Romagna Sfigurata: Silvia Camporesi Photographs Landslide Aftermath

Photographer Silvia Camporesi and landscape architect Sauro Turroni spent six months documenting the landslides caused by the May 2023 floods in Emilia-Romagna, traveling between Rimini and Bologna. They initially struggled to locate the 81,000 landslides, later collaborating with regional geologists. Camporesi reflects on the paradox of finding beauty in destruction, describing a Christmas tree made of balloons at the foot of a collapse near Predappio, a power line bent like a wounded animal, and a farmer's 600 olive trees swept away in Modigliana. In Fontanelice, a man died trapped in his home; in Castel del Rio, a man fled in pajamas as his house was flattened; in Dovadola, an entire hill collapsed forming a 30-meter-deep lake; in Brisighella, a woman found a grand canyon behind her house. Camporesi notes the limits of photography in capturing landslides, which photographer Guido Guidi calls 'without geometry.' She uses drone shots to show scale. The project is supported by Strategia Fotografia 2023, promoted by the Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea of the Ministero della Cultura.