Metropolis Gold is a project that explores the intensity and resilience of urban life through a refined digital chiaroscuro technique inspired by classical painting. Each image is crafted with strong contrasts of light and shadow, creating an effect that emphasizes the features and textures of the faces, almost sculpting the subjects in space. The deep shadows and intense highlights add a dramatic dimension, revealing details and imperfections as testimonies of the subjects' experiences.
In these photographs, the subjects appear in monumental, almost hieratic poses that reveal an inner, combative strength. Their faces are intense, with penetrating gazes that tell stories of challenge and adaptation, symbols of resilience in an often-hostile urban environment. The hands touching the face or partially covering their features add an element of introspection, suggesting a hidden vulnerability behind their strength.
These images are not simply portraits but icons of survival, of individuals asserting themselves within the metropolitan context with dignity and determination. Every detail, from the lines on their skin to the tension in their hands, helps to construct a visual narrative that reflects the essence of urban life and the strength needed to endure it.
METROPOLIS IS GOLD
METROPOLIS GOLD PORTRAITS
Icons of Resilience in the Urban Landscape
INDIGENOUS
Project Title
This photographic project explores the identity and resilience of the indigenous people of Madagascar, highlighting the profound connection between cultural heritage and contemporary aesthetics. Through a powerful and dramatic visual style, each portrait combines traditional elements, such as feathers and tribal ornaments, with a modern photographic language characterized by intense contrasts and rich textures.
The subjects, depicted with penetrating gazes and monumental poses, evoke an inner strength that transcends time. Their expressions, enhanced by symbolic details like piercings, necklaces, and metallic ornaments, tell stories of connection to ancestral roots and adaptation to the modern era.
The feathers and accessories recall ritualistic elements, while the use of shadow and light sculpts the body and face, creating an almost sculptural effect that celebrates the beauty of imperfection and uniqueness. This project goes beyond mere documentation, transforming the subjects into contemporary icons of a cultural identity that resists and evolves, inspiring reflections on memory, dignity, and the beauty of a land rich in stories.
INDIGENOUS OF MADAGASCAR
Rediscovering Strength and Ancestral Identity
Giovanni Battagliero: The Essence of Nature and Cultural Roots
Giovanni Battagliero, born in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, carries the vibrant spirit of his homeland into every aspect of his life and style. After living in Turin, he relocated to Cagliari in 2018, where his African roots and Mediterranean influences found a harmonious balance.
What makes Giovanni truly unique is his ability to transform his body into a living work of art. Through tattoos and facial symbols inspired by indigenous beliefs, he celebrates a profound connection to nature and the spirituality of his native culture. Each mark on his skin tells a story of devotion, respect, and connection with the natural world, conveying a powerful and universal message.
This fusion of tradition and innovation makes Giovanni an extraordinary subject for portrait photography. His charismatic presence and the symbolic richness he embodies create images that go beyond mere portraits, evoking visual narratives that celebrate identity, culture, and resilience. Giovanni is not just a subject but a living inspiration, a bridge between past and present, between nature and humanity.