Un luogo bello
by Alessandro Mallamaci
portfolio special mention call 'URBANAUTICA INSTITUTE AWARDS 2020', 2020
Category: Anthropology and Territories
I started to take photographs of the valley of Sant'Agata river, in Aspromonte (southern Calabria, Italy), some years ago. At some point I felt the need to change my position and to get closer to my landscape, trying to investigate the relationship between man and it, using metaphors and nonsense. What is landscape photography? Could we tell this story in this way? Southern Italy was the cradle of Magna Graecia and "Un luogo bello" (literally "a beautiful place") is one of the possible translations of the term "aghatè", which probably gives the name to the valley of Sant’Agata river. This is a place of traditions and real estate speculation, a place ruled by the so-called 'Ndrangheta, in which some villages are five minutes away from one another at summertime and one hour away during winter. A place with unique naturalistic features and illegal buildings all over it. This is my place. I can't help but love it. It is a beautiful place.