Des Oiseaux by Graciela Iturbide. Published by Editions Xavier Barral.
Above, and even below, sea level, the earth is solid. The peaks of the tallest mountains are the outermost limit within the flight of birds. They are public lands which only great climbers can reach, often alone. Graciela Iturbide is not interested in tall mountains, but has always been interested in birds, and always in isolation. She waits for birds, flying starlings, individual animals, even dead ones, and inserts them in her self-portraits. She believes that for humanity, looking at birds is an act of liberating the gaze: from firm land we follow those who can leave the ground. Certainly, as is the case with her photography, every gaze is unique.
The book in Xavier Barral's collection is the latest work by an author whose books contain a marked theme of identity. I don't think that Graciela has ever got a book wrong, not even the very difficult Hasselblad prize book. Indeed, this is the latest and, for a while at least, it will be best, and deservedly so!
Marco Delogu (b.1960) is an Italian photographer and curator who lives and works in London (UK), serving as a Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in London. His work has been widely exhibited in many galleries and museums in Italy and abroad, including the following: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; French Academy, Villa Medici, Rome; Warburg Institute, London; PhotoMuseum, Moscow. His photographs are in the collections of many international museums and have recently been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in London. He has founded FOTOGRAFIA, Rome’s international photography festival, and Punctum Press.
marcodelogu.com