Melfa (2021)

Lazio, Italy

There is a particular kind of absence that a dry riverbed speaks to—not emptiness, but rather the ghost of something that should be there. The Melfa winds through the Lazio landscape like a scar left behind, its pale stones exposed to the sky in braided lines that curve downward toward a distant valley.

Captured on 35mm film, this image carries the weight of documentary fact. The grain and tonal range of the medium lend authenticity to what it records: a landscape out of equilibrium, a watercourse that has surrendered its defining purpose. The white of the riverbed dominates the composition, a stark ribbon cutting through the dark vegetation that clings to both banks. Trees and shrubs grip the slopes as if drawing what little moisture they can from the earth, their silhouettes sharp against the brightness of exposed stone.

Beyond the immediate ravine, the landscape extends outward in layers toward the distant hills. Villages and fields recede into a haze that speaks of heat and drought. The river that once defined this valley, that once carried life through it, has been reduced to a memory inscribed in stone.