Magnum Photos Blog

Milano by Alex Majoli 

April 10, 2013 
by Alex Majoli 
Photographers, like many artists of all mediums, often use their work as more than just an outlet of self-expression, but also as a vehicle for exploration of the nature of reality. Alex Majoli says that his recent body of work from Milan was born out of a concept inspired by the Luigi Pirandello quote, "Our spirit consists of fragments." It's a somewhat abstract existential sentiment, but one that is given a more concrete life when imagined as the driving notion behind Majoli's dark, cinematic modern-day street scenes. The images make moments of everyday life in Milan feel strangely fictitious, as if the subjects are actors and the buildings are two-dimensional cardboard sets. The work presents a reality as fragmented as Pirandello claims our souls to be, a reality where any semblance of authenticity exists in doubt because of that very fragmentation.