As the mother stirs the pot at the kitchen of an apaprtement in Italy, her thoughts drift to her own childhood in Afghanistan. She’s making her mother’s famous Kabuli pilao, a recipe passed down for generations. The scent fills the kitchen, transporting her back to a simpler time, where family and traditions meant everything.
During our childhood, my sisters and I cherished annual summer visits to our Italian family, but as the years passed, these trips became less frequent. Each journey was a heartfelt attempt to preserve the cherished memories of a place that felt like a second home, despite the physical distance. In 2022, after COVID-19 restrictions eased, I finally returned to Trofarello after six years. This visit stirred deep emotions, compelling me to photograph my Nonna, who has Alzheimer’s. I also grappled with the complex feelings of being back after losing my Nonno during COVID-19 in 2020.
"I've got sunshine on a cloudy day"
The contrast between visible and apparently visible generates some kind of interest in the observer. A feeling that opens the doors of imagination, disorienting the common sense that makes things already fully visible.
This photo was taken during the patronal feast of a little town in Puglia, Italy. Many young boys and girl, most of them very young, queue up to touch a gun at least once a year, even if it is fake. Shooting cans is the most popular game and the most popular prize is a toy gun. Now that the war is raging, seeing kids wanting to arm a gun, even if it’s fake, is scary.
As an oyster to the shell we are tied to our bodies Plato wrote, so the body of the woman is tied to an indelible collective imagination and in the same way I am tied to my body and theirs.
