On residency with photographer Lorenzo Zandri
We were thrilled to welcome Lorenzo to This House back in November. His architectural photography is beautifully considered. Clean and graphic, with a rich sculptural narrative that emphasises his interest in the balance between man-made forms and their relationship to the natural landscape.
‘Down in the Valley’ - a photographic series made during his stay focuses on the diverse cultural landscape of the five valleys from an outsiders perspective, drawing on the industrial heritage and stylistic contrasts present in the area.
The weather was typically unpredictable during the week he visited, with a chilly mist settling both in the valleys and hovering a top of the hills surrounding Stroud. In a somewhat poetic sense the mist obscured the scale of the sweeping views, meaning that Lorenzo’s focus and lens was pulled in to settle on things closer in range.
The result is a fascinating set of images capturing the haunting beauty of the working cotswolds in the depths of winter. Alongside the bleak narratives of deserted and washed out countryside, there is a sense of irony. Comically sculptured topiary trees and plastic wrapped hay bales bring to mind the many current narratives on re-wilding and our desire to control and contain nature rather than live alongside it. Cotswold stone clad in modern scaffolding and covid safe plastic interrupt the bucolic visions of the area to bring a more realistic sense of everyday life. The infamously derelict Tricorn building with its jungle of ivy stands as a symbolic local eyesore but captured here through the lens of a newcomer to the area, its brutalist nature becomes intriguing.
‘Down in the Valley’ represents a more honest but no less beautiful vision of Stroud that we are sure any local will recognise immediately.
Here is what Lorenzo had to say…
‘Rather than focusing on the picturesque, traditional and established condition of the Cotswolds landscape, the series focuses its attention on the industrial heritage, local craftsmanship, and curious green episodes surrounding Stroud and its hinterland.
The series of images narrates the juncture between natural and artificial in many ways. The man-made artefacts, the topiary plants in bizarre pots or fences, the left objects, and the urban traces have been represented in ironic and subtle approaches.
Alternating interior and exterior photographs of these landscapes, ‘Down in the Valley’ unpicks the hidden traces of the Valleys, where misty atmospheres glow into feelings and suggestions, taking credit on the title of one of the last poems by the local English poet Laurie Lee.’
See more of Lorenzo’s work HERE
Follow him @Lorenzozandri
