TIME MAZE (1994-...)

TIME-MAZE is a lifelong work, taking the shape of a photographic project made of independent chapters presented in a progressive chronology arbitrarily defined by life. Every chapter refers to a specific phase of life that was marked by the passing of time, circumstances and events. The idea of this body of work is not that of a diary but a literary autobiography where the past is re-written and re-invented, therefore revealed.
The opening picture of the first volume 1994-2001 | A BEGINNING is a self-portrait from 1994, it is the first one I ever took. There is a road lined by rows of baby pine trees, newly planted after a big fire. I wanted to confuse the image of myself with that of the trees. I prepared the framing and entered it. We were somewhere around Butte, Montana, USA where I spent a summer working as carpenter’s assistant. I had no consciousness of myself - but a strong desire to have some - and no knowledge of the use of the photographic medium.
For many years I have photographed compulsively almost without looking at the result of my shots. I deeply felt that I wasn't ready to understand what I was doing. I knew what I was trying to do, but it wasn't clear on how to shape it, I wasn't ready to communicate my most intimate work. I was restless (and I still am), moving here and there, photographing everything to find my place and my space: this omnivorous longing didn’t and doesn’t allow me to stop.
I was working on structured projects more consciously and precisely (Nero, Paradiso, Ultimo Domicilio) but I always kept photographing (mostly in black and white) everything that mattered to me in a constant flux without a specific direction, logic or practical goal.
Despite all this, my every day personal work was still unripe, I tried to put it together and show it in some exhibitions and slideshows without ever getting close to feeling represented by what I was showing. The way I handled my material - that was growing in quantity and complexity - was not precise, not pure enough. I decided to put all that on the side, but kept working on a daily basis out of sheer necessity - without any particular ambition because of my failed expectations.
In the very end of 2011 my best friend suddenly passed away. This event drastically changed my life and my relation with time. There was no time to waste anymore. After a very tough year I returned to life and finally started to look back at what I had been doing for so many years - but with new eyes and real determination. Some kind of filter that I had in front of my eyes was finally gone.
I understood I needed to grow and have distance to see things because being into something means understand nothing. I have also realised that I have been through specific periods in which I have lived crucial experiences that then brought me in different places. An imaginary map of belonging was finally showing its boundaries.
The passage of time shapes a new alphabet, a new language, and stimulates a revelation: memory emerges, my experience melts with something much wider.

Text by Lorenzo Castore