"To walk the same path ten times may give you a sense of repetition, but to walk it a hundred times may give you a renewed sensitivity and joy over every 'tiny' thing along the way." – Arne Næss
To take a picture is to pause and carefully observe something that attracts you. A self-portrait, in a way, since what you see evokes a relation to you. You are nature's mimicry of itself. It may feel like the vegetation and rocks spontaneously spring forth with their beauty from nothingness, just as the clouds roll across the sky - without trace into existence and without force,they evoke a sense of belonging within you. Massimo has seen lush primeval forest transformed into barren clear-cut fields on his many marches through the woods. Nature's fall to human hands. In our Anthropocene-era where environmental destruction feels like an unstoppable inevitability, it's not only Massimo's tender gaze towards the woods that confronts us in the pictures... but also the forest's tender gaze back. With "An Ode to Nordmarka," we are reminded ofall the beauty around us that we have access to and are a part of. Massimo gives us a reminder that what we see is a gift, and it's important that we are grateful for what is given; be conscious, pause, look around; and it also serves as a serious reminder that gifts are seldom reciprocated if they are not perceived as gifts.
Selected works: for edition and availability, please contact the studio
