Romano Cagnoni part 3
Since World War II, we hadn’t seen such militarily-caused destruction in Europe like the recent conflict in ex-Yugoslavia. Many attractive buildings, charming old cities were partly destroyed. I had to show the beauty of the architecture and its history to communicate even more the sorry state of its destruction. Only with a large format camera I could have the proper technical resources: correct the convergence lines, control of the perspective, obtain extremely sharp and virtually grain-free negatives. The aim was to have technically perfect architectural photographs of war-damaged sites, intending a disconcerting effect.
War photographed in a large format |
 Vukovar, 1991 |
 Vukovar, 1991 |
| The aim was to have technically perfect architecture photographs of war-damaged sites, intending a disconcerting effect. |
 Nustar, 1991 |
 Dubrovnik, 1991 |
MF: What was your latest show?
RC: I had number of exhibitions in the last few years. The one I am most satisfied with is a retrospective held in Milan at Arengario Palace in the year 2004. My title was “Chiaroscuro.” Beside the international use of the word in its meaning related to the visual arts, chiaroscuro also means, at least in the Italian dictionary, an alternation of changing fortunes from painful to good humour. This title portrays the essence of my work. I have often looked at life with an amused eye, perhaps to compensate for so many years spent in photographing pain. If you can’t cry, you can’t laugh.
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 Immigrants, Manchester 1971  Churchill's funeral, London 1965 |
 London, 1969  London, 1959 |
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 Rome, 1960  England, 1982 |
 London, 1976  Turin, 1978 |
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 Japan, 1962  England, 1971 |
 British Museum, London 1967  M. Rothko Chapel, Dallas 1976 |
I’m now in Colombia, and for the last two weeks in Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast. (...)