Fotografie inutili | Luca Bortolato | TEDxTorino

You know those old black-and-white photographs sold in blocks at flea markets? Have you ever wondered where they came from, who took them, or why they ended up there? These are often unanswerable questions; almost always, these photographs have been stripped of their memories and abandoned for years in the dark and dust. In a world where the constant binge of visual information we subject ourselves to is overwhelming, a photographer decided to stop taking photographs, to recover the ones no one wanted—the "useless photographs"—and to tour Italy, redistributing and giving them away, using a red stamp, a pen to date, and an old bicycle. Thus, "Fotografie Inutili, archivio fotografico ciclo-difuso" (Useless Photographs, a bicycle-widespread photo archive) was born. A journey through Italy, exploring museums, institutions, and art foundations. Three months and 4,000 km on an old bicycle, he met and listened to hundreds of people who have chosen their own "useless photography," becoming its new custodians. People who have chosen their own "useless photography," becoming its new custodians. He has always been in love with images. He believes a small part of himself lives through each of them, like a sort of impromptu self-portrait, a continuous search for identity and memory. After graduating from the Venice Art Institute, he graduated from the three-year Industrial Design program in Padua, beginning to establish relationships and collaborations with various photographers. This was the beginning of his visual journey, deeply rooted in his personal exploration of identity. He strongly believes in cultural dissemination, and today brings his research to museums and foundations in many Italian cities. She integrates performance theater and mindfulness practice into her work, applying a new approach to her work, focusing on presence and the use of the body, listening in silence, and slow observation to rediscover and share the Genius Loci of the physical and metaphysical places in which she operates. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx