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A Book: Photometropolis |
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Photometropolis:
the image of the city is
a result of a project aimed at a sociological vision of the city. Its target is
to focus all theoretical, interpretative themes and problems concerning the
visual representation of the urban processes.
Photometropolis tries to capture the subtle thread between photographic research and urban matter. The integration of these two ways of interpreting reality corresponds to the methodological approach of Photometropolis, a tool which gives a new key to the interpretation of today’s metropolis, thanks to the parallel development of photographic communication and social studies on the city.
The first sequence of Photometropolis analizes the general features of early phase London’s urbanization process. The emerging of the "modern city" is well documented in G. Dorè’s drawings, in W. Talbot’s photos as well as in F. Engels’s writings.
The second section focuses on the complex and fascinating growth of New York City. It stresses on the American "vertical city" and on the photographs which witness its development. From a visual point of view, it is possible to admire the pictures by J. Riis, L.W. Hine, Van Der Zee and J.Tarbox Beals, and from a sociological perspective you can also read the writings by R.E. Park, A. F. Weber, L. Wirth and E. W. Burgess.
The third sequence is completely devoted to the "orizontal city": the attention is focused on the case of Milan, which witnessed a great migration from the south to the north of the country. It examines the causes and social effects linked to the complex process due to the integration during the sixties’. The photographic account includes Patellanis‘s pictures, showing the Alfa Romeo workers of the "Portello", Monti’s desert suburbs, Mula’s doss-house, Berengo-Gardin’s anthropological caos of the city, and Basilico’s "factory portraits".
The fourth and last section, which zooms in sets of "edge city", should be considered as an in- progress work, which refers to the important social and visual transformations of today’s metropolis.
For a better understanding of a complex and fragmentary urban world, we have to go to the most recent studies on urban sociology and, in particular, to the suggestions given by S. Sassen, D. Sudjick, E. Soja, A. Giddens, G. Martinotti, E. Mingione, M. Augè and J. Baudrillard.
The pictures selected for this section were taken by a group of students of the Photometropolis seminar held at the University of Milan, who draw inspiration from the evolving city.
The book has been published by "LE VESPE", March 2000.