Elia

In the summer of 2021, a few years after my father’s death, my mother passed away. At that time I was living in Bologna and after her death I decided to move to their house in Forlì. After so many years abroad, I felt the need to return to the house where my parents had lived and where I came back regularly during my visits. My mother’s sudden death had created a great void and coming home would make me feel their presence again. With this series of photographs, I wanted to tell the moments spent looking in their drawers and wardrobes and give an image to absence, lack and memory.

I chose to photograph the belongings left by my mother as a reaction to her sudden and more recent death. In her closet I found some beautiful clothes that she wore when she was young, handmade clothes from local tailors that no longer exist. She was very fond of the petticoats and nightgowns, and she kept them carefully in their original boxes. She loved silk shirts and evening dresses. To highlight their lightness and transparency I photographed them against the sunlight. I collected and combined old photos from the family album with objects that tell something about her and her passions. Some even of little value, but probably full of meaning and memories for her.

After some time spent discovering, touching and photographing her things, I felt that what I was doing was not just a photographic project, but it had also become a form of therapy, a consolatory act that helped me overcome the pain and emptiness of the loss.