Ordinary Days
Translated by Pietro Todaro
Roma April/May 2020 - Covid19 Shots and thoughts
Pictures taken in Rome from April 5 to May 1 2020 during the lockdown period. A suspended time... unexpected, unreal.
A suspended time... unexpected, unreal.
A time that was thought to exist only in films with a weakish screenplay or in the narratives that border between delirium and science fiction.
But the human race is a species that can adapt to anything.
Thus enclosed spaces become full and open areas become empty.
Houses welcome us... the city squares are deserted.
All this emptiness gives me a sense of anguish. I have difficulty choosing what to photograph and what to ignore.
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 45mm F2.8 R WR, Iso 100, f/6.4, 1/550
It is not the fear of an invisible enemy, but rather a strong discomfort in seeing a city that I no longer recognize.
Indeed… Rome is deserted. Deserted but not abandoned. The constant checkpoints become an opportunity to have a chat with the police. State of mind, concerns, and hopes are shared. I perceive a different reality as compared to the one recounted by newspapers and televisions. People respect the rules and those appointed to enforce them prefer a calm, conciliatory... human approach. There is a deep awareness that the situation is difficult for everyone.
Difficult even for the few colleagues I meet along the way. It comes instinctively to think of continuing with those rare chats at the café over a cup of coffee. But you can't… there are no coffee shops open. Everything is closed. Closed, just like the access to St. Peter's Square, even on Good Friday. Immersed in the darkness and the silence of the night, a small and tired saintly man dressed in white embraces the cross as if to load upon himself all the weight and anguish of these days. It is a feeling that I am unable to describe. A feeling that I will never forget.
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 45mm F2.8 R WR, Iso 100, f/4, 1/500
Fujifilm X-T3, XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR + 1.4x, Iso 160, f/8, 1/680
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 45mm F2.8 R WR, Iso 100, f/5.6, 1/420
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/8, 1/250
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 160, f/5.6, 1/2000
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/8, 1/450
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/8, 1/220
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/5.6, 1/500
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 32-64mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/5.6, 1/1000
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 32-64mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/5.6, 1/210
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 32-64mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/5.6, 1/480
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 32-64mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/4, 1/1800
Fujifilm X-T3, XF 23mm F1.4 R, Iso 3200, f/1.4, 1/125
Fujifilm X-T3, XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR + 1.4x, Iso 5000, f/8, 1/125
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/4, 1/125
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 45mm F2.8 R WR, Iso 640, f/5, 1/400
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 45mm F2.8 R WR, Iso 100, f/4, 1/125
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 45mm F2.8 R WR, Iso 200, f/5, 1/400
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 45mm F2.8 R WR, Iso 400, f/5, 1/125
Maggio 2020: Sul finire di un tempo sospeso…
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 1600, f/9, 1/4000
The days will pass and our anxieties and insecurities will give way to new hopes. Those lowered roller shutters will rise up again, the empty churches will begin to welcome us once more, the desolate squares will
go back to being filled with the joy of living, the monuments will return to share their beauty and the colonnade of St. Peter to embrace everyone.
Those days will come back... in this time of insecurity there is however a certainty...we will, once again, relive our ordinary days.
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 45mm F2.8 R WR, Iso 100, f/5, 1/1000
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 400, f/8, 1/1200
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/4, 1/900
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 1600, f/7.1, 1/450
Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 100, f/11, 1/100
October 2020: a time of uncertainty... suspended once again
Fujifilm X100V, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 160, f/3.2, 1/320
It seems as if we have already lived these days. The difference is that now, compared to last March, we perceive what we may go against. Media illustrates the numbers, difficulties and future scenarios. But looking at my city through a camera, I don't see numbers but people, I don't observe difficulties but conscious determination, and the only perception of future scenarios concerns the certainty that sooner or later everything will pass.
Fujifilm X100V, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 640 f/2, 1/125
I am reminded of my first work in collaboration with Fujifilm in 2012… it was about the bridges of Rome.
Bridges can tell us many things if we know how to listen to them. They are witnesses that throughout the centuries have seen life go by, above and below their arches.
Yes... it is not a coincidence that we say that lots of water has passed under the bridge.
Fujifilm X100V, GF 23mm F4 R LM WR, Iso 160, f/3.6, 1/320
It has passed, it is passing now and it will pass in the future. And if we could all lean on the balustrade to observe the lazy flow of the Tiber, one day, we would be able to see along its currents the return of our “ordinary days” that will put an end to our wait.
