The Encounter
Selenium-toned photographs with text mounted on steel. Each 22″h x 28″w. Total piece measures 22″ h x 360″w
The Encounter chronicles the passage of the day and the season. It tells the story of a love affair from its earliest awakening to the ultimate decision of whether to leave or remain. While the object of the love affair is actually the city itself, this is not clearly evident in the telling of the story. The photographs depict things as they appear to be, while the text deals with the experience of what is actually occurring politically in Italy during this time. All the photographs were shot at the historic Campo de Fiori in the Centro Historico, Rome. The selenium-tone coloration hearkens back to what one might have seen in the late 1930s, early 1940s when Mussolini joined forces with Hitler. Here the 1980s-90s cars seem to be anachronisms in this tone. It alludes to the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe today. This was part of a larger installation called Witness.
