elisabetta riccio - detail of the sand and black rocks typical of the volcanic island of fuerteventura

A-Typical

Silence enveloped me and the mystery of not knowing exactly where I was pulled me inexorably forward. Luxuriant nature guided my steps with brightly colored leaves and lush branches that invaded the path. Remnants of buildings, heaps of concrete, piles of abandoned iron, all held together by a whisper-thin layer of quicklime, were devoured by that rebellious force that struggles to regain possession of her space.

An urban scar on the skin of our Earth. I was awestruck.

I turned to admire the spectacle of decadence that revealed itself to my eyes: my gaze wanted to shine a light on what had been removed and then forgotten by the passage of time. A photographic investigation seeking to bring back to life what had seemed buried.

This was my atypical gaze in those near and distant lands, which became the fulcrum of my wanderings, guided by the allure of those paths that seemed like wounds in the earth, while majestic, resilient nature gave them a new identity and a poetry they’d never had before.

I tracked the passage of man and got lost in wild, urban spaces, following in the footsteps of a past that I could only touch by running my fingers over its ruins. I looked out the windows of this world to witness the stages of its transformation.

This story recounts an intercontinental photographic journey that spanned 10 years and seven countries. From Mexico to France, from New Jersey to Tel Aviv, from the lands of the Navajo to Italy, it tells the story of old buildings, hidden places, changing landscapes as distant as they are similar to each other, where the transformation of the contemporary landscape is the protagonist.

elisabetta riccio - detail of a window in the beautiful city of Aix-en-Provence
elisabetta riccio - abandoned hotel, the millionaire ruins of Bacalar, Quintana Roo
elisabetta riccio - abandoned hotel, the millionaire ruins of Bacalar, Quintana Roo
elisabetta riccio - abandoned building in the historic center of boscotrecase, naples
elisabetta riccio - detail of a succulent plant on the island of fuerteventura that enhances the beauty of nature
elisabetta riccio - abandoned building in tel aviv
elisabetta riccio - detail of a succulent plant on the island of fuerteventura that enhances the beauty of nature
elisabetta riccio - abandoned hotel, the millionaire ruins of Bacalar, Quintana Roo
elisabetta riccio - abandoned hotel, the millionaire ruins of Bacalar, Quintana Roo
elisabetta riccio - abandoned sol beer bar, whose ruins can be found sailing in the lake of 7 colors in the Bacalar lagoon, Quintana Roo
elisabetta riccio - experiments obtained with the manipulation of the films produced with the polaroid sx-70
elisabetta riccio - experiments obtained with the manipulation of the films produced with the polaroid sx-70
elisabetta riccio - triptych of an experiment with the polaroid sx-70 made in the navajo reservation
elisabetta riccio - double exposure of the restitution project where you can see AN OLD FACTORY abandoned in Piedmont, Italy, once a producer of cotton handkerchiefs
elisabetta riccio - double exposure of the restitution project where you can see an abandoned railway depot on the rotai that line the city of troy, NY