This analogue photographic project was born from my desire to give new life and greater visibility to a small town in the Genoa hinterland, Montoggio. The shadow of the big city has made this delightful village rich in centuries-old history almost disappear, just think that it was a fief of the Fieschi family of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who built a castle that dominated the entire valley. Today unfortunately they are rubble covered by vegetation.
Today I find myself just over fifty years old and have a lot of nostalgia for that place, a place that radiated happiness, carefree times when every house was open, children were running around regardless of the few cars and regardless of tomorrow.
![](https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/7-1-di-1-2-1024x353.jpg)
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![](https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Porta2-1-di-1_1-533x1024.jpg)
It is at this point in my life, and through this nostalgia, that I found the desire to document the abandonment in which Montoggio has been in recent years.
The project is still in progress but developing some rolls, I realized that I had trapped the absence that has now imprisoned the current citizens and aroused in me a kind of sadness mixed with anger.
![](https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Telecom-1-di-1-624x1024.jpg)
My wish that one day these small villages return to prosperity and see new generations roam the small avenues in ancient stone buildings. I wish for mothers to return to wash their clothes in the stone slate sinks that were extracted in the quarries of my Liguria region.
![](https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/14-1-di-1-1024x379.jpg)
![](https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1-1-di-1-3-e1628802240230-1024x735.jpg)
![](https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Pedone-1-di-1_1-680x1024.jpg)
![](https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Finestra-1-di-1-684x1024.jpg)
I decided to shoot this project in both 35mm and medium format. I have shot with an Olympus Trip 35, Makina Plaubel 67W, Pentax 645N and Nikon F5 and Hasselblad Xpan. I have used Agfa Apx 400, Kodak TMax 400, Ilford Ortho and Ilford Hp5. I have relied on the always “green” Kodak D76 which allows you to make the most of the sensitivity of the film, ensuring a very wide tonal range with excellent tonal modulation, excellent rendering of details in the shadows.
![](https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Di-Spalle-1-di-1-1024x911.jpg)
Thanks to all who have read this… I hope to see you soon with new news and new photos of the rebirth of Montoggio.
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Graham Spinks on Montoggio – A Chronicle of an Absence – By Salvatore Da Cha
Comment posted: 22/08/2021
Comment posted: 22/08/2021
John Saint on Montoggio – A Chronicle of an Absence – By Salvatore Da Cha
Comment posted: 22/08/2021
Comment posted: 22/08/2021
Robin Gray on Montoggio – A Chronicle of an Absence – By Salvatore Da Cha
Comment posted: 26/08/2021
Comment posted: 26/08/2021