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THE STORY OF A JOURNEY  AND PHOTOGRAPHY (Silvana Grippi)

Photography  is changing the code of communication, the breaking down of barriers has generated  new knowledge  and new  lifestyles that are creating different types  of visual communication.

It seemed the world had no more secrets, but adventures and personal discoveries, through contact with others, create new possibilities. In this regard photography has acquired a leading role and geographical distances have been overcome by this new means of mass communication. The concept of “photography” is no longer a mere copying of reality but has become a crucial part with the addition of "feeling".

Nowadays, communication professionals - beyond the poses and appearances - emphasize the passion, the competence and the sensitivity, which combined with the artistic vision become important in defining one’s personal touch.

The choices of photographic representation become "significant" if they are part of the charged emotion in which each author "invests" trying to offer original and unrepeatable freeze-frames. This is a new age where “the journey" plays an important role in our life and the camera has become not only a "traveling companion", but also a means of communication. A new wave of interest towards continents and the people who live there, has made possible the meeting  and even friendship between  people. Although in schools geography has been removed as a subject, the most important aspect has not been removed among the young people: the "rediscovery of places", the curiosity to explore and human relations.

Marco Meini, a young Florentine photographer and video maker, quotes the great master Cartier Bresson, "Pictures are not made with the camera ...but with the eyes, with the heart and the head ... ", with this sentence he embodies the sense of photography. Marco acknowledged these teachings and began photographing by relating with language of photo reporters, such as in his work about “Station on the move”, where he started to approach with the “speed” (Referenced work published in “Photo Professional Canon Edition” Magazine in August 2012). His work concerning travel is oriented towards different themes such as the “emotions from contact” that fit perfectly into the tradition of neorealism and social photography.  Photography with immediate impact where the subject’s gaze is directed at the target and complies with the "rule of thirds" as the setting of choice.

Marco Meini’s reportages follow the new vision of contemporary photographers, represent tools for valorizing other "dimensions" and intend to captivate the viewer. His travel stories relate with photography, or even better, with the reflexed image, as an "exchange" that approaches and defines the frame and goes beyond temporary knowledge. In his pictures he focuses on the social and  environmental reality and on the unblemished gazes, but he also adds the search for the aesthetic quality that makes an impact.

The author perceives these fragments of innovation and photographs as a direct expression of a "modus vivendi", captivated but not conventional. "Travel Notes from Thailand" is a photo journal that makes the observer feel as if they were present.

Meini the photographer, chose the journey, to tell about habits and customs. His shots are collected in 35 works in B/W and they have in common the simplicity of the forms and the beauty of the gazes. Naturally,  as a photographer, he describes, narrates and reflects a reality that does not  judge,  but on which he wants to draw the attention with his shots exhibited with special care and well-defined details.

The images of  "Travel Notes" were shown in Meini’s first personal presentation, in June  2013 at the DEA gallery in Florence with strong and sensual depictions,  stressing the light and the shadows of the human being that communicate through "other" cultures.  Furthermore this research make us see the "giraffe women" and the "woman with black teeth" artistic subjects of the past, compared to the subjects of today. The author, starts a reflection, implements a sharing of knowledge of the places and the human dignity useful to approach the subject to the object described.

Credits for translation – Dott.ssa Barbara Lafratta