Surrealism

Smoke signals from another city

Small, ironically surreal signs: a hope

Beneath the surface that the City presents to us, banal, serious and unimaginative, lives another, more ribald and jaunty city that occasionally sends out some smoke signals: perhaps the irony of some fortuitous juxtaposition, or some absurdity that pervades, like a barely perceived perfume, the things and people that inhabit it.

Lunchtime: a diversion is suggested. Rome, Via della Conciliazione, September 24th 2024.

Every thing, every street corner, every passer-by can be from time to time the unwitting bearer of these almost imperceptible signals, in this case I wanted to point the corner of my eye at the road signs which, by their position, contrast with what is around, or more or less mischievous juxtapositions, are often an excellent vehicle for expressing a certain moody incongruity.

And there is no need to take too much trouble to look for it: road signs, directional arrows, prohibitions, with their peremptory and imperative language, and for that very reason liable to be ambiguously turned into its opposite, are everywhere.

The images that make up this series, as often happens to me, were all found within walking distance of my home.

Don’t stop me now. Rome, Piazza Pia, September 26th 2024.
Circles. Rome, Borgo S. Spirito, December 7th 2024.
Other circles. Rome, Via Traspontina, December 24th 2024.
Difference of opinion. Rome, Borgo Vittorio, January 28th 2025.
Change course, that’s an order! Rome, Via S. Pio X, Januart 29th 2025.
No downward transit: what to expect near the Vatican? Rome, Via del Gianicolo, January 29th 2025.
Pigeon parking ban. Rome, Borgo S. Spirito, January 31th 2025.
Categorical imperative. Rome, Borgo Pio, February 5th 2025.
Is the money gone? Rome, Via Leone IV, February 5th 2025.
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Pietro Coppa

Nato e vissuto a Roma, fotografo per antica passione.

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