Ahead of its Time

Catch the subjects’ gaze and drink in their elaborate garb. You’re certain this is a picture from a bygone era, and it’s natural to cast one’s imagination back to a time when the scene would have been something of a normality. Imagining 15 th century Florence, for instance, with each brushstroke being carefully applied to canvas as the artist works by candlelight, sounds of gaiety echoing along cobbled strada outside. That’s the intention. But Christian Tagliavini’s elaborately replicated scenes are captured on camera, closer in history to Andrea Bocelli than Sandro Botticelli. The Renaissance was a cultural bridge between the primitive Middle Ages and modern civilisation, and Tagliavini’s modern interpretations of that time

feel like taking a gondola back up the Grand Canal, from the present to the past. Even Tagliavini’s Italian surname would not sound amiss among those of Italy’s golden art age, but he was actually born in 1971 in Switzerland, and raised in Parma, Italy. For each series of his mise-en-scène, he begins with a muse: the titles of each portraiture collection reference the birth year of an artist from that time. His most recent series, 1406, is inspired by Filippo Lippi, and harks back to the cultural and artistic mood of the Quattrocento; Lippi’s output includes the fresco-inspired Madonna and Child. Tagliavini’s breakthrough series, 1503, was named in homage to Agnolo di Cosimo – ‘Il Bronzino’, who produced the acclaimed Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time.

“I use the artist’s date of birth as a signifier to identify the period, and it serves as a tribute to the painters that first inspired the series,” shares Tagliavini. “I do reference other painters of the era when I’m producing a given series, however. But I will not reproduce a painting or do an historical reproduction. I only find inspiration.” The costumes and handcrafted props take months to make (and also to research, ensuring accuracy). The artist attends to each meticulous detail, and stays as true as possible to the fabrics and materials of the time. “For 1503 I was inspired by the fashion that appeared at the tail end of the period, composed of long necks, clean lines and less elements,” he elaborates. “1406 is inspired both by the clothing of the late middle ages, and also the

fascinating hats worn at that time. I found suitably old pieces of fabric in Tuscany for the clothing, and deployed new techniques for the production of the objects. I learned about 3D printers, and put my newly-acquired modelling skills into practice.” He is enjoying growing acclaim as reward for the hours of toil. His retrospective in Stockholm (The Extraordinary World of… ) is currently on-show at Fotografiska until 10 June, and it follows on from his first-ever solo outing, hosted by Berlin’s exceptional Camera Work gallery earlier this year. The latter, a photography powerhouse, encourages emergent photographers to be showcased in the same setting as names like Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Man Ray and Helmut Newton. Tagliavini’s pathway follows a more curious route than the above household names. “I have a technical educational background, and worked at engineering and architecture firms, tasked with making the executive projects and drawings,” he explains of his Da Vincian deviation. “I’m a self-taught photographer, and always strive to learn something new so as not to get bored or complacent with what I’m doing. That pure passion is why I’m so deeply involved in my projects.” He considers himself as a ‘craftsman of photography’, “Because I build my pictures. I work with my hands to feel the materials: their texture, their perfume and their noise, and though this cannot be experienced when viewing the art, it is the sensorial part of the process that I embrace. Photography is the light I use to illuminate the stories that are in my mind.” For all the meticulous attention to detail he invests in making the garments and backdrops, the artist actually downplays their creation and confesses that seeking out the right protagonist to sit for his scenes proves more problematic than dealing with materials and designs. “Finding the model is one of the more difficult – yet amazing – parts of my job,” he reveals. “It used to boil down to the truest form of ‘people watching’, because I like to find people in the

street most of all – but it is getting increasingly difficult to see their expression and face, because these days most of them are gazing down at the mobile phone. So I decided to reach them by smartphone, through social media. I search for someone that is interests me, to be the character that I can express through my lens.” While the images are steeped in nostalgia, the artist is adamant that this is no history lesson. “To me, it is important that the process is not defined to the point that the viewer immediately understands what the photographs depict – or my thoughts about the scene,” he clarifies. “Instead, I want the viewer to be active in the process. I want to provoke ideas, sensations and feelings.“ By opening the door to a bygone world, Tagliavini’s well-worked visuals are worth their weight in artistic gold... or, more fittingly perhaps, in Renaissance-era gold Florins.

Photography is the light I use to illuminate the stories that are in my mind

WORDS: CHRIS UJMA