Allegra Martin and Ciro Battiloro. Living in place
11.2.2021, 9:00 PM
Lab27 is pleased to announce the fourth edition of INCONTRI DI FOTOGRAFIA, which will take place on February 11 at 9:00 PM, streamed live on Lab27’s YouTube channel.
This session will explore the theme of dwelling—its perception and representation. Through Ciro Battiloro’s work, we enter the lives of two neighborhoods, Rione Sanità in Naples and Santa Lucia in Cosenza, moving beyond the stigma of hardship. Allegra Martin invites us to rethink our relationship with space, challenging preconceived views and raising a fundamental question: where do we live?
With a degree in architecture from Venice and inspired by the teachings of Guido Guidi and Stefano Boeri, Allegra Martin, originally from Treviso and now based in Milan, has adopted photography as her primary means of artistic expression and interpretation of the world. Her vision of landscape is profound, with a strong aesthetic component that does not aim merely to represent space but to speak of herself in relation to it. This approach has honed her observational skills and allowed her to tackle projects with different objectives: professional work, personal residencies, and self-commissioned endeavors. Whether documenting the walls of Castelfranco Veneto, the seaside center of Lido Adriano, the legacy of Michelangelo Antonioni, the National Census of Italian Architecture of the Twentieth Century, post-earthquake L’Aquila, or social life in Emilia Romagna, her perspective remains consistently autonomous—free from preconceived notions. This independence offers the observer a new way of perceiving space, perhaps even an invitation to see—and reflect—differently. Allegra Martin liberates herself from prejudicial readings, opening the field for new interpretations and empathetic relationships with places, grounded in her own sensitivity.
Two neighborhoods that once pulsed at the heart of their cities, later gradually abandoned and forgotten—the story repeats. Places once central, now rejected by public opinion, labeled as disadvantaged, blamed, misrepresented by coarse communication and sensationalist reporting. Ciro Battiloro confronts this narrative, navigating the entrenched layers of decay to restore dignity—not to poverty itself, but to human lives. He does so with remarkable naturalness, first and foremost a form of respect for the identity and diversity of these places, bearing witness to a sincere need for belonging. This is not a geography of the marginalized, but a search for happiness founded on other forms of wealth. Battiloro presents a different “state of consciousness” in his photographic practice, going beyond merely documenting the “state of things,” almost as if crossing a barrier. His work captures a spectrum of gestures, signs, glances, grimaces, and daily life that reminds us that we all travel in the same boat—life—which eventually faces its perils. Here lies the ethical intent: to construct a new common ground, starting from one’s own gaze.
Allegra Martin and Ciro Battiloro. Living in place
11.2.2021, 9:00 PM
Lab27 is pleased to announce the fourth edition of INCONTRI DI FOTOGRAFIA, which will take place on February 11 at 9:00 PM, streamed live on Lab27’s YouTube channel.
This session will explore the theme of dwelling—its perception and representation. Through Ciro Battiloro’s work, we enter the lives of two neighborhoods, Rione Sanità in Naples and Santa Lucia in Cosenza, moving beyond the stigma of hardship. Allegra Martin invites us to rethink our relationship with space, challenging preconceived views and raising a fundamental question: where do we live?
With a degree in architecture from Venice and inspired by the teachings of Guido Guidi and Stefano Boeri, Allegra Martin, originally from Treviso and now based in Milan, has adopted photography as her primary means of artistic expression and interpretation of the world. Her vision of landscape is profound, with a strong aesthetic component that does not aim merely to represent space but to speak of herself in relation to it. This approach has honed her observational skills and allowed her to tackle projects with different objectives: professional work, personal residencies, and self-commissioned endeavors. Whether documenting the walls of Castelfranco Veneto, the seaside center of Lido Adriano, the legacy of Michelangelo Antonioni, the National Census of Italian Architecture of the Twentieth Century, post-earthquake L’Aquila, or social life in Emilia Romagna, her perspective remains consistently autonomous—free from preconceived notions. This independence offers the observer a new way of perceiving space, perhaps even an invitation to see—and reflect—differently. Allegra Martin liberates herself from prejudicial readings, opening the field for new interpretations and empathetic relationships with places, grounded in her own sensitivity.
Two neighborhoods that once pulsed at the heart of their cities, later gradually abandoned and forgotten—the story repeats. Places once central, now rejected by public opinion, labeled as disadvantaged, blamed, misrepresented by coarse communication and sensationalist reporting. Ciro Battiloro confronts this narrative, navigating the entrenched layers of decay to restore dignity—not to poverty itself, but to human lives. He does so with remarkable naturalness, first and foremost a form of respect for the identity and diversity of these places, bearing witness to a sincere need for belonging. This is not a geography of the marginalized, but a search for happiness founded on other forms of wealth. Battiloro presents a different “state of consciousness” in his photographic practice, going beyond merely documenting the “state of things,” almost as if crossing a barrier. His work captures a spectrum of gestures, signs, glances, grimaces, and daily life that reminds us that we all travel in the same boat—life—which eventually faces its perils. Here lies the ethical intent: to construct a new common ground, starting from one’s own gaze.
