My Blog - Page 37 of 53 - Esra Rotthoff

Intro: When I enter Napels, I am instantly hit by an energy booth. I open the window of the car and scream “CIAO NAPOLI “. This city is vibrant, diverse and very beautiful. So are the inhabitants, that seem to be so lively, driving around with scooters, kissing, laughing in the streets perfectly lightened for my camera. My friends Marcello Pisu and Tommaso Sacchi, both italians, both curators are my companions on this adventure of only three days. In this time we get to see some great art, some beautiful people, that invite us home and we have some incredible Neapolitan Pizzas. When we hang out at our most favorite spot in Naples, Piazza Bellini, I get hit by the vibes of Darius and Marco, two very young, very fascinating guys, that decided to live a life beyond gender categories. We connect, we chat, we decide to meet up again to make a shoot in a church. All I can say is, that I will come back to Napoli soon to get inspired by the people and the amazing energy. Enjoy my trip as I did.

From Marcello Pisu: There are few cities where life flows as intensely as in Naples, with the same incessant heartbeat of São Paulo and New York, where the blood of its descendants runs abundantly, the same strong DNA intertwined by passionate tribes looking for the generosity of a bless land, the wilderness of a cursed end. Spotting a svastika in the streets, she asked me “Are Neapolitans racists?”. I doubted for a second, searching for the many stories of intolerance coming mostly from the northern part of Italy, and I realised that most of the time, the Neapolitans are the ones to be victim of racism. I often wonder how wrong can be a world where the virtues of this ground, fertile of a beauty and flavours that humanity will never be able to generate again, can be a burden for a country, or a union of countries. In Naples you breathe the freedom of a city with the honesty of an old soul, the innocent pleasure to show admiration for people’s extreme elegance and obscene daringness, the creepiness of the satanic signs hidden in the magniloquent architecture of the churches and the statues of the saints, the ancient comfort of the private dwellings, the privilege to taste the original dishes replicated infinitely. You can also vibrate of the humanity of a church guard, who watches for you the door while you take a picture of a special couple of friends: the priest doesn’t fancy cross-dressing. In front of the Macchina delle Quarantore, a spectacular installation of light and gold invented to attract people to pray focused after the excesses of the Carnival, Marco and Dario are, and not just wear, their disguise. In this city where newborn children are blessed by feminine males called “femminielli”, but also where the same children often find more acceptable changing sex rather than living with the guilt to love another man, we witnessed the glow of two future prophets fallen from Uranus to Napoli.

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When you are at the right place at the right time, everything goes pretty fast. I´m having my first green Sangria the first day I arrive in Portugal, when the owners of that lovely place, a young couple ask me over to have a chat at their table. We talk for hours with some other Sangrias till the sun goes down. When I tell them that I´m an artist on tour through Europe, they immediately connect me to a friend who runs this organization of private people giving food to the homeless or needier people of Porto. They want to give something back, three times a week at three different places 15 helpers come with their cars filled up with cakes, coffee and a warm soups for the homeless. However, I get the contact of the president, who invites me to join them with the camera the next time they make their tour. When I agree I already know, that I don´t want to make another series of showed off homeless. I decide to portray all people that meet that day next to the bus station underneath the bridge at the Mercado bom success ( what an irony I think, that it´s called like that), some of them hand out food, some of them wait in line to receive some help. I let them sit down and I ask them to close their Eyes. I say – “Faça um desejo” (make a wish) and when I see how their mimic changes, I ask them to open their eyes again. I wanted to capture their silent dream, their hope for whatever desire. We change the location three times that night and wherever I put my mobile studio, people come to get captured by me. I am happy, that I was able to make them hold on their dreams for a moment and capture the physical effect of it on their faces. Out of respect I will not mention who of these people got food and who´s apart of the organization. It´s only about the belief of a better place in our minds where all these dreams come true and that we can only build it through initiatives done by ourselves. Thanks to all participants and special thanks to Ana Paula Quintas.