A trip suspended in time to Italy, whose landscape is the place of fight between beauty and voracity, suggestion and ineptitude, the undeniable expression of man’s incoherence in front of the spectacles and the force of nature.

This project stems from my concern to document a scenery stopped and changeable at the same time, where the man is an extra and the beautiful and wild Italian landscape is the main character. A stage where the unmoved firmness of the ancient times crashes into the fruit of modernity, where the landscape has to face people’s daily lives, and together, they have to change through time according to their habits, their production methods and the resources exploitation of the countryside. Since the post-war period Italy has been radically changed, driven by several urges that were guided by excitement and the will to rebirth. Public and private activities, which by their nature imply a presence on the ground, have often been carried out in a superficial manner, with no plan. The imagination and wildness which in the past led great artists and visionaries to the territory development, for decades they have altered and continue to mark the land in their lowest form, driven by destructive pressures disregarding the semantic value of the landscape. From the illegal building on the fascinating Sardinian beaches to the confused conurbation on the outskirts of Rome, where buildings and cars are geometrically pigeonholed, so as to almost hold the balance of existing structures. The city centre and the nearby outskirts are equally forced into a context that oppresses both constructions and people into a twisted and unplanned drawing. Once, the landscape was highly shown in a number of interventions that were the synthesis of an idea matured over time. Interventions that gave back the senses and mind of an entire culture. Today, they are the result of carelessness and ambitions of a society enslaved to a profit economy, driven by consumerism that erodes also the stability of the urban landscape.

Some olive trees covered in morning dew. Casarano (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some olive trees covered in morning dew. Casarano (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
A 126 Fiat is seen parked on the roadside. Casarano (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
A 126 Fiat is seen parked on the roadside. Casarano (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
An age-old olive tree on the Curti Russi estate, along the provincial road to Veglie. Nardò (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
An age-old olive tree on the Curti Russi estate, along the provincial road to Veglie. Nardò (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view of the vegetation surrounding the shore of Ostia, Italy 2017. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view of the vegetation surrounding the shore of Ostia, Italy 2017. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some people walking along the shore. Anzio (Rome), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some people walking along the shore. Anzio (Rome), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
A building dating back to the Fascist dictatorship on the Poetto beach, near the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park. Initially, it was built as a summer holiday camp, then it was converted into the “Marino Hospital” and ultimately abandoned; the building is scheduled to be turned into a hotel. Cagliari, Italia 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A building dating back to the Fascist dictatorship on the Poetto beach, near the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park. Initially, it was built as a summer holiday camp, then it was converted into the “Marino Hospital” and ultimately abandoned; the building is scheduled to be turned into a hotel. Cagliari, Italia 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A building on Poetto beach, near the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park. The legitimacy of the building project was verified in the past, in accordance with the rules of concession for public domain. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A building on Poetto beach, near the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park. The legitimacy of the building project was verified in the past, in accordance with the rules of concession for public domain. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
People walking along Poetto beach, where a high prevalence of unauthorized building operations, illegal occupation of government land and abuse of scenic routes has been registered. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
People walking along Poetto beach, where a high prevalence of unauthorized building operations, illegal occupation of government land and abuse of scenic routes has been registered. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some youths are seen playing tennis on Poetto beach, where a high prevalence of unauthorized building operations, illegal occupation of government land and abuse of scenic routes has been registered. Cagliari, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some youths are seen playing tennis on Poetto beach, where a high prevalence of unauthorized building operations, illegal occupation of government land and abuse of scenic routes has been registered. Cagliari, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
At sunset, after the return of fishing vessels and trawlers, the sale of fresh fish begins. Gallipoli (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
At sunset, after the return of fishing vessels and trawlers, the sale of fresh fish begins. Gallipoli (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view of Poetto beach from an abandoned kiosk. Here, as in the regional park, a high prevalence of unauthorized building operations, illegal occupation of government land and abuse of scenic routes has been registered. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view of Poetto beach from an abandoned kiosk. Here, as in the regional park, a high prevalence of unauthorized building operations, illegal occupation of government land and abuse of scenic routes has been registered. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A man working with a tractor on land planted with olive trees. Nardò (Lecce), Italy, 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
A man working with a tractor on land planted with olive trees. Nardò (Lecce), Italy, 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
Large waste items dumped on an unauthorized area in the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park: wetland of international interest, in accordance with the Ramsar Convention and Special Protection Area. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Large waste items dumped on an unauthorized area in the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park: wetland of international interest, in accordance with the Ramsar Convention and Special Protection Area. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Ruins of old buildings in the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park, which holds the Italian record for the cases of unauthorized building compared to the protected surface area. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Ruins of old buildings in the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park, which holds the Italian record for the cases of unauthorized building compared to the protected surface area. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view of the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park from a bird-watching hide. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view of the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park from a bird-watching hide. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view alongside the horse riding paths at the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park, near the Rollone draining-pump. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view alongside the horse riding paths at the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park, near the Rollone draining-pump. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some satellite dishes on a rooftop, in the background a view of the outskirts of Rome, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some satellite dishes on a rooftop, in the background a view of the outskirts of Rome, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some people walking along the streets of the city center. Rome, Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some people walking along the streets of the city center. Rome, Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
A street in the Pigneto neighbourhood, to the right are the arches of the ancient Roman aqueduct. Rome, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A street in the Pigneto neighbourhood, to the right are the arches of the ancient Roman aqueduct. Rome, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view of the remains of the ancient Roman aqueduct surrounded by parked cars in the Pigneto neighborhood. Rome, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A view of the remains of the ancient Roman aqueduct surrounded by parked cars in the Pigneto neighborhood. Rome, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A woman walks on the Appia Antica. Rome, Italy 2017. © Matteo Bastianelli
A woman walks on the Appia Antica. Rome, Italy 2017. © Matteo Bastianelli
An olive tree infected with the Xylella virus. Gallipoli (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
An olive tree infected with the Xylella virus. Gallipoli (Lecce), Italy 2016. © Matteo Bastianelli
Two youths bridling a horse at the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park. Cagliari, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Two youths bridling a horse at the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park. Cagliari, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A former tank for salt collection, populated by greater pink flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus). The coastal ponds of Sardinia have always been used as a resting and wintering area in the migratory routes of the greater pink flamingos: the Molentargius pond has also become a nesting site for them since the 1990’s. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
A former tank for salt collection, populated by greater pink flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus). The coastal ponds of Sardinia have always been used as a resting and wintering area in the migratory routes of the greater pink flamingos: the Molentargius pond has also become a nesting site for them since the 1990’s. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
An Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) flies away from a former tank for salt collection at the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
An Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) flies away from a former tank for salt collection at the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park. Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy 2015. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some people along the shore. Ostia (Rome), Italy 2017. © Matteo Bastianelli
Some people along the shore. Ostia (Rome), Italy 2017. © Matteo Bastianelli

BEAUTIFUL & WILD (2015-2017)