united by what separates: a travel photo series

 

Documenting a journey along the Italian land border, United by What Separates is Alessandro Cristofoletti’s recent photographic narrative. Travelling over 9,000 km from Ventimiglia to Trieste, the Italian photographer and writer unveils the diversity of landscape, architecture, and community to find unusual, sometimes surreal images. Moving not only along an arbitrary political line on a map drawn by man, the series also crosses spatial, temporal, cultural, and visual boundaries connected in a dense web of relationships.

alessandro cristofoletti captures spaces, places & communities along italian borders
men’s section of the Pedocin bathhouse, Trieste (Italy) | all images by Alessandro Cristofoletti

 

 

Alessandro Cristofoletti captures diversity beyond borders

 

A socio-political comment on the divisive nature of borders and boundaries, Alessandro Cristofoletti’s photo series considers how interesting borders of any kind can be — not only for the tensions they generate, but also for the exchanges they allow. Capturing images of diversity and beauty on his travels, United by What Separates brings together a collection of characters, spaces, and places the photographer encountered. A series of sometimes surreal, and sometimes simply nostalgic compositions capture landscapes from a sweeping snow farm in Livigno to a Slovenian field destroyed by wildfires, to ruins of aircrafts and habitats. 

 

The first part of the series was exhibited at MIA Photo Fair in 2022, and also won the New Post Photography award.

alessandro cristofoletti captures spaces, places & communities along italian borders
Snowfarm, Livigno (Italy)

 

 

Explaining the unifying concept behind the work, Alessandro Cristofoletti comments: ‘We are the children of the longest period of peace and freedom in the history of Europe, however, the border issue has returned powerfully in our lives in many ways. Separation contains something deep and partly inaccessible: the limit, and the difficulty (or impossibility) of crossing it. Beyond the threshold there is the other, be it man/woman, a place, nature, the context in which we live, ourselves through the mirror or in another time.’

alessandro cristofoletti captures spaces, places & communities along italian borders
After the wildfire, Brestovizza in Valle (Slovenia)

alessandro cristofoletti captures spaces, places & communities along italian borders
Sheep hiding from the heat, Vršič Pass (Slovenia)

alessandro cristofoletti captures spaces, places & communities along italian borders
Arrival, Val di Fleres (Italy)

alessandro cristofoletti captures spaces, places & communities along italian borders
Hotel room, Busca-Thedy hotel, Gressoney (Italy)

alessandro cristofoletti captures spaces, places & communities along italian borders
Crucifix, Ilonse (France)

united by what separates 11
map of the journey

 

 

project info:

 

name: United by What Separates

photographer: Alessandro Cristofoletti

 

 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: ravail khan | designboom