A clarification about “Dignity” and “O Viveiro” NGO

When I went to film “Dignity” at the O Viveiro center two years ago, the project was at its zenith thru the great job of Emanuela Bonavolta, who was able to turn her inner love, passion for other human beings and Christian devotion into concrete facts. She was able to turn visions into realities and the center was bubbling with all the activities I portrayed in my film, and more were to come. Gradually, though, the organization of O Viveiro in Italy took a distance from her visions preferring to let it become one of the many “charitable” organizations that content themselves with sending money to children without considering their adult life and the challenges they will need to face as grown-ups. Emanuela ended up feeling isolated and left the O Viveiro NGO, preferring to continue on a different and more dynamic path with people who shared her vision and goals, funding a new organization and calling it “Dignity No Profit People” to underline the bond and continuity between the film and new NGO, with the aim of producing as many projects and support as possible. Continue reading

A Man Who Loves Women: The Hell of Prostitution as Recounted by Swedish Policeman Simon Häggström

If I could make every adult inhabitant of the planet read one book in 2017, it would be Shadows Law [translated by Selina Öberg and published by Bullet Point Publishing, from the original Swedish Skuggans lag, published by Kalla Kulor Förlag] written by Stockholm policeman Simon Häggström. In just four hundred pages he makes us see a hidden world, one that it would be too easy and self-consoling to call obscene. In the narratives of his experiences of long squalid nights in a car trying to arrest clients of prostitutes, Häggström is able to tell the story of millions of women, of thousands of years of history, of billions of violations. A difficult book, obviously, but imperative, necessary, revelatory.
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Promo for the Gothenburg Röda Sten Konsthall!

This short film was prepared for the Röda Sten Konsthall, the most interesting art exhibition location in Gothenburg (not to say the whole of Sweden!).
It is meant to recap the activities done during 2016 and to thank all people who made it special – once again!
The photographer and editor is Magnus Bergström, and I was assisted by Mikael Moiner during the shooting.
Archive images belong to Attila Urban and Hendrik Zeitler, while the music is courtesy of Jason Farnham.

 

The polar infinite: “Antarktis” by Gerry Johansson

I return once more to discussing photography because of a new one-person show at the Elf Galleri in Gothenburg. Under the spotlight the Swedish photographer with the most international recognition Gerry Johansson, with an exhibit called “Antarktis” (“Antarctica”).
It consists of images printed from a negative obtained in analog large format (8 x 10 inches) taken during a long, six-week session while on an expedition in the Antarctic. In prohibitive conditions among polar temperatures and violent winds, which Johansson braved with great obstinacy, he would wait for the right moment to go outside and shoot in all directions. The composition of the images is one of the most rewarding elements of this collection, with images that are always that millimeter different from how we would have photographed them. A millimeter that truly makes all the difference between a sharp, clean image and a work of art. Continue reading