A PHOTO SHOW IS JUST SET IN PARIS TO CELEBRATE THE FAMOUS ITALIAN STUDIOS
“Nothing lasts forever” Steve Bisson says, editorial director at “Urbanautica” (a web independent journal dedicated primarily to contemporary and documentary photography) and maybe he is right… As the year begins, the destiny of CINECITTÀ is more and more uncertain. Two photographers Gianluca Gamberini and Emanuele Scorcelletti, have decided to react to the closure of the Roman Studios and fight against it in their own way, doing what they do best: taking pictures of what they witness. We can discover their Cinecittà, see the studios through their eyes.
The exhibition takes place at the studios of the Patio-Opéra in Paris. It shows Cinecittà like we have never seen it. They have two different styles but one thing is common to their pictures, and that is the destruction of what used to be the greatest studios of Europe.
Gianluca Gamberini has worked in the studios. We can clearly see them falling apart in his photographs. The pictures are well-thought, he waits for the perfect moment with the perfect light and place in order to take them. The reality of what Cinecittà has become is really hard to witness. He took the pictures between 2007 and 2012, as a result we can see several aspects of Cinecittà like under the snow or on a normal day, after the rain… but the result is the same, and the feeling unique: desolation and sadness. He plays beautifully with what is shown and what is hidden from us. A lot of his pictures point – in a certain way – at the “behind the scenes” of the studios and at the same time at the front of the constructions, which make a “set inside the set” effect. We can see what remains of the greatness of Cinecittà but the photographs make us be fully aware that it is, unfortunately, over…
Emanuele Scorcelletti has a different approach. He takes the pictures in the moment, without over-thinking it. Whenever he sees something he likes, something that moves him, he just takes out his camera and shoots. They are authentic, instantaneous black and white snaps that give a feeling of nostalgia. You cannot believe what you see and cannot help thinking “how did all this happen? And Why?” It is just and simply unbelievable. It breaks your heart to see the sculptures that you recognize from this or that movie thrown away and left outside to vanish. The “Five Points” of Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York have become a ghost place, half broken and emptY.
It is hard to imagine Leonardo DiCaprio fighting against Daniel Day-Lewis on this set. It feels to be on one of Sergio Leone’s western, waiting for something to happen in a dust bowl. The funniest thing being that the director loved Cinecittà and shot his movies there, leaving behind some reminders of those times like Dolly, a movable crane they used to place the camera on and shoot, left there between the ruins and the scaffolds which Emanuele shows wonderfully in his photograph “Once Upon a Time Dolly” (“Il était une fois Dolly”), the title being a reminder of his movie Once upon a time in America. It is waiting for something to happen, just like us…
The message that exits from the photographs is so powerful and sincere that it makes you want to do something to change the ending of this place. Not only the exhibition wants to make people react, but it also is a way to pay a tribute to the glorious Cinecittà and the artists that worked there, such as Federico Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni, Sofia Loren, Luchino Visconti, Cludia Cardinale and so many more…
Do not wait too long, the exhibition will take place until the 19th January and it is a must see! You cannot miss it!
