The ‘Aura’, as defined by Walter Benjamin, is a natural process present in every one of us initiated when something affects us emotionally. Photography allows the photographer to convey the ‘Aura’ that he experiences at a given moment in time and in a specific location.
Through his work, ‘A strange weave of space and time’, Andrea Angelini engages us in his deep understanding of the processes of daily life. Through a series of photographic sequences, the ‘Aura’ that he experiences is broadened into an account marked by time, the meaning of which is found through the embodiment of a conscious photographic concept; as he explains:
“ A strange weave of space and time: the unique appearance or semblance of distance, however near it may be. To follow, while reclining on a summer’s noon, the outline of a mountain range on the horizon or a branch, which casts its shadow on the observer until the moment or the hour partakes of their presence – this is to breathe in the aura of these mountains, of this branch”, wrote Walter Benjamin around 80 years ago about the Aura.
“ Often, when I’m taking a photo of a specific weave of space and time, one image isn’t enough to convey the feeling of that place. My presence in every shot is essential and every meditative moment must be experienced properly. There is a right time for every sensation and/or experience, which is why I’ve decided to broaden my photographic memory as necessary. From one second to 50 years our memories follow different routes but still contain that Aura which many believe to be lost.”
For Andrea Angelini the creative process starts with a literary idea and becomes a photographic image through the internalization of a concept which brings his emotional relationship with reality to life. His temporal sequences, symbolically represented by a value gap occurring in that moment in time, expand on the concept of ‘Aura’ as defined by Benjamin, and introduces us to the intense mystery of time which encompasses even the small, simple history of humankind.
