Lomography x Perimetro – 36 Shots, One Story: Interview with Umberto Verdoliva

This big open call attracted more than 250 submissions, and involved a network of 39 partners including cultural institutions, photography schools, magazines, labs and independent creative spaces who supported us by selecting the winning projects.

Seven photographers from seven Italian cities (Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Rome and Turin) told their own stories with a roll of Lomography film. The projects were all different from each other, without rules or themes to follow, for results that, in 36 shots, rediscovered the pleasure of surprise and the beauty of the unexpected. Today we present one of these projects by Umberto Verdoliva, entitled Lo Scugnizzo Liberato and shot on Lady Grey 400 ISO film

© Umberto Verdoliva - Lady Grey 400 ISO film

Hi Umberto! Could you please introduce yourself to the readers of our Online Magazine?

I was born in Castellammare di Stabia (Italy) in 1961 and started working in Naples in 1985 in the construction and infrastructure sector. After living for long periods in various Italian cities, in the last seven years I have returned to Naples for yet another public work to be carried out with the company I work for as a site technician. In these movements my family has almost always followed me, but since 2003 we have decided to settle permanently in Treviso, in the north of Italy. Therefore, I am to all intents and purposes, a commuter: every fortnight I return to Treviso to spend the weekend and then leave on Monday morning for Naples.

Can you tell us about your photographic background? When did your journey into photography begin?

My passion for photography started by chance in 2006. I was already 45 years old, living in Treviso and working in Mestre. I was asked to document the works' progresses through photographs and also, I often accompanied professional photographers to construction sites who had been commissioned by various design studios or companies present at the construction to produce photo books to publicize their activities. I knew nothing about photography, nor was I attracted to it. It took coincidence to approach it with a different spirit.

The camera that the company had bought to allow me to photograph the works practically became mine and I also used it during city walks or when taking a trip with the family. Then, a photo taken during the historical regatta in Venice, was noticed by a friend of mine who encouraged me to enter a photo competition, and allowed me to unexpectedly win my first competition. Afterwards, during a hospital's inauguration, I took a significant photo that was published in the Mestre Gazette. From here, slowly my interest in photography began to grow, but I knew absolutely nothing about technique, history or authors. My first approach to the art of photography was via the web, in this virtual environment that is often a double-edged sword. I started to study great authors and their photographs and, through constant comparisons, I gained a certain kind of awareness.

Tell us about this fantastic project. How did the idea come about?

The idea came about after the first selection made by the jury. I was stimulated to participate, as the idea of using a 36 exposure roll to tell a story has always fascinated me a lot. This was already part of my approach to photography, so it was very natural. Once I was selected for the city of Naples, I had two months to shoot my project, but it was essential to find a story to tell. So I asked my nephew, who urged me to investigate an incredible place that he had long frequented as an animator and volunteer: the Scugnizzo Liberato.

Today, the Scugnizzo is operated by an open, horizontal and inclusive community that rejects all forms of fascism, racism, sexism, exploitation and marginalization. The self-governing community of inhabitants devotes itself daily to the care and regeneration of the former prison spaces and the organization of the educational, cultural and social activities that take place inside.

Since 2016, the Scugnizzo Liberato has been one of the spaces recognized as a common good for civic and collective use by the City of Naples. The community of inhabitants that looks after the space is engaged in four main areas of activity: self-government and experimentation with alternative economies, independent cultural production, self-rehabilitation and participatory architecture, mutualism and the weaving of new solidarity-based and horizontal social relations.

Over the years, hundreds of initiatives have taken place at the Scugnizzo, including concerts, shows, art festivals, book presentations and much more. Heterogeneous activities with a cultural, social, work and sporting vocation coexist in the space. In fact, within the structure there is a theatre (created by Eduardo De Filippo - a very famous Italian actor, director and writer - for the minors of the Filangieri prison), a popular gym, a social canteen and a solidarity wardrobe (organized by the Nessuno Escluso association), shared work spaces and craft workshops (ceramics workshop, dance, restoration, glassworks, barbershop, etc.), a space for parental support, a library, an archive, a garden, a courtyard for boys and girls to play.

You chose to shoot this project with our film Lady Grey 400 ISO film. Why this choice and what features particularly impressed you about this film?

This was the first time I had used this film. I was really impressed both by the yield when developing the negatives but also by the grain that characterizes the images.

What camera did you use?

For me the camera is just a tool like any other, a sort of pen to be used to write something down. Camera models and brands are completely indifferent to me. For this project I used the Nikon FM2n with two fixed 35 mm and 50 mm lenses, it is a camera I love so much and it has become the continuation of my eye.

Has having only 36 shots available been a stimulus for you or a limitation for your creative process?

As mentioned before, I started shooting digitally in 2006, but gradually my focus on analogue photography has increased more and more until now, that I shoot almost exclusively with film. Having only 36 exposures changes the way you approach your subjects and locations. You think twice before shooting instinctively and the scenes and the moments are often more considered, thought out, expected. Also, a photographic mistake when shooting on film is different from a mistake made with a digital camera: time makes me accept it more.

Would you change anything if you could redeem the same roll of film?

Absolutely not, the shots I have taken represent encounters, show faces and moments that have been given to me. They are there forever.

What role does analogue photography play for you in 2024?

Above all, I love the classic photographic process. For me photography will always be that. Of course there are artists who express themselves by digitally modifying images, and today with AI we are travelling towards profound changes, but I am not part of this way of thinking. Even if I recognize that interesting and valid things can be created, they are certainly not for me.

Would you like to continue documenting this beautiful reality for a long time and thus expand your project?

Absolutely. The people in charge of the Scugnizzo Liberato already gave me permission to continue to tell about the place, the people who frequent it and all the activities. Without any nagging but just following my feelings according to the opportunities that will come. The photographs taken for this project, for instance, will be used for the Scugnizzo Liberato 2024 calendar and I am so delighted about that!

Do you have any interesting projects or collaborations planned?

These last seven years that I have been back in Naples have had a huge impact on my personal life. I'd love to tell the story of my return to Naples through photography. I have collected more than 4000 shots that I am currently selecting with the help of a photo editor to find the thread of my personal story. I hope to create a book out of it. This is my wish, but it is all still uncertain and premature, even though every time I have presented a small, chosen selection of work, I have already won major awards.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Perimetro and Lomography Italia and the entire jury for this recognition, but I would especially like to thank the people who allowed themselves to be photographed, showing me great trust.