The blow-up of a large burning tree (but only in appearance) is the guiding image of the new photographic exhibition by Piero Percoco that Leica Camera Italia will present from April 12 to June 24 in the spaces of Leica Galerie Milan.
The title of the exhibition, curated by Denis Curti and Maurizio Beucci, The rainbow is underratedsimply traces Percoco’s Instagram account: therainbow_is_underestimated, restoring the magic of a process dear to the photographer.
From a heartbreaking image, like that of a burning plant, which strongly recalls the need to protect the earth and nature, the photographer from Sannicandro di Bari, born in 1987, proposes a journey towards a possible salvation, a wonderland , perhaps Puglia itself, Percoco’s homeland, which becomes a symbol of restart, in the manner of flowers that continue to live beyond the fire.
Piero Percoco, The rainbow is underrated | Courtesy of Leica Camera Italia
The starting point of this journey through 35 photographs, a mix of urban and natural landscapes, with an eye also to people, is a micro-poetry for images built with insects, trees, natural details, bright colors, which invite you to go further the apparent image, between nature and humanity, through an energetic approach to this matter.
“This photo is very representative of my work – explains Piero -. I was out and about in the countryside of my country, I had left home on foot and I came across this almond tree that seemed to be on fire. This shot is representative of resistance, of suffering, of a chapter that closes, that burns, but at the same time of change and hope”.
Piero Percoco, The rainbow is underrated | Courtesy of Leica Camera Italia
Thus the beaches of the Bari area, among Percoco’s favorite subjects, the faces and situations immortalized with a smartphone on the beach, among the rocks, under the sun, which have crowded Percoco’s research in past years, give way to nature, “to a nature that will always be there even when we self-destruct” as the photographer explains.
“The itinerary embraces the photographs taken in the last two years with Leica, Leica Q2 and D-Lux 7 cameras, and then other shots taken with the iPhone, which highlight the research that Percoco has always carried out. “All the photos are reflections of the places where I live,” he explains.
But how do you make subjects you meet every day original?
Piero Percoco, The rainbow is underrated | Courtesy of Leica Camera Italia
“Even if everyday life sometimes seems to suffocate us, if we are careful, something surprising can happen even in places we think are boring. All my work is the result of a considerable effort. It all started from the strong family and economic hardships that could not allow me to move or even to enroll in a photography school. I rolled up my sleeves, forced to dig into the terrible everyday life where there is nothing. Over the years I have tried to create a new channel of interpretation of southern Italy that is not the usual stereotype”. Thus, after making his famous beaches debut in the New Yorker and conquering the New York Times with his photos that immortalize the details of people, Percoco, who signs the cover of Splashthe latest album by Colapesce and Dimartino, invites you to forget the city routine for a moment to listen to nature and go back to your origins.
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