LAND

There is a strange timeless solitude in Lorenzo's photographs. He is a wanderer who sees and captures moments of daily life and then shares them with us. They communicate an emotional beauty that gives meaning to walls, streets, landscapes, women, men, children… all this is photographed with great empathy and a special, distinct sense of light. (Sarah Moon)

LAND is a story about the place and people belonging to it. A personal reflection on the place where the traditions of different cultures mix with one another, the place that witnessed to events that erupted with the World War II, the place which industrial prosperity is already over, where the past gives way to the present.

For the first time, Lorenzo Castore came to Gliwice in the late 1990s, looking for a new way to express his emotions. Enchanted by the people he met on his way, he returned to this side in nearly 20 years. The book is a summary of his wanderings, it is a photographic diary of travel that exceeds the frame of time. In his story, Lorenzo focuses on people. Although they remain unnamed for us, we feel special sympathy for them, this kind of closeness that is possible only when it is honest. And this is exactly what Castore's photography is like: balanced, focused, respectful and open to other people. And this is exactly what this book is like.

The book is a result of the artistic residence of Lorenzo Castore organised in 2018 as part of the Czytelnia Sztuki project by the Museum in Gliwice, Poland.

Lorenzo Castore has known Silesia for 20 years and I've known Lorenzo for 20 years and I've seen him work again and again with beautiful energy and dedication. Some photographers only see pictures but Lorenzo sees people and he loves what he sees. His pictures are never cruel, never flattering. They are honest. Full of a real, true respect. (Michael Ackerman)

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In the press:

• Land by Lorenzo Castore @ Cape.ag (in English)
• Une humanité de Silésie, par Lorenzo Castore, photographe @ Le blog de Fabien Ribery (in French)
• Ziemia, która obrasta nową skórą: Śląsk na przestrzeni dwudziestu lat w nowej książce Lorenzo Castore @ Fotopolis.pl (in Polish)

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Selected awards:

• Bronze Winner @ the 2019 Tokyo International Foto Awards' Photobook/Documentary category (Japan)
  
• Bronze Winner @ the 2019 PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris' Photobook/Monograph category (France)
• Honourable Mention @ the 2019 International Photography Awards' Photobook/Monograph category (USA)
• Honourable Mention @ the 2020 Moscow International Foto Awards' Photobook/Documentary category (Russia)
• Bildband Berlin’s TOP 10 Photobooks of 2019 (Germany)
• Cape's TOP 10 Favourites Photobooks of 2019 (Belgium)