“When I started to photograph in 1967, I understood immediately that the camera would be a learning tool for me. What I could see through the lens was multiplying my visual ingenuity and this world seemed to me extraordinary. I felt like a tourist thrilled by what he could see from a coin operated binocular. However we know that if we fall in love later in life we might alter reality and I didn’t escape the rule in that particular moment. Either way, step by step, I became aware that photography would have helped me, not only perceive the world through different eyes, but also understand myself. The journey was difficult and harsh, as in every job, and I feared many times that I could fail. I realised that it was quite easy to lure the viewer with beautiful, sentimental pictures while it was much more difficult to realise a work that tells you a story over the years. My photographs are now hanging in front of you and what you can see is the work of a life, my life. I have again the feeling I’m betting myself: my approach is not of someone who is looking for acceptance, although this is also necessary, I have furthermore the desire to awake your curiosity for a work that draw me to fundamental questions like who we are and where we come from”.

Michele Pellegrino