Vittorio Franzolini is 19 years old and lives in Udine. Ten years ago a trip to Morocco made him fall in love with photography.
At the beginnining I would shoot in digital, I continued with disposable cameras and for two years now I've been shooting exclusively analogic. I usually take pictures during my travels, otherwise when I'm in Udine I try to come up with interesting topics: the life in the suburbs of a small town like mine or the nature that is very close to where I live.
When this summer he arrived for the sixth time on the island of Stromboli he was carrying a decent number of films, and the idea of making a photographic book was going through his mind.
Stromboli is an important place for me. After all these years I've created a good group of friends that I really care about: among them there's Liliana, the girl you can see in one of the pictures. The Island is a magic place, different from all the other Eolie, with this volcano you can never know what will happen, as it went down this summer.
Stromboli appears as a universe of its own, distant from the landscapes we're used to. It's wild and primal, it puts in perspective the hierarchy between nature and man with that unpredictable volcano whose presence makes us feel small and powerless. A melancholic aura flatters in the empty streets surrounded by candid houses that resemble the architecture on Greek islands, it's a sweet desolation interrupted only by the powerful looks of unforgettable faces.
People are very welcoming and just after a few days you feel part of the island. You feel out of time and far from the rhytm of the every day life in the city. The fact that at night there's no electricity or that drinking water must be delivered with a boat is alienating.
With this photo series, Franzolini is writing a love letter to an island he shares a close bond with, a relationship that he'd like to strengthen furthermore turning these images into a zine or a traveling exhibition to take also to his birth town.
Besides the documentary aspect of photography, Vittorio wants to experiment with campaigns and editorials more fashion-oriented, especially with Blank Fabrics, a ready-to-wear brand he works on with three fellow friends.
My biggest inspiration is my father, who's an architect. Speaking of photography I look up to Nicolai Howalt, Jamie Hawkesworth and Zoë Ghertner.
Looking at the shots of Stromboli Project is like being magically transported under the scorching sun, on the pointy rocks and the steep slopes of Stromboli.
