Andy Rocchelli: Stories

About

A retrospective exhibition of Andy Rocchelli's works will be opened on June 4th in Pavia. The show features almost a hundred photos selected among several themes belonging to Andy's archive, exposed within the historical frame of Broletto, Pavia's old townhall and current node of the local social life.

Throughout the exhibition path, spotnews series -such as those pertaining to the Ukraine crisis, arab spring etc- are juxtaposed to rather intimist stories - faith, fascination for fame, feminine role in Russian society.

In Andy’s photographs two rhythms flow parallel to each other, plunge and leap up, with rare and powerful resonances. Andy’s research consists both of long term efforts, throughout accurate analysis and documentation, and of quick moves: Rocchelli grabs his images, confident of his professional instinct and driven by the empathy with the portrayed subjects. He often shares with them the experiences depicted (Ukraine Uprising, Springtime), while interviewing them and collecting their statements into video -partly here projected. He pursues narratives rather than mere spot news coverage. Imageries tell stories: detected in their original and scattered state, collected and verified with rigorous patience and composed after his trips.

The caracters of his stories are tightly connected to the sceneries around them: tin-shacks in the Tajiks' slum, or convoluted caucasian wall papers play a crucial role in the composition of the picture, as if they were “evidences of a crime scene”, as Rocchelli used to say. (Lecture at Festival of Photojournalism, Perugia, May 2014).