TITLE: THE ENCHANTED FOREST, 2022/23

A "work in progress" project.

An "enchanted forest", a place where you can get lost and meet ambiguous figures sometimes with animal and sometimes monster features. A wounded nature in which it is difficult not to perceive, in its profound silence, its profound moods and reflect our own! If we are very careful and try to listen to it, nature speaks to us and communicates its pain which will lead to its death ... to our death!

These photographs were taken in analogue with 8×10″ large format cameras using traditional film as a sensitive support. Almost all the photos are printed in contact between the film and the paper, with the ancient technique called "Salt paper", the first printing technique since the birth of photography. I like to imagine the transmitted energy of the forest expanding beyond the image itself, in the signs left on the paper with silver nitrate.

AUTHOR: Stefano Bernardoni (Italy)

Stefano actively began to take photos in the early 1990s ,with a particular leaning towards “inner photography”: an intensely personal and unique vision of the world surrounding him.
He especially prefers the use of black and white film in order to have total control of all the technical aspects: from the shot to the hand print in the darkroom;also because this type of artistry reflects his interior vision.
On May 28th 2006 his work “Visual Thresholds” won the prestigious first prize at the international festival of photography in Solighetto(Italy).
As a result of this the winning piece of work was published in an important British photographic journal in February 2008.
Moreover, his work has also been published in various important Italian and international magazines, such as Gente di fotografia, AG Magazine(see publications) as well as being displayed in important photographic exhibitions at Italian cultural events.
Stefano also spends his time teaching: he teaches,in his own school www.bottegaimmagine.it in which he teaches his way of “seeing” the world through the lens,on becoming a creative and highly skilled photographer and carries out a b&w fine art print workshop. He is also an expert in some alternative print processes as Kallitype, Salted print and Albumen print.
In June 2007 he was invited to conduct a Masterclass for a week by the photographic school “fotomasterskie” in St.Petersburg. The themes of the Masterclass were “Inner Photography” and how to become an expert photographer. A personal exhibition was also held in Anna Akhmatova museum.
After that Stefano was invited in other Russian cities (Mosca, San Pietroburgo, Togliattigrad, Vologda, Ufa) to lead masterclass and solo and group exhibitions
Actually Stefano continue to lead and teach his own Bottega Immagine School in Milan (IT).