large The exhibition created in collaboration with Banca Generali tells the story of the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda with images. We were at the opening and we will see you!
The right to culture is fragile in the world but Ranjitsinh Dissale promoted the education of young women in a small village in India. Before 2018 in Saudi Arabia, women were not allowed to drive cars, but that year the ban ended and the former Italian driver Francesca Pardini teach some of them how to do it. Tires that are not recycled end up in landfills but therethe Milanese company Ecopneus He finds them and gives them new life, turning them, for example, into football fields in the suburbs.
What do these stories have in common? All come from dramatic realities but…. are always followed by a “but”. The “but” of “but things can change.” Because challenges can be met. Some of the goals can be achieved They must arrive: especially if we talk sustainability, gender equality, environmental and climate protection, fighting poverty and hunger, decent work.
And it’s exactly them 17 goals of the UN 2030 agenda to promote sustainable development to be the leitmotif of the photographic exhibition “Time for a Change” – launched on October 3rd in Milan and unsurprisingly 17 shots – bearing his signature Generali Bank and his Stefano Guidani.
An extremely talented and internationally renowned photographer, always established in the world of high fashion and celebrities and always passionate about reportage, Stefano created one of his first photography services in Haiti, where he was deeply impressed by the dignity of this people, despite poverty.
When I met Stephanos at the beginning of the summer – a few months before the opening of the exhibition – we were in one bateau-mouche on the Seine at the foot of the Eiffel Tower at sunset, he told me about his recent travels and then – without revealing much – about this project in work in progress on which he had been working for over two years, a project with the Pi capital letter that really impressed me. But I have to admit that – despite his charming manner and convincing dialectic (especially when talking about his works) – his words were not enough to convey what he really achieved and communicated with his photographs.
And in fact, as echoed at the opening of the exhibition, Mr Deputy General Manager of Banca Generali, Andrea Ragaini: “A picture – and I would add for Stefanos – is worth a thousand words and we had no doubt that it was the perfect tool to raise public awareness – it is no coincidence that the exhibition is outdoors in Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Milan – about the problems affecting the country. With Stefano it was simple, because in every shot that depicts dramatic realities, the hope for change stands out. In each there is a virtuous message of optimism“.
And while Ragaini invites us to carefully observe shot 17 titled “Collaboration for Goals” (see cover image) highlights: “Look at the proud look, full of dignity of the three women from Kenya: they live in a village located in an arid plain, where rainfall is scarce, the conditions are bad, their life is based on raising sheep and yet they have a proud look, they are elegant, decisive. And you can see a smile on their faces“.
These pictures speak to you, they hit your heart already when you look at them from afar, then you get closer and your heart beats even faster because you feel what Stephanos he called “we demand individual responsibility, because each of us has the power to do something to save the world, to make it better, more sustainable“.
If he is there to accompany you on the tour Alberto Salza, suddenly you’re in the shot. And it’s an honor not only to have him physically next to you on opening day, it’s an honor to hear what he has to say about these images.
Alberto Salza is a well-known anthropologist who has argued Stephanos in the interpretation of the individual goals looking for a new approach that could highlight, yes, delays in universal goals but (and the “but” above pays off) looking for and recognizing excellence capable of meeting these challenges in an exhaustive way.
Alberto Salza he takes your hand and drags you into each of these shots, and suddenly you feel like you’re a part of them. He’s one of those people who makes you feel like a kid again and makes you imagine being in his arms, maybe in a rocking chair by the fireplace, asking him a million questions, existential and otherwise.
Well, unfortunately he won’t be with you Alberto to take you in his arms during your visit to the exhibition, but your journey will be equally exciting, edifying and exciting because you will find his precious words in the descriptive texts of the shots. And so it will be a bit like being with him, reading… and with Stefanos, watching. And who knows, you might find them by your side, both ready to educate you on how beautiful it is that each of us, with small gestures, could do to change the world.
The exhibition “Time for a Change” will be exhibited in Corso Vittorio Emanuele until October 30. And he’s not waiting for you!