Faces of Cambodia

November 19, 2017December 1, 2017 / pellarinandrea / Leave a comment

Khmer people look peaceful and joyful but it’s like there is something that is hidden, out of reach for any outsider. Academy awar winner Haing Ngor in his memoirs “Survival in the killing fields” wondered how could people so respectful of the traditions show so much hatred and violence against their own people during Khmer rouge regime. This may partly confirm the mistery in Khmers’ looks but there is much more.
Unfortunately I have not stayed long enough to earn their trust and understand them better. The these shots are a mere attempt to capture something more of their essence.

What is Peru?

August 22, 2014August 22, 2014 / pellarinandrea / Leave a comment

One may associate Peru with Macchu Micchu, the Incas, the lake Titicaca, the ceviche, Vargas Llosa or any other aspect that means Peru to the world. It is in my opinion only partially true. For me Peru is broader, more complex and incredibly fascinating. It’s a world of strong contradictions, between ancient traditions and a fierce eager to catch up with the western world.

For me Peru is a world of images and peculiar stories, the kind that have moved me, far from my ordered routine world. One of my favourite photographer is Werner Bishof who always intuited the subjects to get the shot. His last and fateful trip, to the Peruvian Andes, produced a variety of images that have a formal beauty and that speak to, tell me a story, that show emotions. One and may be his most famous photograph is the boy playing a flute walking to Cuzco. Where is he going? Why is he playing the flute? Who is he? What is his past made of?

What I try to do is similar to what Franck Capa defined as the “photography of concern”, focusing on people, on feelings and trying to be a storyteller. These emotions, eyes, postures, smiles, faces mean Peru to me.

What is a mask?

April 22, 2014May 11, 2014 / pellarinandrea / Leave a comment

Trying to unveil one’s emotions at a certain moment of life trying to transcend nature leaving aside what Sociology calls social facts is fascinating but is it really conceivable? Values, cultural norms and social structures exercise social constraints on people and shape behaviours and facial traits such as a smile, a sneeze or a look.

Is it really possible to divide individuals from their environment and lower its impact on how they feel, smile, walk and interact with others? In my opinion, people have natural masks and conscious ones. For example, people tend to adapt to a different environment by changing their behaviours on purpose. One will be acting differently whether he is at the office, with its closer friends or at the supermarket. In this sense the Carnival is a peculiar experience. Some theories argue that this was a social safety valve to allow lower class people to challenge the powerful and release any antisocial behaviour that could threaten the social status. What I see is that people during Carnival physically wear masks and this allows them to release and transcend individual conducts.

Are they closer to their natural instinct? May be but this is certainly a grotesque and folkloristic attempt!

The following photographs have been shot in Venice during the Carnival 2012.