Gomma Photography Grant 2024
Shelter
Photographer
Alessandro Silverj
Shelter
17 Jan, 2025
Shelter is the deep dive into my true self that occupied the centre of my work over the last few years. It is both very personal and yet universal. It will take you through the long journey across my change in search for belonging: passing through the despair of depression, the birth of a newer self and the exchanges with the outer world, while seeking closeness and, ultimately, love. Rejecting who I was supposed to be according to others’ expectations and focusing on what I felt I was really meant to be instead, I have managed to find myself a secure refuge where I can finally be complete, safe and balanced. Photography has allowed me to show the noises in my head, to picture the different emotions and to voice the loneliness, the alienation and all of my fears and cravings. Throughout this quest I have experienced new emotional shades and found a truer bond between my inner self and the others, dissolving the darkness and letting it fade into a memory from the past.
About the photographer
Alessandro Silverj
"My name is Alessandro Silverj, and I am a photographer born in Rome. My education encompasses the realms of classical literature and philosophy, subjects that have contributed to shaping my sensibility over the years. It is within this journey that I glimpsed and embraced photography, a means of expression and exploration that has become the pulsating heart of my creativity. The fusion between different analog techniques characterizes my work, which stands out for its deep and authentic autobiographical dimension. This creative journey, often extended over time and embraced for years, constitutes the guiding thread that links the different phases of my life. Photography plays for me the role of a mirror of interiority, revealing deep and hidden truths of my inner world. The images act as a bridge between tangible reality and the most elusive nuances of my experiences, capturing thoughts and feelings that spontaneously emerge during the shooting process. Each photograph thus becomes a means of introspection, a tool that allows me to courageously confront my inner demons and the most concealed fears."
