In this adventure for the “Italy in Dance” column, my photographs are dedicated to one of the most beautiful (and crowded) Italian cities I have ever seen, Mantova, named Italian of culture in 2016.
For the occasion and to my great joy, I was able to have the collaboration of the talented dancer and model Elisa Storti, with whom I had previously worked and with excellent results, in Verona. I owe her a very special thanks, her poses are a hymn to elegance and have contributed decisively to making one of my best photo sessions ever.
After this necessary introduction, we can begin to tell our Mantova in Danza, starting from the main and most famous entrance, that of the San Giorgio bridge, from which to admire the contours of the city on the horizon, in particular the Castle of San Giorgio and the beautiful dome of St. Andrew, but also medieval towers and bell towers that are reflected in the waters of the lake.
Indeed, Mantua is surrounded on three sides by as many artificial lakes as the Mincio, Lake Superior, Lake Mezzo and Lake Inferiore, three stretches of water that give it a distinctive feature, making it look like a city like the Goddess Venus, born from the waters.
The city experienced its heyday in Renaissance times, in fact under the lordship of the Gonzagas, Mantua became one of the main centers of the Renaissance in Italy and in Europe. Evidence of the time is the Castle of San Giorgio, the Ducal Palace which houses the famous Camera degli Sposi decorated with frescoes by Andrea Mantegna, the Basilica of Sant’Andrea designed by Leon Battista Alberti and Palazzo Te, a place of leisure of the Gonzaga, known for the Sala dei Giganti, where every surface is covered with paintings of mythological scenes.
For a different trip, you can reach Mantua also by bicycle, through the long Peschiera cycle path, a track that runs along the Mincio between hills, woods and enchanted villages in a truly fairytale landscape.
Giovanni Malandrino is a freelance professional photographer, specialized in urban dance photography. Based in Milan and Novara, for his photographs he likes to move to different cities to combine the elegance of the poses in the ballet with the wonders of our beautiful Italy.
Dance is the creation of a sculpture that is visible only for a moment (cited by Erol Ozan)
If I had to choose a sentence to represent my photographs I would have no doubt starting from this quote. This is the starting point because once the perfect moment has been created, photography can make it eternal and make it live every time we observe it.
And these moments have to be shared because the art can not remain closed in a room or a computer, but must be free to be observed by anyone who can appreciate the elegance of the shapes and colors.
Photography is a great love for me, born about twenty years ago and as many fans I started participating in numerous courses and workshops in particular of portrait, fashion, fashion.
Before finding my way, I collaborated in the creation of photographic services in the field of fashion, but I felt that something was missing, in particular a blank sheet where you could create freely without constraints and predefined schemes and then lightning stroke, when photographing the my first dance essay I felt the possibility of creating art in movement with every shot. And where to better highlight the elegance of the poses if not putting them in contrast with the road, with normal everyday life?
This is how my personal way of creating art was born, which I hope will inspire in you a great part of the emotions that I feel every time I shoot a single photograph, a bit like a painter who paints his canvas.
A special thanks to my family who has always supported me in all my bizarre photographic adventures and all the talented dancers who have worked with me and with whom we created a wonderful friendship that goes far beyond the work. In fact, looking at the photographs you would not say, but a photo session in urban dance is very challenging, often in difficult weather conditions, walking for hours in search of the right background combined with the best light, in short, almost always ends exhausted, even if happy with the result.