© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

Tell us about the project “The Memory Of The Present” selected for the Urbanautica Institute Awards? What is the motivation and the theme you addressed?

Lorenzo Valloriani (LV): “The Memory Of The Present” was born from the observation that the contemporary Tuscan landscape is an invisible reality because there is a tendency to favor an idyllic narration of this territory, ideally identified only by rolling hills and rows of cypresses. The project envisaged many small trips between 2019 and 2022 to document each of the ten provinces that make up the region for more than 50 places. Excluding the large historical centers and the majestic natural landscapes, I concentrated on the lands in between. Those of large non-museumized provinces; unidentifiable smaller towns, anonymous architecture; provincial roads; industrial warehouses; light poles, votive aedicules, embankments of torrents; blurred boundaries between city and countryside. It’s where the city no longer has a proper end and the countryside a true beginning. A sort of rurality extended to small towns and landscapes marked by industry. No photographer has set down a tripod in these places. Paraphrasing Henry Bergson, the memory of the present is also a form of inattention to the space that surrounds us, particularly our relationship with the everyday landscape that we cross every day.

© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

What are the practical difficulties you faced in its development?

LV: The main difficulty was finding the time necessary to make many small “minimal” journeys, which reached a total of about 3,000 km. Editing was a complex and challenging job since selecting and reducing all the work produced to 60 images required time, sedimentation, and a coherent layout within the book. I had decided right from the start that the project’s outcome had to be a book.

© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

When and how did you start with photography?

LV: It all started with discovering my cousin’s darkroom; I was 17 then. So I’m a son of analog season. I started printing and developing black and white, photographing with a Nikkormat EL, an old semi-automatic reflex. I used to take pictures during trips to Europe with my high schoolmates. For many years we made travel reports influenced by Cartier Bresson’s genre. This phase ended with the transition to digital and the beginning of a new phase which, over time, has increasingly focused on documentary photography aimed at the man-made landscape. Books, many books bought and read in a disorderly and bulimic way, informed my visual education. Over the years, I moved to the study of the great masters of American and European color photography (especially Italian, French, and German). All this has helped to broaden my gaze and concentrate my work on individual projects.

How would you define your apprach to photography today? What are the main fields of interest?

LV: I’m interested in the artificial landscape and human-induced transformations. I am attracted above all by the margins, by rural and peripheral landscapes, far from large inhabited centers. The camera is a medium that helps me see. The projects emerge slowly, along the way, from the ongoing work in the field, perhaps moving from some suggestions and then defining themselves over time. I prefer basic and essential equipment, which constitutes a limit but helps define a vision: I use a Fujifilm GFX with a single lens, a shiftable 50mm. So far, most of my projects start from studying the landscape I am interested in. At the same time, I begin to read up on individual places with the ever-present Google maps. I develop my projects independently; later, I like to share them with friends and experts in the sector.

© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

It’s not easy to pursue the authorial path, it requires time, energy and resources. What strategies do you adopt?

LV: It is undoubtedly important to have the opportunity to show your work, both with exhibitions and publications. I prefer the latter. At the same time, I am also aware of the difficulties of finding institutions or publishers willing to dialogue, but this should not be an obstacle to developing one’s project.Social networks are a valuable tool for sharing one’s work but, above all, for studying and keeping in touch with the rest of the world. Without them, I certainly would not have had the opportunity to meet many photographers whose work continues to be a source of great interest and inspiration.

© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

Who or what does influence your work in particular? Is there any contemporary artist, photographer or writer you’d like to quote or mention?

LV: I have a great curiosity and never get tired of looking for and studying new and old authors. Awareness comes from studying, at least in my case. Many authors have influenced me. There are many, and in naming a few, I risk forgetting others, but having to do it, I would say: Baudelaire, Bill Evans, Raymond Carver, Italo Calvino, and Walker Evans. I am passionate about the work of Gerry Johansson and Guido Guidi. While using different tools and adopting clear choices in terms of the use of color, the former predominantly black and white, I think they have evident common traits and affinities. Both the choice of subjects and the prolonged and loving attention to the topics are stimulating. They lead to a different approach to the image and the use of the photographic medium. Their pictures open to reading layers, making them interesting for long observation. The scenario in which photography is presented and discussed have changed considerably in recent years with the spread of ICT and the digital world.

© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

How do you relate to social networks and this expanded field of photography? How do you cope with the challenges of the profession?

LV: NFT and artificial intelligence are already present, at least from a technological point of view. I hope that the “analogue” factor made up of photographic and typographic paper will not disappear, being sucked into an exclusively digital use of content. I tend only to consider a photo to exist when I can see it in print.

Do you have any projects in the pipeline? What’s next?

LV: I’m starting to think about the next project. Still, without a pre-packaged idea in mind: I’d like to develop it directly in the field, along the way, without making decisions at the table before starting to photograph. This implies the possibility of experimenting and sometimes failing, and requires a minimum of self-confidence, but I find it a challenging attitude. I am still determining which direction it will take exactly. I’ll find out later: the everyday landscape and the elements that compose it continue to be the primary object of my interest and looking.


© Lorenzo Valloriani from the series “The Memory Of The Present”

Lorenzo Valloriani (website)
Urbanautica Institute Awards 2021