1
Gennaro Scotti, when walking around Venice to photograph it, one often forgets the contemporary world. Are you trying to bring two time periods together through digital collages?
Digital collage is more a consequence of my need for freedom. When I talk about freedom, it’s the feeling I get when I go out to explore an urban space. These moments are like meditation for me. In this sense, Venice is one of the cities where we can most detach ourselves from our contemporary world. It’s very moving for me when I realise that two moments are coming together. In fact, I don’t feel that it’s me who is bringing two different times together, but rather that they come together as a matter of course. It’s something that fascinates me, these points of contact that are created, these vibrations that I perceive when I walk and lose myself in these places steeped in an omnipresent past.
2
The expression ‘a world of postcards’ is used to describe an ideal life. What attracts you to these old images?
When I look at certain dated images, I can’t help but wonder about the atmosphere of that moment, frozen in time for so long. I like to meet the gaze of these people, scrutinise their expressions, imagine their lives. I like these testimonies of what once was, but without any nostalgia, with a great deal of kindness. I am drawn to a conversation that seems to be taking shape.
3
Venice is the first stage of your project. Will you be developing your digital creative work in other cities?
Yes, I’m open to new encounters. Venice welcomed me with such conviction that I hope the same will be true for the next ones. Currently, Bologna is the city that has my attention, and I realise that it will be so different, which stimulates and inspires me… It seems to me that this project could lead to encounters beyond the urban environment; other subjects are in the works. It’s a bit as if each encounter opens up a new life.
4
You love the stage, you photograph dance, jazz and concerts. Is the festival and outdoor season coming up for you?
It’s now been 10 years since I set foot in the world of freelance and intermittent image work. The warm season is just around the corner, commissions in the cultural sector will resume, and I’m always very excited about that. How fortunate I am to be able to work in this field, thanks to certain people who, for the time being at least, are still allocating part of their budget to capturing the best possible image of all this positive energy. I am firmly convinced that discovering an image, just like discovering music, is always an opportunity to project oneself into a better future.