TITLE: Mare Tranquillitatis

The lunar landscape that the photo resembles, offers inspiration for the title and for reflection: Mare Tranquillitatis (the large lunar crater where the Apollo 11 moon landing took place in 1969) which in this case is meant to be a pretext. The photo was taken in July 2023 on the Canary Islands which, politically belong to Spain, but geographically, they are an offshoot of the great African Desert. Canary Islands and Africa are like two mirrored pages of an open book, similar in appearance, but telling two different stories: one of holidays and tranquillity (as seen in this photo of families going to the seaside) and the other of migration and desperation, which cannot be seen but can be imagined, of African migrants who try to land here fleeing from the problems of their continent. Utopia and Dystopia separated by a few nautical miles, in the same space and at the same time.

AUTHOR: roberto ciocchetti (Italy)

Roberto Ciocchetti lives and works in Umbria (Italy). He has been photographing passionately for many years: people, architectures, industrial archaeology, but his favorite subjects are landscapes, flora and especially trees. Graduated in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences he loves nature, travel, music and books. In photography he seeks Harmony, Grace, Balance, Beauty and above all Emotion. He has received various special and onorable mentions and was a finalist in numerous international competitions and his photos have been used in various exhibitions, photographic catalogues and musicians’ record covers on Spotify and Apple Music.