Monica Carocci's Infrared Photography Documents Cute Project's Medical Missions in Uganda

Monica Carocci, a photographer and artist born in Rome in 1966, joined the Italian nonprofit Cute Project on medical missions to Uganda in 2017 and 2019. Cute Project, founded in Turin in 2012, trains healthcare personnel in developing countries in reconstructive plastic surgery, operating in Congo, Uganda, and Benin to treat burn victims and accident survivors. Carocci documented the missions, using an infrared filter on a modified Nikon camera to capture ethereal, surreal images where patients' skin appears silvery-blue and scars emerge like drawing lines. Her work resulted in the book "Cicatrici della pelle e dell'anima" with texts by writer Gian Luca Favetto; all proceeds support future missions in Africa and South America. Carocci's infrared experimentation continued during lockdown, leading to the exhibition "NuvoleAlte" at Francesca Antonini Arte Contemporanea in Rome, open until June 5, 2021, with a text by Cristiana Perrella. The exhibition features landscapes transformed by infrared, described as radioactive and fairy-tale-like, responding to crisis and fragility.