Seeking Coral in Coral land
In Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' red coral (corallium rubrum) is said to be born when Perseus, in an attempt to free Andromeda, places the head of Medusa on a rock. The seaweed that comes into contact with the Gorgon's blood petrifies, transforming into red branches. Influenced by this tale, scholars have long considered red coral as either a plant or a rock - and only since the 16th century, as an animal, giving it the reputation of a magical and mysterious species.
Following the myth, I explored a stretch of coastline in northwest Sardinia called the Coral Riviera: here for centuries, coral fishing has attracted artisans and traders, making this place a focal point in the Mediterranean Sea.
This photographic research seeks to explore, through a near-archaeological approach, how mythological elements are reflected in the landscape. Here, human and natural variables transform themselves and, through the photographic process, they become something different. The transformation of the landscape and human-nature interactions thus become subjects of investigation, revealing how cultural and natural aspects merge and mutually influence each other.
In this way, the photographs place the myth in a specific and defined location (the Coral Riviera) while simultaneously exempting this place from the rules of the world, transcending space and time, and evoking the magic and mystery of coral nature.
The narrative of the coral's birth and its constituent elements becomes the starting point to showcase a hybridised landscape, familiar yet unknown, in constant evolution, and far from its stereotypical representations as a tourist destination characterised by visions of unspoiled nature frozen in time.
Following the myth, I explored a stretch of coastline in northwest Sardinia called the Coral Riviera: here for centuries, coral fishing has attracted artisans and traders, making this place a focal point in the Mediterranean Sea.
This photographic research seeks to explore, through a near-archaeological approach, how mythological elements are reflected in the landscape. Here, human and natural variables transform themselves and, through the photographic process, they become something different. The transformation of the landscape and human-nature interactions thus become subjects of investigation, revealing how cultural and natural aspects merge and mutually influence each other.
In this way, the photographs place the myth in a specific and defined location (the Coral Riviera) while simultaneously exempting this place from the rules of the world, transcending space and time, and evoking the magic and mystery of coral nature.
The narrative of the coral's birth and its constituent elements becomes the starting point to showcase a hybridised landscape, familiar yet unknown, in constant evolution, and far from its stereotypical representations as a tourist destination characterised by visions of unspoiled nature frozen in time.
