I’ve made an encouraging start with my new project. Let me explain. I have become fascinated by the experience of Italy during the First World War, and this group of three images is the first among what I expect will be a series, reflecting on different aspects of my acquaintance with the area of the Julian Alps, where Italy confronted Austria during 1915-17.
The three images here all deal with the prone figures of Italian infantrymen. The upper one has a young soldier asleep on the floor of his rock dugout. He is a recognisable individual, and his unit and equipment are recognisable also. The middle image shows a soldier killed in battle, largely now deprived of identity, and indeed, his shattered form is no longer fully human. He is collapsing into the landscape.
The lower image addresses the idea that really got me interested in this set of images. It seems that the bodies of soldiers are still being recovered from the retreating glaciers, high in the Alps. Their humanity is now scarcely evident. Indeed, in this representation, the exposed rock is almost more fleshlike that the corpse it partially hides.
I’ve reached that stage at the moment where a prolonged meditation is needed on what I have done, before making any decisions about how I might complete or refine the basic material I have assembled here. Observations would be a welcome stimulus to that process.
by on June 16, 2009 1:27 pm Oh my dear, what a treat you are in for. I also few in love with Italy and ended up moving there for 3 years! What an amnazig life and learning experience! Keep us posted on how it goes 🙂