, but is meditative and analytical as Atget, Evans, and Beckers. As Francesco Bonami says, "Basilico’s work is not a celebration of architecture and its symbolic value, but a discourse about the aesthetic value of architecture and the constant tension between this and its social function". During his entire life, Basilico has explained his photography in many articles, conversations and books. But the paragraph that most synthesizes his thinking is: “Photographing the city does not mean choosing the best architecture and isolating it from the context to enhance its aesthetic, but for me it means exactly the opposite. That is, putting in the same level high-end architecture with ordinary one, building a place of coexistence, because the real city, the city I am interested in, contains this mixture of excellence with mediocre, the center with periphery, a vision of urban space that once we would have called democracy ”.

© Gabriele Basilico, Rio De Janiero 2011

© Gabriele Basilico, Milano, Porta Nuova, 2012

The link of Archive Gabriele Basilico

http://www.archiviogabrielebasilico.it

A.M