Photobook "All Ghosts of Old Italy"
The photobook entitled "All Ghosts of Old Italy" tells about the old and very picturesque district of Warsaw, Old Italy, from which I come from, and I am emotionally connected with it. This is my little homeland.
In the district there are many old, time-worn, sometimes abandoned buildings. Some of them survived the World War II. There are also many green areas, parks, and large ponds.
These places are characterized by a specific atmosphere and a certain unusualness. It can be said that they have their own "ghosts”, and it is these "ghosts" – the mood and atmosphere of presented places – that the project tells about.
For each of the photos I assigned one of the characters from Slavic mythology or other beliefs, along with a preceding map showing where the photo was taken in Old Italy, and my poetic lines referring to it.
I was inspired by the book "Slavic Bestiary" by Paweł Zych & Witold Vargas. They described in detail the beliefs of our ancestors, who were very closely related to nature and the places where they lived. They believed that every place has its "ghost" or "spirit" and in what is theoretically ordinary and usual one can find an element of magic.
I invite you kindly to watch a video exploring the mysteries of the "All Ghosts of Old Italy". A highly conceptual, fantastic and a bit dark project – created largely out of my love for romanticism. I hope that it will allow you to imagine your journey through Old Italy and inspire you to search for the beauty and uniqueness of the reality that surrounds us. The document was created in a digital version and then printed.
Reading order of the photobook:
MAP –TEXT – PHOTOGRAPH
I also invite you kindly to watch the mysterious photobook trailer:
Below I present its full content contained in the printout, with pages in chronological order:
Photographs in order of appearance in the photobook:
Maps in the order of their appearance in the photobook:
The photobook "All Ghosts of Old Italy" can be called as a form of continuation of the "Midnight Ghost Diary" – another photographic project of my authorship. It can be said that both photobooks belong to a common universe.
I cordially invite you to see the "Midnight Ghost Diary".