What remains
The past forty years of Italian news reports in the faces of the people left behind. Alberto Gandolfo's photographs are informal and spontaneous portraits, images based on the incessant act of remembering that appear new and alive, visual forms of resilience wherein individual memory becomes general.
— Alberto Gandolfo, Quello che resta/ What remains/ Ce qui reste edited by Benedetta Donato, Silvana Editoriale (2019)
Quello che resta/ What remains/ Ce qui reste is the book that collects the photographic research project started in January 2017, inspired by stories of the recent past in Italy - as Mafia attacks, political origin massacres and different nature accidents - focused on the families and the people close to the victims of tragic episodes, all looking for the truth. Alberto Gandolfo says: “We know the stories in the news, we remember the faces of the people who tragically disappeared, but we know next to nothing about people who remain; people who, apart from experiencing a great deal of pain as a consequence of the loss of someone dear, inherit battles in search of truth and justice”. A justice that doesn't only concern personal matters, but it relates to the entire society, which in turn is granted new rights. The photographic Series, is arranged in 27 reportage stories. By revealing the faces of the people who remain, we contribute to keeping the attention on the evolution of particular and specific incidents, which often bring anonymous and silent revolutions, which end up affecting all of us. The purpose of this work is to contribute keeping focus on some stories, shedding new light on them, with a more intimate, human and personal approach, exposing the stories through the extraordinary faces of the people who are left. A selection of the artwork has been presented in the 2018 edition of Fotografia Europea, one of the major Italian photography festival, where it was awarded the first prize as Best portfolio and it was exposed as special project on the occasion of MIA – Milan Image Art Fair in March 2019. From October 2019, the book, accompanied by an itinerant installation, was presented in Italy in several lociatione, including: Officine Fotografiche – Milano, Whitephotolab – Lecce and Dimora OZ, Kalsa Art District – Palermo. The project was selected for the official program of the sixth edition of FotoFabrika Festival in Sofia (2019) and in The Head On Fotofestival in Sydney (2020). The book was also selected at the Prix du Livre, during the fiftieth edition of the festival Les Rencontres d'Arles.
- Title: Alberto Gandolfo, Quello che resta
- Edited by: Benedetta Donato
- Contributor: Giovanna Calvenzi
- Texts authors: Benedetta Donato, Giovanna Calvenzi
- Archive research and editing of the monographic profiles: Benedetta Donato
- Images: 100, bianco e nero
- Pages: 180
- Format: cm 16,5x32
- First Edition: a single limited edition of 400 numerated copies, in 3 languages (English, Italian, French)
- Graphic Design: Tomo Tomo (Luca Pitoni and Davide Di Gennaro)
- Graphic Design: Silvana Editoriale
- Publisher: Maggio 2019