After the great success of the volume “Latest edition, black stories from the La Notte archives”, published by the Le Milieu publishing house, Alan Maglio And Luca Matarazzo they found themselves conducting new research together with another historical archive, that of the Milanese agency Framefrom which their new book takes its title Frame 40also published by the publishing house le Milieu.
Frame 40 is oneMay at the photographic agency that turns forty of life and who immortalized with his photographers much of the latest history of Milan and Italy. Irreverent images, one Milan is the undisputed protagonist with its political figures, the showgirls, fashion and its stylists, the young people filmed during the evenings in historic discos such as Plastic or queuing in front of “Burghy”, the students at demonstrations, the bandits, the places that have marked a It was an era of excesses, entertainment, but also crime and crime news. Frame 40 takes us back in time: those who lived through those years can only identify and remember their Milanese experience with emotion, And those who didn’t experience it can retrace it through the most famous and iconic shots of the time.
Alan Maglio And Luca Matarazzo they are both two Milanese photographers united by common passions and aesthetics, their publications stand out for their original style and meticulous layouts: two authors who bring forgotten photographs to light with the intention of striking, of reawakening memories, of triggering associations of ideas unexpected, in a word to excite. With this interview for Artuu Luca Matarazzo introduces us to his work and to his work with his friend and colleague Alan Maglio merged into the two beautiful books published by le Mlieu.
Luca Matarazzo: “We look for the most evocative photos to bring the past back to life”
How did you meet Alan Maglio? What moved you to start your collaborations in the artistic and editorial fields?
Many years ago a mutual friend told me: “You must know Alan, in my opinion you get along”. She had seen us well… From the very beginning she bonded us with mutual respect which was also the basis for a deep friendship, which was then consolidated thanks to the many common passions and the desire to work and create things together.
How did you get to the La Notte archive? How it was born Latest editionyour first book published by Le Milieu publishing house?
Alan is a natural magnet, his deep curiosity and the care he puts into relationships with people lead him to naturally attract situations and encounters that led him to visit the La Notte archive. As soon as he left that visit he called me excitedly, at the time I was working as a photographer for a large newspaper agency, so it was a topic that belonged to me, and it was very natural to work on it together.
After all these years of research among historical photographic archives, what are the differences you have found between the world of photojournalism between yesterday and today?
Having worked in this world as an author, there are so many differences, the one that I consider most important is certainly the relationship between the subject and the photographer. In the past the curiosity and innocence of the subjects with respect to his own image he practically left it to the photographers White paper in any situation, today this is no longer the case. Speaking of crime news, the evolution of police investigation techniques has also removed the possibility of being there where things happen. Another fundamental element is that today everyone has a photographic device with them at all times, lo smartphoneshence the phenomenon of citizen journalism which took a lot of credit away from the figure of the photographer. Not to mention the publishing crisis, which has done terrible harm to operators in the sector, with continuous cuts to available funds and consequently to final quality.
What is it that attracts you to a shot so much that it is chosen over many others for a publication?
Personally I am struck by the “evocative” photos, those images that, even without reading the caption, make my mind travel and push me to want to know more. Then certainly the technical/artistic aspect, but also and above all theirony which is often satire and criticism.
What led you to join forces with Alan Maglio again to create Frame/40?
Agenzia Fotogramma is the company I have worked for the longest. It has an archive that was well known to me, that I have always loved, in which I spent hours looking at images. Knowing my work with the La Notte archive and my passion for their materials, they asked me to curate a publication that would tell the story of the first forty years of activity. I immediately understood the potential of this archive, and that a publication could be something more than a volume of company promotion, but a true story of the changes in the city, in some respects also an autobiographical work of my/our relationship with the city and the environment in which we grew up. And naturally the person I wanted to share this journey with was Alan straight away, I knew we would stimulate and challenge each other to create something unique and unexpected.
(Milan, 1995, Courtesy FOTOGRAMMA – PONTI).
How did you choose the cover of the book?
The cover was the last thing we defined. We started with an idea, but while working on the book we realized that it wouldn’t fully convey the spirit of the book. In practice, during the last week of work, with the internal pages already printed, we found dozens of eligible photos every day, but for one reason or another they didn’t convince us. We were looking for something recognizable, ironic, which told the dynamism of the photographer’s work, the imagination, and the “crazy” things that happened in Milan in the Eighties/Nineties. Then in the end we found the one where you see a girl in front of the Duomo with a surfboard. Everything was in balance, we inserted her into the graphic grid and immediately understood who she was the right image.
What were your sources of inspiration for the layout?
We are both collectors and voracious consumers of books and magazines, new but also old. I can’t pin down a main inspiration, but we definitely wanted one minimal and essential graphics to leave as much space as possible for the image, graphics that would allow us to insert captions that were not too invasive and that took away the glance that is created when leafing through the book. We also wanted to connect the images, creating a story that mixed images from different eras without following a theme or chronology of events.
Among the photojournalist authors who have most impressed you?
There are so many photographers who have passed through Fotogramma, each one has left a mark. The search was not done by author, but certainly 4/5 authors by number of images stand out. I am Mimmo Carulli (founder of the agency), Silvano Del Puppo, Letizia Mantero And Maurizio Maule.
Which shot from the Fotogramma archive excites you the most?
It’s very difficult for me to choose an image, it was very difficult to go below the 700 photos of the last pre-selection to the 400 that are in the book.
