CHRISTMAS DREAMS

FLORIANA AVELLINO

// Floriana is a self-taught photographer from Northern Italy, based in Milan. She is interested in all genres of photography and has been playing with experimental photography. She shared with us an arty take on the spectacular Christmas light projections around the city walls of Como, a lakeside city in Northern Italy.

She says, “I am a chameleonic photographer… Being naturally allergic to labels I am really inspired by any photographic genre, considering each genre not so much a way of capturing reality but of interpreting and sharing a personal vision of it in a specific moment or situation. In that process the observer mixes up with their subject of observation and there I see a chance to build a bridge towards the outer world and other human beings, meeting them in what we all have got in common (inner emotions, hopes and fears).”

Floriana´s work has been featured in several magazines and exhibitions and has received honorable mention in several photography competitions in 2021 and 2022.

“The essential is invisible to the eye. “

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
(The Little Prince)

What draws you to the arts?

“I stated before that art saved my life and I confirm this. In a world of duties and obligations imposed on the many, art is a ticket to another world, a world of freedom and creative potential, even in the analysis or reflection of reality, which are themselves an act of creation in my opinion. If anything divine exists, one of its main qualities must be the power of creation, this is why I am so fascinated by the arts. J. M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan”, Klimt’s “The Kiss”, Monet’s “The Houses of Parliament” are born from the genius of creation. It is easy to say that I believe art has something to do with spirituality.”

What do you like best about the series you submitted?

“The thing I liked best about this project is that at Christmas time I feel more entitled to be a child again. I am a big fan of the dream world, which mostly belongs to children. I am indeed allergic to dogmatic and static concepts, so the dream is a way of escaping a predetermined reality and to imagine one of my own. This project is a tribute to magic, dreams, childhood and imagination, which I feel is very related to Christmas.”

“I conceived this series as a celebration of Christmas, imagination and childhood. I have always been in love with the holiday season as a time to focus on family and affection, generosity and comprehension. At such a time of the year I feel like the values I believe in come to life around me a little bit more than average and I perceive hope and inspiration. When I found out that Como, a beautiful lakeside city of Northern Italy, built a spectacular Christmas light scenes projection all around the city walls I felt like entering Neverland. After the worst pandemic period people were happy to walk around, enjoy lights and hot chocolate and I wanted to capture that very sense of rebirth, hope and cheerfulness. I thought intentional camera movement was the perfect means of combining the magic of Christmas lights and the dreamy feeling all around.”

About the quote Floriana chose for this series she says “My thoughts on this interview are well expressed by a wonderful quote from the literature masterpiece The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – “The Essential is invisible to the eye”. – This quote sums up my beliefs around spirituality and the soul, which in my view are the source of creation and artistic production.”

Click on the photos to see the full image with title, some images may be cropped for layout.