I adored Luca Campigotto’s dark, huge and moody photographs from the moment I
saw them at a special exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 1998. Who knew
that he would also become a dear friend? Turns out, Luca the person, is as beguiling,
intelligent and impressive as are his photographs.
Luca is a Venetian, which accounts for the lion’s share of his considerable charm. Wandering through Venice at night with him is a rare privilege – which you can experience
in the slide show which he has generously allowed me to reproduce below. What
you need to understand is that these photographs are huge! Imagine their power when
blown up to four feet square! They are nocturnal landscapes which engulf you. Luca writes about his work with a film noir flair. His writing reveals his
intelligence and the core of dramatic romanticism which animates his work.
"It was pitch-black and the windshield wiper was dragging the dirt up and down
the glass. I was leaning forward as I drove, zigzagging my way between the puddles,
with the headlights darting here and there as if looking for a fugitive in the undergrowth.
A slow song was playing on the radio, almost drowned out by the sound of the fan
heater. The mobile phone on the passenger seat lay silent. ‘Madame’ was unlikely
to call back. She was a night-owl but it was too late even for her. Another missed
chance to have a drink with her, I thought to myself, convinced that she would have
liked to explore those mysterious places.
Personally, I love industrial areas: they are my patch; I feel at home there.
The cracked asphalt that gleams in the light, rising up to form a crust when it
crosses the rail tracks. The tall outlines of the towers and bridges, blacker than
the sky outside the window. The cranes that rise up like the necks of dinosaurs
from behind the illuminated smoke. The strange lights: too bright or almost impossible
to see, dying out the further they get from the city walls. And then the electronic
gates, and the cabins of the night watchmen. And, every now and then, a parked car
here or there: lovers hiding between stacks of pipes and deserted train carriages."
More of Luca’s amazing photographs, texts and CV are available at
