Thanks to the partnership with the Accademia di Belle Arti G. Carrara di Bergamo, the Istituto Italiano di Fotografia di Milano, and the Officine Fotografiche di Roma, a selected group of young people are offered the opportunity to undergo a unique experience on the top of Mount Lagazuoi and win the Lagazuoi Photo Award - New Talents 2023.
The jury awarded Luna Belotti for her multidisciplinary and engaging approach, which is not limited to photography but also includes painting and writing.
By focusing on the Travenanzes Valley with its rugged lunar landscape, Luna has proven that she is able to capture the essence of this unique valley, often referred to as "the hidden valley". She succeeded in conveying the ruggedness and monotony of this landscape, creating images that almost seem material. Her talent for depicting such an environment evokes a profound respect for wild, pristine nature.
What is more striking is her decision to use a white notebook as a symbolic element of the importance for man to reprocess and bring closer and thus make more comprehensible the otherwise too large and superhuman mountain through writing.
The notebook with the shadow of the mountain profile becomes a reflection of the Dolomite world, which cannot be directly approached or understood but requires the mediation of writing. The interplay between the difficulty of depicting the landscape and the challenge of filling up a blank notebook is a powerful and profound concept. Thus, writing becomes a bridge to a humanisation of the landscape, transforming the extreme and inhospitable environment into something more accessible and comprehensible to men.
Luna's approach also reveals a remarkable coherence in how she developed her storytelling. From photographic work to painting and writing, everything seems harmoniously bound together. Her ability to immerse herself in the environment and to interpret it with such different art forms creates an engaging and compelling experience for the viewer.
