The souvenir photo is the latest fetish for the holiday maker of the twenty-first century. Where once stood the tan, as the treasured prize you would show off to the others to prove you had been on holiday, now is the photo: you cannot say you were away if you haven't shared at least one of your portraits in your holiday destination. Though souvenir photos are everything but new, the widespread diffusion of digital cameras and smartphones has given rise to the phenomenon of "binge-photographing": we are not afraid to take a "useless" picture, there is no film to limit us nowadays. During my many travels, wherever I have been, I've observed a sort of worry in getting the PERFECT souvenir photo: whether they use it as attempt at remembering their holidays, or as a profile picture on Facebook. With this project, I aim to explore the relationship between space and subject/s as well as the approach to photography: be it taking photos distractedly or planning everything to the millimetre, photographing with a smartphone, a compact camera or an SLR. Moreover, I am also interested in showing how the dynamics according to which souvenir photos are planned and taken do not change regardless of the background setting. The objects of the images are the protagonists, rather than the scene they are so intent on depicting: the attention is focused on the characters and not on the environment that is ironically relegated to the role of the frame.

La foto ricordo ha superato la tintarella come feticcio del vacanziere del ventunesimo secolo: non sei stato in vacanza se durante o al rientro dalla vacanza non hai condiviso almeno un tuo ritratto in un luogo o davanti ad un monumento famoso. Benchè le foto ricordo non siano di certo una novità degli ultimi anni, la capillare diffusione di macchine fotografiche digitali e smartphone hanno permesso una abbuffata di fotografie, anche le più "inutili", poiché non vi è più il limite imposto dai rullini. Durante i miei viaggi, ovunque mi sia fermato a osservare persone che si scattano fotografie ricordo, ho osservato lo stesso affanno nel volere ottenere LA foto ricordo, quella magari da utilizzare come profilo su Facebook. Con questo progetto ho voluto indagare il rapporto tra spazio e soggetto così come l'approccio con la fotografia: una foto distratta, una foto controllata al millimetro, con uno smartphone, una compatta o una reflex. Ho voluto altresì mostrare come le dinamiche con cui le foto ricordo vengono scattate non cambiano anche spostandosi in luoghi lontani tra di loro. Le immagini ritraggono quindi i protagonisti della scena intenti a scattare: l'attenzione è tutta incentrata sui personaggi e non sull'ambiente che viene escluso dall'inquadratura.

Porto, Portugal, September 2015

Porto, Portugal, September 2015

Porto, Portugal, September 2015

Porto, Portugal, September 2015

Porto, Portugal, September 2015

Madrid, Spain, October 2014

Madrid, Spain, October 2014

Madrid, Spain, October 2014

La Habana, Cuba, July 2014

Malta, June 2014

Barcelona, Spain, March 2014

Barcelona, Spain, March 2014

Barcelona, Spain, March 2014

Lisboa, Portugal, September 2013

Lisboa, Portugal, September 2013

Lisboa, Portugal, September 2013

Lisboa, Portugal, September 2013

Lisboa, Portugal, September 2013

St Petersburg, Russia, September 2013

St Petersburg, Russia, September 2013

St Petersburg, Russia, September 2013

St Petersburg, Russia, September 2013

St Petersburg, Russia, September 2013

St Petersburg, Russia, September 2013

St Petersburg, Russia, September 2013

Moscow, Russia, September 2013

Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan), June 2013

Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan), June 2013

Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan), June 2013

Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan), June 2013

Sieam Reap, Cambodia, June 2013

Sieam Reap, Cambodia, June 2013

Sieam Reap, Cambodia, June 2013

Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, May 2013

Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, May 2013

Macau, People's Republic of China, May 2013

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 2013

Florence, Italy, April 2013

Milan, Italy, April 2013

Milan, Italy, April 2013

Milan, Italy, April 2013

Milan, Italy, April 2013

Milan, Italy, April 2013