in viaggio verso me
(2017)

I am quite excited to introduce this piece of work, because it is my very first one here, but also because it's about my very first project ever and my very first photographic idea and you all know that 'first love never gets forgotten'.

It all happened very casually as I was spending a few days in my hometown, in Italy.

Not a very notorious and fun one, but full of beautiful and interesting people.

One of those is actually the author of 'In Viaggio Verso Me', the book which this year-long project was all about.

The author is Andrea Vergnano, better known as 'Stress'.

Andrea is a well-prepared sound engineer, not to mention a former professional hip-hop singer.

A proper old-school artist with a spirit that keeps everyone, himself first, very down to earth.

During the past few years, he has been through a very rough time, and all of that led him to reconsider his priorities in life.

As a consequence of it, he started to fully immerse himself into any sort of extravagant experience to challenge and heal himself.

He cycled halfway through Italy by himself during one of the hottest summers ever recorded in the country, getting hosted by friends or even strangers.

He managed to finish it in the end, but not completely satisfied with that just achieved goal, decided to do something like that the following year too; only that this time, luckily, he found a mate to keep him some company through the entire journey.

A few months later, Stress, thought that would have been nice if everything he has been through, could be part of something that people can see, read, and relate to. A book.

That is when 'In Viaggio Verso Me' was conceived.

A few months have passed and it's Christmas.

A dear friend of mine, knowing that I was excited for that book to be out, got it for me as a present. I was the happiest.

Then, the author himself recommended me to read it when I was travelling only.

So, I have started carrying it with me everywhere I went.

Considering my passion for photography, later on, I have started picturing the book in different locations, very randomly, with my phone.

On the bus, on a plane, in front of a monument.

But what really was the cracking point, was the time I have asked a friend of mine, to hold up the book while I was picturing it with the city of Cardiff in the background.

That was the first of many.

Belgium, France, Germany, and Holland are just a few places where I have taken the book to.

Finally, in October 2017, after nine months of traveling and pictures, I have gathered the best ones and created this series of black and white photos with the book in the foreground and a different known European spot in the back.

This was the story of un unimaginable quests that led feelings to be pictured, lived, and shared.

When the heart meets the pen and then, a camera.

I will never be grateful enough to the people that made this happen.

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If anyone was interested in getting a physical copy of the book, it is still available to purchase on Amazon for £6.78.

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