Fulvio Bortolozzo (Cade's Post)

16 agosto 2005/2

20 marzo 2005/3

Fulvio Bortolozzo's series "Olimpia" is a nocturnal documentation of Turin, Italy, and some of the preparations there for the 2006 Winter Olympics. According to his website, this series is also part of a larger, broader series. These night photos are interesting because they show a city in the midst of a large transformation and the physical preparations for a huge international event, but since it is night, the equipment is deserted and there is little evidence of human presence. Bortolozzo does not use low-key lighting by any means, giving the landscape a sort of bizarre radiance regardless of its emptiness. The other photos in the series show a place that is lit as if it was meant for human presence and activity throughout the entire night but that stands deserted and still. I like this series because there is an obvious consistency between the photos without too much repetition. While every photo is at night in the same city, Bortolozzo shows construction sites, apartment buildings, both empty streets and streets with car lights streaking by, and interesting angles on the spaces he sees. One thing about night photography is that the camera almost always sees night extremely differently than the eye; Bortolozzo's photos are good evidence for this.