European Space Agency (ESA)

“Forests seen from space - Echoes of the Vaia storm”

Made in assignment for European Space Agency (ESA) and Leica Camera Italia

2024

When the European Space Agency (ESA) and Leica Camera Italia invited me to take part in the "Forests seen from space" project, my first idea was to document the Amazon rainforests in Peru, the country where I live and feel most at home. However, curator Maurizio Beucci challenged me to go back, to confront my own land: Italy. So, with some hesitation, I decided to return home to tell the story of the wounds and rebirth of the woods in Trentino and Veneto, which were struck by the Vaia storm in 2018. This project became a journey in two directions: through space and time, between the scientific eye of satellites and the emotional lens of my camera.

The exhibition "Forests seen from space – Echoes of the Vaia storm" was born from this very fusion. What happens when the all-seeing eye of a satellite, which monitors the environment from afar, meets the intimate and close-up gaze of a photographer walking on that very ground? I wanted to explore this dialogue, where the coldness of scientific data merges with lived reality and personal stories. ESA's satellite images offer a majestic and objective view of the disaster, showing its global scale.

My photographs, taken with the Leica, go to the ground, capturing the echo of that storm through the faces, gestures, and extraordinary resilience of the people I met.

This work is not just an environmental reportage; it is also a reflection on my relationship with Italy. After years living abroad, my return was an act of rediscovery. I reconnected with a bond I had taken for granted, recognizing the privileges and deep roots my country had offered me. Meeting the local communities and listening to their stories of loss and reconstruction transformed my initial hesitation into a profound awareness: the awareness of photographing a culture that belongs to me.

"Forests seen from space – Echoes of the Vaia storm" is therefore the result of a double gaze. It is a bridge between the vastness of space and the intimacy of the ground, between science and emotion, between a global event and its echo in individual lives. This exhibition celebrates the power of photography to translate complex data into a visual narrative, making the invisible visible and offering a poetic testament to the fragility of our planet and the inexhaustible strength of its communities.

The exhibition was held at the Leica Galerie Milano from October 17 to December 1, 2024.

It was inaugurated in the presence of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano.