"Visage"

The Silk Factory Studio, Tbilisi, Georgia

7 June 2018 

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On the occasion of the Italian National Day, the Embassy of Italy in Georgia held a photo exhibition with works by Max Cardelli. The National Day is connected to the concept of "Vivere all’Italiana".

Capturing the expression of someone's soul is very difficult, because that expression comes when one is alone, immersed in the endless reflection of when we are lost within ourselves: it is uncommon when we are in front of a camera, and rarely when the subject knows we are taking their picture. But sometimes it happens, and it's a minor miracle. The portraits in this project are the outcome of those rare but intense miracles. Because of this, they are portraits that are troubling in nature, as if they were absorbed in themselves, which concedes little to the photogenic nature of a postcardstyle landscape. In this case, the landscapes are the mirror of an intimate reflection, just as faces are the mirror of a reflective nature. The entire work revolves around this astonishing instant when faces and nature, people and landscapes, reveal what they conceal inside, almost always protected by the investigatory gazes of those who see them from afar. These precious moments are muted and examined in depth by artisanal platinotypes to extend the poetry of interior reflections.