“I am of it, but not from it. I might appear the part, and my name fits the context, but I grew up at the bottom of Africa. As far as family trees go, I know nothing beyond my grandparents on both sides, so exploring Italy is my attempt to try and peer into the past and find a connection with my history.”
“The only images I’d really seen of Italy before were a handful of black-and-white photographs of my grandparents in their youth. They portrayed a classically romantic vision of Italy. One showed them and some of their friends in their twenties, hanging out outdoors, looking incredibly chic. It gave me an inescapable romantic feeling.”
“I love to photograph the older generations: there is great wisdom to be had in conversations with them. And as soon as I introduce myself and my intentions, their curiosity is piqued and they let me in. There was a couple I photographed near a town called Cozze, who were on their evening stroll. After speaking with them, I learned they had the same surname as my mother when she was born. It wasn’t much, but it was a special moment for me, even if just for the imagination. It’s the people that make a place interesting and give it life and character.”
