italy issue 639

Mar 2017

Andrea Varani

Milan - photographers

"Viewed as a whole, Andrea Varani's photos make us think of an album that a distinguished explorer continues to add to over the years, with images of trips to spectacular, at times remote places in the company of wonderous creatures.

They are portraits of landscapes in tones that are both icy and intimate, at the same time far removed yet similar in style, reminiscent of a documentary by Wenders who entrusts Irving Penn and other masters of the 20th Century with the role of director of photography.

Places so geographically distant that only the constant search for beauty (that never breaks out into ostentation), can bring so intimately close together.

Thousands of miles flown each year, meticulous, frenetic organisation, frequent changes of programme, and finally, arrival in the most disparate landscapes with their alternating seasons, in order to capture beauty in a brief moment, and then return it with calm wonder. Fashion that is worn, interpreted at times with alienated postures, at others with bemused participation, becomes the cause and effect of every shot and every journey."