Mark Power and Stuart Franklin Document Chiampo Valley's Tannery District

Two Magnum photographers, Mark Power and Stuart Franklin, have created a photographic project titled "The Perfect Tannery" for the cultural association Atipografia in Arzignano, Italy. The project focuses on the Chiampo Valley's leather tanning district, a major industrial hub with 430 companies, 8,300 employees, 51% of Italy's tanning sector revenue, and 1% of national GDP. The exhibition is divided into three sections: "Tanneries" by Mark Power features high-definition digital photographs capturing the production process and architecture of tanneries, aiming for a phenomenological rather than documentary approach. "Water" by Stuart Franklin explores the hydrogeological aspects of the region, including a fossil, the high-tech purification plant of Acque del Chiampo, and the role of water in the industrial cycle, using diptychs and analog photographs with poetic and abstract qualities. The third section, "Genius Loci" by Luca Peruzzi, documents territorial transformations from the 1970s to today using archival images. The project is supported by Acque del Chiampo and local tanneries, and runs until December 18, 2016 at Atipografia in Arzignano, curated by Elena Dal Molin and Lynda Scott.