Introduce yourself: tell us who you are in a few sentences and give us a little background on your career path thus far.
I was born in Reggio Calabria, in 1958. This part of Italy is still one of the poorest regions in Europe (with a very high unemployment rate and mafia issues), not offering many educational possibilities. Despite the difficulties and doing a job that did not involve my artistic affinities, I managed to cultivate my passion for photography for a long time. I started my serious photography path by creating visual marketing photography for the city transport company. Then I was doing theatre stage photography for many years.
Since 2013 I was actively participated in the Your Shot community of National Geographic America and have been published for 20 times in articles created as contests by editors of this platform. Apart from this, my project on recycling was published by National Geographic magazine online with the 14 photos and interview. Another 6 photographs have been published by this magazine in others articles. Lately form the ongoing project entitled “The last dance” I received acknowledgements and publications from Contrasto agency, Getty Reportage, and the Lucie Foundation.
What is your earliest memory with photography?
I was a kid when my mother took me to the city park where I discover an old photographer resided permanently there to photograph children. I was fascinated by his ancient machine which covered his head with a sheet. This mysterious scene remained vividly for a long time, accentuating my curiosity about photography.
Describe your approach to visual storytelling?
I believe in the concept of invisibility, an important quality when you approach someone and want to tell their story. I try not to be emotionally intrusive towards the portrait subject, so I often leave a certain distance between me and it.
What is one piece of advice you would give to those just starting out or looking to improve their visual storytelling skills?
For me, perseverance is the key to success. As if to capture a moment you have to wait, to tell a story you have to insist and not be satisfied with the first results obtained. The options are many and only time can settle them.
How did this particular project/body of work come about? Why were you interested in it?
My project was born from the primary need to pass on to posterity the beautiful love story of my parents. In the days of the pandemic, I felt an urge to testify to their feelings and the sense of oppression due to the closure that I and they experienced. And so day after day I tried to freeze their moments and also their loneliness. I have already obtained a small result, now I know them better thanks to photography.
My project aims at refining the golden age and it is in my intentions to continue not only in their family environment but also with their difficulty in living and resuming their first shy moments of socialization. Because often these people have no voice, they are part of another generation that will have great difficulties to start again. My parents are known in their community because they lead an association that gathered more than 100 elderly people with social dancing and dating activities. What will become of their future, there is a strong intention to open everything in September. How will they spend their summer? For many years they were frequenters of a municipal beach (now officially closed for reconstruction) with many friends who had followed them there. How will they spend their time?
My father is 85 years old and my mother 83, they have known each other for at least 70 years and have been married since 1957. Will they survive those changes? I am very interested in the strength beyond the sentiments that this couple gives off. Of course there is the sign of time in them but also a bit of fresh youth spirit and a strong attachment to life are perceived. So, being able to pass on this primordial force that fills my senses and moves me is a great challenge.
How does this moment impact how you view both yourself as a visual storyteller and your project?
Two months of quarantine certainly gave me more time to think about close people, looks, absolutely familiar faces for the first time that I really found myself on stage. I started thinking of my parents as actors who represent the truths of life.
What has been a specific surprise or challenge of working on this project?
The challenge was and is not to fall into the obvious. Rituals to tell without falling into repetitions was what I had proposed myself. The biggest surprise was the human side, through photography I tried to capture their tenderness by understanding them better. It is above all for this reason that I want to continue this project towards their “last dance”.
Pick 2-3 photos from your series to deconstruct: what was happening when you took the shot? Set the scene, what was going through your head?
My mother has the art of cooking well and that has been handed down for generations so often despite her age she is busy in the kitchen. Before Easter, according to tradition, my mom prepared cookies. Luckily that day I managed to transform her work into fun and make her feel a carefree child playing.
Let me be honest, hardly during my life I have seen two people with such empathy. I think their desire to belong is exceptional. Time surely has not weakened their love which I find sublime.
What motivates you to keep making pictures? In one sentence describe why visual storytelling matters to you.
Visual storytelling matters because it helps me to feel better with myself and to feel less alone.
***
Antonio’s work was selected as part of our Artists Against an #Infodemic campaign — a project by CatchLight, Dysturb and The Everyday Projects made possible thanks to the support from the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships program at Stanford University and PhotoWings.
The project draws on images by photographers, muralists, street artists, and illustrators from around the world to bring greater attention to public health messages. Working with memetic distribution expert Pamela Chen, and Dr. Jenell Stewart, DO, MPH, an Infectious Diseases specialist, the collaboration utilizes the power of visuals to contest misinformation and disinformation in communities where infection rates are most prominent, and to improve public communication and news delivery surrounding COVID-19 to underserved communities.
