Simone Padelli

A Est

Croatia, Bosnia Erzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Greece. Florence as point of departure, Istanbul as destination. This is Simone Padelli’s journey. While bound to Turkey, he crossed the Balkan countries and discovered their contrasts in terms of culture and geography. Obvious contrasts which speak of lands with a complex recent history, marked by deep wounds, but also by a remarkable revival. Simone’s eyes turned this trip into a project. Just do not call it ‘travel reportage’: it is not. Simone’s project is not characterised by iconic elements as part of our collective imagination of these countries. His photographs might have been taken anywhere what they indicate is his presence here and now. This project is not meant as a testimony or an objective summary. On the contrary, it hints at a personal and dreamlike viewpoint – the traveler\'s subjective experience aimed to know rather than to describe. In sum, he uses photography to imagine and not to testify. The lands he crossed are the photographer’s theatre, while the miles he traveled through are the stage and change in landscape can be seen as scene changes. The photographer is alone on stage, moving from one set to the other in order to reinterpret the show in front of him. His eye thus becomes the main character.