Italian photographer Gabriele Corni and architect Claudio Silvestrin joined forces with GALLLERIAPIÙ — a multifaceted organisation dedicated to research and experimentation in contemporary art — for the project APNEA Humans Breathless (Apnea — people without breath). The aim was to capture the emotional range of people in a state of discomfort.
"I find it fascinating to photograph people holding their breath — each time I am struck by the fact that without breath we are forced to abandon the polished projection of ourselves: the desire to 'look good in a photo' disappears entirely, overtaken by the most fundamental need — to breathe"
Restless and disoriented, these intent gazes are penetrating. Faces that look back at us — striking even from a distance, submerged in water and emerging from it, wrapped in a milky veil that envelops, caresses and oppresses. Solitary and silent faces, absorbed in their inner selves, existing in a timeless space untouched by the noise and movement of the everyday.
"In this series of portraits, water represents time — the dimension by which we are all consumed."
Portraits of children and people of varied ethnicities and social backgrounds — by compelling them to step away from their self-presentation, Gabriele Corni seems to have stripped away their masks, bringing their inner selves into contact with something primordial: water. The most striking detail lies in the symbolism: "it" (water) shelters us in the womb, yet it also becomes a mighty force capable of taking our breath away; "it" can drag us into the depths, reminding us that life is not eternal. Immersed in this elemental substance, the subject loses their mask and reveals something archaic — something that looks back at us from an unfathomable past.
Gabriele Corni shows us faces suspended in thought, freed from the self-possession and tension of everyday life. These portraits transform their subjects into compelling and affecting images. They remind us of how painted portraits once stood in for a person — not so much by depicting the individual as by radiating power and mystery. That same mystery is vividly present in Gabriele Corni's photographs, in which the identity of the subjects is neither imposed nor inferred, but remains distant, wavering, generalised and elusive.
You can find out more about how the shoot took place on the project page on Facebook.
