Observing a musician during a studio session is a privilege. Recording it… is receiving a precious gift. It’s all about human frequencies, it’s all about the music. Music. Empathy. And a bit of photography… Staying close to the subject.
In FUJI X PASSION, November 2021 issue, Taking pictures during a rally: Individual tales and collective narrative in the eyes of a photographer, my photographic essay. ENJOY!
Often the most interesting frames of a live show or a music festival are those from backstage – I would also include soundcheck-time and the after-show. The spectator’s eye cannot reach behind the stage. Behind the stage the photographer’s curiosity is constantly fed by the “everyday” life of the artists. The backstage-soundcheck set is a discreet appetizer that everyone would like to enjoy… Thoughts, smiles, jokes, technical adjustments, “last calls”… CLICK! (Shots taken with Fuji X100, FujiFilm X30 and Olympus OM-D E-M5)
Protest in front of the Piccolo Teatro Grassi, Milano, to ask politicians to support art during the pandemic. Young people, students, musicians and operators of the cultural sector (and photographers) together to ask for immediate intervention in support of theater, cinema and music. Art feeds us and will save us! (All frames taken with Fuji X100)
Great memories of an amazing music night in Giubiasco with Nicolas Gilliet, Leon “kid Chocolate” Brown, Pedro Segundo, Frank Salis, Jonas e Daniel Macullo and Manolo Maestrini. During the pandemic this set of frames helped me to look to the future with a positive mood. Times like these will return soon… Music, friendship and good wine… WILL SAVE US! (Photos taken in Giubiasco, February 12, 2020, with Fuji X100)
Thursday, September 24, at Paula Nora Seegy’s Artespressione Gallery (via della Palla 3 in Milan): OUT OF THE NIGHT opening. The exhibition by Milanese photographer and essayist Matteo Ceschi curated by Matteo Pacini is scheduled during the 15th edition of Milano Photofestival, “Scenari, orizzonti, sfide. Il mondo che cambia”.
Originally scheduled for April 2020, the exhibition was postponed because of the pandemic. The 24 September opening inaugurates Artespressione’s 2020 events program. OUT OF THE NIGHT presents an inter-generational look at the jazz music scene, past and present, by two great photographers: a visual and musical tale lasting 40 years.
Inspired by Joe Henderson’s classic standard, OUT OF THE NIGHT puts together and compares Matteo Ceschi’s black and white frames, taken during JazzAscona 2019 and Jazz Cat Club Ascona’s 2019-2020 season and Swiss photographer Maurizio Gonnella’s precious film photos (from Luciano Bignotti’s Archive) taken during the 1970s and early 1980s editions of Estival Jazz Lugano.
Gonnella was a highly regarded public figure in Lugano and Canton Ticino, where he was an appreciated visual artist and a well respected musical and cultural connoisseur. Gonnella’s stage and backstage black and white shots blend with Matteo Ceschi’s recent ones: both Gonnella’s and Ceschi’s frames record the evolution of the changing jazz music scene, reflecting its magic, its everlasting vibrant and thrilling vibes.
Originating from an authentic fascination with music, Matteo Ceschi’s black and white shots find in Blue Note Records producer and photographer Francis Wolff’s works a narrative and stylistic reference model. Approaching the music world with a typical street/straight photography philosophy, Ceschi tells us what happens on stage but also everything that happens away from the eyes of the audience: today, in a very intricate and difficult historical period, Ceschi’s unadulterated portraits can help the audience regain those vibes and real emotions of the live shows they are missing so much at present.
My Winter Midsummer – Milan during covid-19 photo project (in collaboration with Artespressione and Matteo Pacini) in Canadian Art Photo Médias Culture magazine Ciel Variable. ENJOY!
HI FOLKS, with my Winter Midsummer (Milan during Covid-19) photo essay a new collaboration starts with Paula Nora Seegy’s Artespressione Gallery, Milan. The project’s curator is Matteo Pacini who is following it as it develops.