Fireworks 2008

This picture is from Fireworks, a series that I composed in 2008 while I was living in the United States. The election and above all the campaign of Barack Obama have attracted most attention from all over the world, appealing to deepen and spreading a strong desire for change over the nation and further afield.
It was the 4th of February 2008. I was standing in the civic centre during Obama’s speech in Hartford (CT), surrounded by an audience of thousands, all waiting eagerly to discover the words of their leader before becoming the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.
I was very impressed by the power of the crowd, at the same time I tried to shift my attention and focus on the different individualities attending the speech. My aim was exploring human identities through the portraits of people; scattered details able to reveal their connection with politics and to bring them from a public space to a more intimate space full of desires and expectations the same on which I was wondering. Through this lens, I invite the viewer to reflect about how politics should respond to new claims and issues arisen in contemporary democracies.