AN EMPTY VALLEY
AN EMPTY VALLEY
CREDITS
The empty of valley of this project’s name is actually an incredibly important location to the history of classical art and architecture. Situated near the city of Carrara the valley has provided the materials for some of the most iconic statues that mankind has ever made, like Michelangelo’s David. Still supplying the world with its first class marble, the valley has been altered by man through the quarries that run its length which follow the geological patterns of the rock.
The quarries of the landscape take on a sculptural form in this series, with the minimal white planes creating a different architecture, one where the surfaces and cavernous spaces are temporary. The valley altering as material is extracted for some other grand construction somewhere in the world.
The inhabitants of the valley have also been affected by the history of the industry. In the late 1880s it became home to some of the first Italian anarchists with the willingness of the marble industry to hire any willing hands even if the help came from criminals and convicts. Talking of those who live there now, photographer Ettore Moni (Italy) says you are quite likely to find shepherds writing poetry, quarriers with university degrees and hunters who prefer trekking to killing.
