I’m very happy to share that my long term work with Flavio Tecchio has become an exhibition, CITY, which I have co-curated with Paola Riccardi and that has been displayed during Milan PhotoFestival 2019 at Galleria Alcentoquarantadue, in Milan, and a fantastic little book printed by the excellent Massimo Fiameni, available on Flavio’s website.

CITY is the result of 3 years of hard work, in which Flavio and I have been digging deep into his old production, resurfacing old treasures, giving new life to old negatives with painstakingly accurate scanning and retouching, finding eventually a magical file-rouge which would link his best images; that ephemeral, melancholic bubble that envelops his CITY characters, who sometimes cross each other giving life to “small miracles, which sparkle with their own light.”

After finding our key concept and vision, all new production was stirred in the same direction, making CITY quite an unique mix of old and new, with the same timeless quality and poetry that accompanies all Flavio’s work; session after session we reviewed, edited, brainstormed about cuts and content, until the whole body of work took life with some stunning little prints made at our favourite lab in Milan, Chrome.

I’m personally very proud of Flavio’s achievements, not only in keeping faithful to his own voice, but also for how well he’s been able to translate it to his new images, with the same grace and elegance his pictures show.

The exhibition has gathered lots of consensus from the public, as I believe that Flavio’s work truly speaks to people in a genuine way, so much that we are already thinking of a new one. 


Please take a look at CITY here, and if you feel like sustaining the work of a real passionate photographer have a look at CITY book; it’s unexpensive, extremely well printed and a total treat. If you want to read more in details how we structured our collaboration and how it all started, here you can find the whole story.

Flavio has been so kind to write me his thoughts about our work together:

”CITY is a project from the internal point of view of people living in it.
It’s about our daily comings and goings, waiting for a bus with clenched fists - taken by our thoughts - looking up, perhaps hoping for a friend; it’s about us working in a coffeeshop to keep in touch with our humanity, or coming home after a long day with a heavy shopping bag.

For me it is an unspeakable joy to capture these brief, ephemeral moments in the flow of life; I like the idea to give the viewer some sort of mirror, in which he can recognise himself and perhaps feel relief, in touch with the universal bubble that envelops us all, instead of just his own.

Raffaela's precious collaboration in the development of this work has been fundamental in giving a complete sense to all the images of CITY.

Part of the work comes from a strict edit of older productions, part has been produced, thought, searched and eventually, easily found…

I work very well with Raffaela, I would say, in complete harmony; the result of a long collaboration and I think, of the deep passion that we both have for Photography; she knows my tears, the struggles, the moments of discouragements. She also knows the joy that I felt when CITY was completed and picked as an exhibition by the fantastic Galleria Alcentoquarantadue during Milan PhotoFestival 2019, with the co-curation of Paola Riccardi.

A real achievement for me, for all of us, and for this little project, that with its melancholic vibe I’m told touched many people who came to see it.”

All pics of the gallery, prints, book and the video are courtesy of Galleria AlCentoquarantadue © Ida Chessa