Paola De Pietri Livres

Over the last fifteen years, Istanbul has emerged as one of the principal megacities at the outset of the twenty-first century. The picturesque has given way to an unexpected boom of new, profit-driven urban development including high-rise, sterile gated communities and satellite cities to house a vastly expanding population — all at the expense of long-time residents and under the mantle of a self-confident and arbitrary government. Shot in 2012 and 2013, Paola De Pietri’s serene and understated photographs of individuals against the backdrops of dusty construction sites and newly finished buildings focus on the impact of the changing urban landscape of Istanbul on the minds of its people. The newly created housing situations in anonymous apartment towers and detached homes interrupt human relations, shifting people’s social refuge from family and neighbors to imposed individualization and private solitude. The postures and body language reflect the precarious, unstable state of mind of a new and very mixed social stratum of domestic migrants coming to terms with unfamiliar models of life and environments, in which stray dogs linger like ghosts from the past.

Paola De Pietri first learnt of World War I at school and from family members who recounted historical facts through personal experiences – experiences that are in danger of being forgotten. In To Face De Pietri preserves these memories in a series of photographs of the alps between Italy and Austria, a landscape that still bears the scars of trench warfare from nearly a century ago. De Pietri’s subtle, unassuming images show a landscape once damaged by man is now being reclaimed by nature.

Paola De Pietris’ trees consist of three high-quality concertina-fold booklets, released for the joint exhibition "Witterungen" featuring Laurenz Berges, Michael Collins, and Paola De Pietri. These photographic series explore the subtle, progressive changes in landscapes and living environments. Laurenz Berges examines sites in the industrial Ruhr region of Germany, highlighting casual signs of past eras through places and buildings. Michael Collins presents nearly identical panoramic seascapes of marshlands shaped by natural elements, alongside interiors and close-ups of industrial sites. Paola De Pietri focuses on striking trees, each captured in black-and-white, standing alone in the landscape, showcasing their unique forms. Together, these three artists offer a fresh perspective on both circumstantial and timeless realities, revealing facts, gradual transformations, and specific aesthetics. Their intricate compositions evoke discomfort stemming from the contrast between urbanity and nature, as well as the ambivalence surrounding "unused" areas that nature reclaims or humans repurpose. The exhibition took place at Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur in Cologne from February 3 to July 8, 2018.