Custodi
Custodi (Keepers) is a photographic project developed in the frame of the Sirmione Photo Residency award in partnership with Magnum Photos.
At first glance, Sirmione is a slender strip of land stretching for about 4 km into the waters of the southern Lake Garda. It's a small world born from the thaw of a glacier, standing firm against the erosive forces of nature. Described as the "pearl of Lake Garda" by the poet Gaio Valerio Catullo, it welcomes over a million visitors each year, drawn by the enchanting colors and magical atmospheres that have inspired poets throughout history. A visual imprint so profound that it has endured over the years, transforming a small fishing village into one of the most sought-after and photographed tourist destinations in just a few decades. This substantial volume of images often results from brief visits, spent over a weekend or just a few hours, shared with countless other lives and perspectives. Similar experiences inevitably lead to similar photographs.
Can photography be an effective storytelling tool in a place crowded with images?
I attempted to answer this question by exploring a different Sirmione, one that is more intimate and perhaps closer to the idea of beauty passed down by poets through the centuries. Over the course of two weeks, I collected the stories of its "guardians" of beauty: individuals deeply connected to Sirmione who, by choice or destiny, protect its historical, cultural, natural, or spiritual heritage. I observed them in their daily lives, and from their gazes and narratives, gratitude for a territory that captivates with every sunrise and sunset shines through.
Therefore, my visual synthesis is an attempt to provide a face to Sirmione while avoiding, as much as possible, the creation of a faded reflection of the original. Furthermore, my photographs aim to give credit to those behind the scenes, the caretakers of its beauty, the keepers of its stories and traditions, and the protectors of its vulnerabilities. To those who ensure this wealth can be shared, narrated, and photographed daily.
Custodi is also a book published by Municipality of Sirmione and Magnum Photos:
Custodi - Sirmione Photo Residency BOOK01
25,5 cm x 19cm
Edition 01/2023
Printed in September 2023
214 pages
1000 copies
![Catullus and Lesbia.]()
![CUSTODI - Sirmione Photo Residency BOOK01]()
![Giuseppe Signori, ferryman for twenty-four years and amateur fisherman. His whole life was spent on the lake.]()
![Lamppost.]()
![Fragments of Roman-era frescoes from the large Roman villa of Catullus are preserved at the archaeological museum of Sirmione.]()
![Luisella Lupano, archeologist, by the remains of the large Roman villa known as Grottoes of Catullus. She works permanently in the site and, as she said, knows almost every stone there.]()
![Luisella Lupano, archeologist, by the remains of the large Roman villa known as Grottoes of Catullus. She works permanently in the site and, as she said, knows almost every stone there.]()
![Lake Garda seen through the ruins of Grottoes of Catullus.]()
![Nicola Castoldi, agronomist, has been taking care of the olive grove at the Grottoes of Catullus since 2019.]()
![Michele Nocera, ambassador of Sirmione and Maria Callas to the world portrayed at his home-museum in Sirmione.]()
![Sister Esperanza, Comboni Missionary of the Sacred Heart, arrived in Sirmione in 2014. She is the guardian of silence and a spiritual guide.]()
![Hotel Catullo.]()
![Fabio Barelli manages Hotel Catullo, carrying on a family-run hospitality business with care and devotion to the client.]()
![Aerial view of the Sirmione peninsula.]()
![Upturned boat by Punta Grò.]()
![Elisa Zordan, winemaker. At Cascina Maddalena, with her family, Elisa produces the Lugana Doc, a small wine label on Lake Garda.]()
![Elena Zordan, wine-maker, points out the production area of her wine on a map.]()
![Boiola's thermal spring. At a depth of 20 meters off the coast of Sirmione water at 63°C is channelled towards the spa facilities.]()
![Agostino Domenegoni, vice-president of the Bisse League in Sirmione, carries on the centuries old tradition of Venetian rowing.]()
![Luca Fila, environmental engineer, by the Punta Grò reedbed. He is in charge of maintaining the reedbed and monitoring the health of the waters of the Lake Garda surrounding the Sirmione's peninsula.]()
![The wader of Luca Fila, environmental engineer. He is in charge of maintaining the reedbed and monitoring the health of the waters of the Lake Garda surrounding the Sirmione's peninsula.]()
![Moreno Girelli is the town gardener. He leads a small team of four people to look after the town’s plants and to make the historic town centre look its best.]()
![Watering by Moreno Girelli, the town gardener. He leads a small team of four people to look after the town’s plants and to make the historic town centre look its best.]()
![Marco Merlin, Silvano Sempreboni and Virgilio Ponza worked worked side by side for nearly their entire lives. Three key figures, three different paths that contributed to the growth and development of the Sirmione SPA baths between the 1980s and 2000s.]()
![Girl by the walls of Scaligero Castle.]()
![A chain ad its shadow.]()
![Monica Bornatici, administrator of Villa Callas, the house where the opera singer Maria Callas ‘la Divina’ lived between 1952 and 1958 with her husband Giovan Battista Meneghini.]()
![Lamppost.]()
At first glance, Sirmione is a slender strip of land stretching for about 4 km into the waters of the southern Lake Garda. It's a small world born from the thaw of a glacier, standing firm against the erosive forces of nature. Described as the "pearl of Lake Garda" by the poet Gaio Valerio Catullo, it welcomes over a million visitors each year, drawn by the enchanting colors and magical atmospheres that have inspired poets throughout history. A visual imprint so profound that it has endured over the years, transforming a small fishing village into one of the most sought-after and photographed tourist destinations in just a few decades. This substantial volume of images often results from brief visits, spent over a weekend or just a few hours, shared with countless other lives and perspectives. Similar experiences inevitably lead to similar photographs.
Can photography be an effective storytelling tool in a place crowded with images?
I attempted to answer this question by exploring a different Sirmione, one that is more intimate and perhaps closer to the idea of beauty passed down by poets through the centuries. Over the course of two weeks, I collected the stories of its "guardians" of beauty: individuals deeply connected to Sirmione who, by choice or destiny, protect its historical, cultural, natural, or spiritual heritage. I observed them in their daily lives, and from their gazes and narratives, gratitude for a territory that captivates with every sunrise and sunset shines through.
Therefore, my visual synthesis is an attempt to provide a face to Sirmione while avoiding, as much as possible, the creation of a faded reflection of the original. Furthermore, my photographs aim to give credit to those behind the scenes, the caretakers of its beauty, the keepers of its stories and traditions, and the protectors of its vulnerabilities. To those who ensure this wealth can be shared, narrated, and photographed daily.
Custodi is also a book published by Municipality of Sirmione and Magnum Photos:
Custodi - Sirmione Photo Residency BOOK01
25,5 cm x 19cm
Edition 01/2023
Printed in September 2023
214 pages
1000 copies
