PREWIEV:

The tenth edition of "Seravezza Fotografia" will be held in Seravezza in Versilia (Lucca) from 23th March to 9th June 2013. An event of national and international interest which every year successfully combines the great names of photography with a wide audience and the world of amateur photography, organized by Fondazione Terre Medicee, by the Culture Department of the City of Seravezza and the patronage of FIAF ( Italian Federation of Photographic Associations) under the artistic direction of Ivo Balderi.

This edition of Seravezza Fotografia confirms its guidelines by presenting a program that shows events of great quality and first of all the exhibition of the Belgian photographer Bart Herreman entitled "Andifitweretrue" in the Palazzo Mediceo.

The photographic exhibition will remain open for the whole duration of the event. 

In a collection of 80 photographs, the photographer Bart Herreman tells an imaginary world of cohabitation impossible, men and animals stunned casual. andifitweretrue? The world that the artist projects has the power to stimulate the imagination and impose the eyes as a representation of something beyond the real.
andifitweretrue is an endless journey. Made of spontaneous visions, united by a genuine irony. In each composition there is always something surprising and artificial. Cheerful and revealing. Each work seems to building up the capacity to represent the dreams, visions and fantasies of the beholder.
The surrealism of Bart Herreman is innate, is a way of seeing things and smile on. A filter of creativity that never runs out.
"It's a way of dreaming, where everyone can dream in his own way" encourages the artist.
andifitweretrue wants to be an inspiration to all, adults, students, families and children of all ages.

The relationship between man and animal.
The relationship between animal and environment, and between man and animal lies the secret of the fantastic world of Bart Herreman. The human figure is now dominated by small animals suddenly become giants. Now ignored by powerful rhinos. Now controlled by curious giraffe that pierce the clouds. In the relationship between man and animal all codes of behaviour escape real. Yet viewers will be surprised by discovering that everything is extraordinarily credible.
"Madness feeds extremes, the stronger the contrast, the more it works. My job is to create the absurd, not the normal. "(Bart Herreman)

The technique.
Everything is spontaneous but nothing is accidental. To make the impossible seem real, every detail is thought out in advance. The shots, the lights, the prospects are meticulously created and assembled to give life to a hallucination unlikely.
With a play of transparency, the artist cut out rectangles of sky and makes them textural creating volumes that do not exist, intangible and tangible at the same time.
An accurate cut-outs, placements are at the basis of the proposals of Bart Herreman, until the last of the chicken finds its rightful place. One that, within the framework, creates the effect wonder .


Interview Bart Herreman

Winged elephants, penguins, giant skies Magritte. From what do these insights?
I've always created non-existent places and next to the mythological beings, even though I grew up with the film. Imagined forty years ago strange things come in the photos that I was taking. But at the time I needed a lot of shots, tricks and scenes sometimes complicated to get the composition I had in mind. Then I went by the technician who would develop the film but the post-production costs were exorbitant. So my dream became impossible. Until the digital age. The digital has been a release for me because I no longer had to depend on others.

And came the era of Photoshop and technology at the service of photography.
The technicians have been replaced by Photoshop, which is used in my own way. If you follow the exact technique, you loose the atmosphere. My photos do not want to be perfect, to be a little foolish. It is often too much light or dirty to take a picture. What counts is always the end result.

Animals that have given you the most satisfaction in this impossible journey?
It all started with the giraffe. An animal already mad itself but  difficult to manage for the long and sharp dimensions. In fact, all animals have something absurd when you disproportion them or place them where ever you'd expect to see them. A huge bantam becomes paradoxical, as well as a rhino in a cathedral.

Ecclesiastical figures, churches and processions. How is it that marks the religious theme?
I've always been fascinated by the mystical world. The lights, the silence, the smell of incense. The churches, as a non-believer, fascinate me. In a way, everything can happen. Also imagine a rhino defends his space. Automatically becomes part of the mystery, of an absolute shock.
 

The event also includes five photographic exhibitions in the Scuderie Granducali adjacent to the Palazzo Mediceo.

Other exhibitions will be held at the Museum of Work and Popular Traditions of Historical Versilia, at the Brewery "La Casa sul fiume."

There will also be workshops, photography courses and meetings about photographic culture and  photo portfolio reading by  FIAF.

The exhibition "Andifitweretrue" by Bart Herreman will be open from 23 March to 9 June 2013 in the Palazzo Mediceo Seravezza, Via del Palazzo 358, Seravezza (Lu), from Thursday to Saturday from 15.00 to 20.00 and Sunday and 1 April, 25 April, 1 May from 10.00 to 12.00  and from 15.00 to 20.00.

The entrance fee is € 6,00 and € 4,00 reduced.