I think we should rethink everything. . choose to shoot photos a lot less, and stop more. See more all around and reflect… and then, maybe, to choose carefully what you mean. - E. Doria

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Enrico Doria is an italian photographer born in Palermo in 1978, passionate about photography since childhood he started to shoot with the father’s camera. Since his first projects in medium-format film Enrico Doria exhibits his work in various European cities and in international magazines. In 2014 and 2015 he obtained the Honorable Mention in MIFA (Moscow International Foto Award) winners section. Finalist at Lugano PhotoDays 2015 Finalist in Photolux Leica Awards in 2014.

Enrico Doria's images presented at LoosenArt belong to the project "Greetings from Suburbs", a project held in South Africa through which Enrico Doria tells life in the townships of the big cities such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The outcome of this work is a witness of an experience lived in those places considered as a legacy of apartheid. Enrico Doria enters the daily life of the people shooting them to the most intimate environments, raising the most genuine and pure aspects of the townships, aspects that accompany the pride of an identity that, as the photographer says, is reflected in a cohesive and colorful community.

Enrico Doria: I decided to start this project once I moved in SA for more than one year ‘cause my job. I already knew the story of this country but only when I arrived there, I really understood what is meaning to live in such a beautiful but also complicated country. So I was impressed by this huge, sometimes, areas called “townships. The townships are a legacy of apartheid, are those urban areas adjacent to metropolitan areas in which exclusively non-white citizens are living ... Even today the townships welcome hundreds of thousands of black citizens are often living in precarious and difficult conditions. Some townships are so extensive that it is very difficult to grasp with a glance across the vastness of the settlement. Moreover, to the original situation is added the reality of 'squatters', newcomer people occupying shacks at the side edges of the settlement, driven here from the poorest regions of the country and the subcontinent. Life in many townships developed around large cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban is very insecure: the huge amount of unemployed people promotes violent crime and there is, therefore, a state of perpetual tension and self-defense, although often emphasized by the media. Of course the townships are certainly not the only representative image of South Africa today: rich and expanding country in which the black population progress in the social scale. However, the result of many years of racist policy is still evident, so the townships are still given a strong sense of marginalization: it is very difficult to see the whites just stop in these areas. With this photographic work I tried to tell, through the eyes and flashes of daily life, the pride of an identity that is reflected in a cohesive and colourful community. Despite the economic possibilities that would push for a life away from the suburban reality, many people choose to continue living in the townships who raised them. Life here, however, is always the struggle against violence, poverty, against the cold or hellishly hot…but also against prejudice and marginalization. My images, however, do not want to talk only about this ... would be not enough. They depict faces and people, often in their homes or, more intimately, in the bedrooms, where a welcoming gesture, accompanied by a proud look, perhaps still represent the most genuine and pure aspects of the townships.

Enrico Doria: It depends from the kind of photographic work. Relating to the reportage, I think It’s important anyway to have clear the aim about what you want to show to the observers. To communicate…without saying too much. But before all, is really important to create a visual “relashionship” with the people to photograph… and perhaps it can take time for this. Moreover the story you want to tell is a sequence of images… so each image must be like a word of a written story…

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Enrico Doria: I don’t consider myself as a photographer. I can say that I like to be an observer of the reality around me, and many times I like interpreting it.

Enrico Doria: Think the power of the pictures is enormous. A "strong" documentary image remains in the mind of those who look more than words. But today this power seems to be less due to the high number of images that rain on us ... the risk therefore is the addiction ... The remedy could therefore be on the one hand the "culture" on the image ... on the other, who selects the photographs to propose to the public should pay more attention. I think it is necessary more care in choosing images that can be part of a social story, as well as it is important to consider the chosen words during a written narrative. Today, thanks to social networks and the ability for everyone to take pictures at any time, I believe that this kind of context is changing the way to do photography. So to answer the question, I think we should rethink everything. Maybe even choose to shoot photos a lot less, and stop more. See more all around and reflect… and then, maybe, to choose carefully what you mean ..

Enrico Doria: I hope to continue to have the opportunity to go around to observe the reality and learning even more so I can try to translate it in photographs.

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