The sea seen through an unconventional lens. It's the focus of the new work by Mogor-born photographer Stefano Pia , who has just published the book "Alla fine c'è il mare - scenes of life along the coasts of Sardinia."
The third volume in the "Quaderni di Fotografia" series, this book is a story told in black and white images that examines the indissoluble bond between man and the sea in Sardinia .
The author extends his gaze across all the island's coasts, far from the representations we are accustomed to , capturing the soul of an often dual relationship, loved and hated, and capturing unusual moments, both intimate and collective . The result is a fresco of life that reveals the sea as a place of sociality, with a narrative that is at times poetic and dreamlike.
The volume will be presented tomorrow, Tuesday, May 5th, at 6:00 PM in the conference room of the Fondazione di Sardegna at Via Salvatore Da Horta 2. Speakers will include Renato Brotzu, director of the Quaderni di fotografia series, and Sandro Iovine, critic and journalist. Images from the book will be projected during the evening.
Stefano Pia was born in 1978 in Oristano and lives in Mogoro. Social reportage is his main photographic genre. He has exhibited in various galleries, festivals, and national museums.
In 2014 and 2015, he was selected by the MAN Museum in Nuoro to exhibit his works, "Penne di quaglia" and "Kilometro Zero." In 2019, the "Semplicemente Fotografare" festival awarded his work as best photographic project. In 2020, he won the "Corigliano Calabro Book Award" and the "Coast Day Sardinia" award that same year. In 2025, the Mavi Museum in Lacedonia awarded him the special "Frank Cancian" prize. He has published two books, "Kilometro Zero" and "Non è l'America," and the fanzine "Ho visto una sirena volare."
Since 2011 he has been the artistic director of the BiFoto Fest, an international photography festival in Sardinia, which he founded together with his friend Vittorio Cannas.
(Unioneonline/AD)