‘Coding’, Philadelphia PA, November 2014
A photographic exhibition by Luca Morgantini called “random abandon or a ballast for joy” opens on December 4, 2015, jointly at Studio 108 in via Sapiti and Trattoria Quattro Leoni in piazza della Passera. Morgantini is a Florentine photographer who is particularly interested in street photography and reportage. He captures moments of street life against the backdrop of urban architecture long disused and abandoned. The mood is one of melancholic nostalgia with a sense of unease.
James Douglas: Can you explain the title, ‘random abandon or a ballast for joy’?
Luca Morgantini: Music is a big part of my life, so I tend to be absorbed by ideas and thoughts that songs try to express. I chose this particular line from the song “Lunette” by the Indie band Elbow because it describes perfectly the feelings I got during my exploration of these unique places located in different parts of the United States. Every time I found these buildings the feeling I got was always the same: contrasting moods of disquiet and serenity. Guy Garvey was talking about the effect of wine and whisky, but I felt a similar sensation in discovering what was beyond the walls of what had once been places of industry each with their own story.
‘Skydive’, Chico CA, November 2014
JD: How did you find these locations?
LM: I started my research in 2014 after I watched the movie called The Place Beyond the Pines,which features a highly evocative and desolate part of the US. It is also very melancholic and dark with great photography in my opinion. Right after I finished watching the movie I did my research and after a few days I had a good list of places to search for during my planned trip to the US. Some of them are located on the East Coast (Philadelphia), one in Nashville, and several on the West Coast (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco).
JD: What do you want people to take away from this exhibition?
LM: Probably the most fascinating and stimulating feelings of deep disquiet and curiosity that those places can arouse, preferably with the right soundtrack playing in their ears.
Photographer Luca Morgantini
‘random abandon or a ballast for joy’
Opens at 6pm on December 4
Studio 108 in via Sapiti and Quattro Leoni in piazza della Passera
It will run for two weeks. Studio 108 will be open from 10am to 5pm every day and Quattro Leoni is open every day from noon to 11pm.
