I'm looking for someone a miracle
To send my life in the curved air
I'm a lonely boy steppin' out
Solitary man ... I don't understand…
Franco Battiato
The perception of loneliness is often one of the most alienating experiences that a human being can live, especially when this sense of "estrangement" catches us while we are immersed in everyday life: on the street, in traffic, in the queue at the supermarket... Despite the cacophony of sounds, voices, colors and noises that overwhelms us inside us, it is silence.
Other people are ghosts without face and texture. It is this emotionally strong and absolute experience that Giovanni Firmani tries to document with his shots. His work is steeped in poetry. The kind of poetry that is necessary for life because it induces man to understand himself better.
The shots taken with a skilful and pictorial blur give us this impression of an alien observer who, in an indefinite elsewhere, evaluates with skeptical understanding the hustle and bustle of things and people in the world. Loneliness is in the watermark of these shots, animating them and supporting the vision of the author who, in fact, tells us: "I wander the streets avoiding what could be a meeting: pay attention to things but also to sway people. The gaze rests and lingers on things. People pass fast and intangible. Almost nothing remains of their passage, except for background noise."
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La percezione della solitudine è spesso una delle esperienze più straniati che un essere umano possa vivere, soprattutto quando questo senso di “straniamento” ci coglie mentre siamo immersi nel fare quotidiano: per la strada, nel traffico, in coda al supermercato…Nonostante la cacofonia di suoni, voci , colori e rumori che ci sovrasta dentro di noi è silenzio.
Le altre persone sono fantasmi senza volto e consistenza. E’ questa esperienza così emotivamente forte e assoluta che con i suoi scatti tenta di documentare Giovanni Firmani. Il suo è un lavoro intriso di poesia. Del tipo di poesia che è necessaria al vivere perché induce l’uomo a comprendere meglio se stesso.
Gli scatti realizzati con un mosso sapiente e pittorico ci restituiscono questa impressione di un osservatore alieno che in un altrove indefinito valuta con scettica comprensione l’affannarsi di cose e persone nel mondo. La solitudine è nella filigrana di questi scatti, li anima e sorregge la visione dell’autore che appunto, ci racconta: “Mi aggiro per le vie evitando ciò che potrebbe essere un incontro: attenzione alle cose ma anche a svicolare persone. Lo sguardo si posa e si sofferma sulle cose. Le persone passano veloci e intangibili. Del loro passaggio non resta quasi nulla, se non un rumore di fondo”.
Bio Giovanni Firmani
Born in 1963, he lives in the province of Lazio (Viterbo) and dedicates his professional life to other things, but photography is the fixed and parallel thought that accompanies his hours.
It began to take off in earnest at the beginning of the 80s, only in BN, the only mode at the time to have full control of the processes. With digital he discovered color at the beginning of the 2000s and broadened the horizons to be explored, also moving from single photos to small stories to be told with portfolios.
Currently, he divides his fields of action between street photography and conceptual photography, sometimes looking for a synthesis between the two modalities, believing that photography is difficult to harness in predefined genres.
He follows the activity of a photographic club belonging to FIAF and participates from time to time in contests and competitions. Of some importance is the photographic activity carried out during the Covid pandemic lockdown, which has yielded several awards to an image entitled "window and lockdow": Fujifim X100 Anniversary award, Remarcable work at Siena Award 2021, finalist at the Imagorbetello 2021 award, Corigliano Calabro Street report, First absolute prize cat. Amateurs at Fiof 2022, FIAF selection for the editorial initiative "Cronache quaranteniche", several awards at competitions of photographic associations. He participates in exhibitions and collective publishing initiatives.
