The Frontiers
Legends are foundational narratives that pass on beliefs, seek to explain the intangible, and form the bedrock of communities confronted by natural phenomena that shape their very existence. Often, they populate the mountains with magical beings of uncertain intent: sometimes malevolent, mischievous, elusive, they appear as and when they please, and one never knows whether this is a good omen.
Through this series, I set out in search of the Spirit of the Upper Valgrisenche in Italy, these remote and isolated mountains where I live.
Looking back at the photographs I took of this man of fascinating beauty, I realise that I have not so much portrayed him as the environment in which we have chosen to live. He and I are outsiders in this mountain community. We possess a singularity that, paradoxically, finds its place in this wild landscape. Our bond has been forged around the idea of freedom within a constrained setting: that of the confines of a valley. In any other context, we would probably not have established this dialogue or developed such attentive listening.
Reading the prologue to Renaud de Chaumaray’s *Quitter la vallée*, I become aware of the ambiguity in my photographs: does this man really exist? Is he an illusion, a fleeting embodiment of ice, snow, the seasons…?
Massimo chose to live in this place whilst Covid was raging. A city-dweller from Milan, he cut his ties to come and park his campervan in this inhospitable region, disfigured by a hydroelectric dam project. Clad in the colourful overalls he wears every day—a sort of protective second skin—he has blended into the landscape and found his place within a close-knit mountain community.
Over the course of the three winters during which we saw each other regularly, a bond developed between us. I wanted to merge him with the high-mountain environment in which we were immersed, whilst at the same time giving form to the natural elements of the Alps.
The series was therefore born out of this dialogue, and is structured as a series of mirror images and diptychs. This is also because I always conceive my work as a body of work.
