There are exhibitions, events and festivals dedicated to photography, now more than ever a means of expression - which requires strictly physical space - to explore, rather than the represented subject, the vision it communicates, but above all the message we read. Among the many, we have chosen three events between the end of September and October

Stormed daily by digital images that we crave, constantly compulsive our devices, but from which we then slip away, shaking with inattention, we are attracted by photography, the analogue one, that physical, the one to look at, and to enjoy in a sensory way, in person.

Exhibitions, events, demonstrations, talks thus become an opportunity for meeting and comparison. An opportunity for exposure but also for reflection. Have technology and social media really influenced photographic creativity or have ’ re-centered, in its more traditional version?

The connection (with ourselves)

We have selected three events, between the end of September and October, between Milan and Bologna, which do not want to answer questions but open minds, sensitivities and insights into depth: they connect us (re) ourselves, disconnecting us from smartphones.

The many lives of Milan by Giovanni Hänninen

From 30 September to 21 October 2022, the exhibition The many lives of Milan which inaugurates the new season of the Milanese gallery Valeria Bella, in via Santa Cecilia 2, entered from via San Damiano, focuses on some elements of Milan that are particularly dear to Giovanni Hänninen, a grounded aerospace engineer and sophisticated Finnish photographer who grew up in the Lombard capital.

Personal exhibition at the Valeria Bella Gallery, Milan from 30 September to 21 October 2022

The exhibition draws on a large body of work that directs the gaze to the different faces of the metropolis. At the center of the whole Teatro alla Scala, with which Hänninen has been collaborating for more than a decade, but there is no shortage of projects such as 'Ndrangheta, the hidden history of Milan at night.

Collater.al Photography 2022 in Milan

From 23 September to 2 October, in the Milanese spaces of Luciana Matalon Foundation in Foro Buonaparte 67, Collater.al Photography 2022 is staged, the first contemporary photography event conceived by the digital creative media company.

In a path composed of eight exhibitions, over 250 photographers from all over the world will exhibit their shots, in a continuous dialogue between artists and visitors.

Eight exhibitions at the Luciana Matalon Foundation, from 23 September to 2 October

For two weeks it will be as if the Instagram profile Collater.al Photography's came to life and from digital back to analog. Live photography is back to life, because it needs a - physical - greater than that of any smartphone. Only in this way does photography acquire depth, only in this way can we perceive its sensitivity.

Among the exhibitions, the New Eyes , curated by Laura Tota, will see the participation of 54 young authors who have chosen photography as their medium of expression to explore the relationship between identity and the hyper-connected world. Free Bodies , on the other hand, triggers a reflection: the social media algorithm leads to censorship of the naked body, even if it is art, photography or cinema. 24 photographers from 5 continents discussed the theme: from the photographic representation of the body to the freedom that is granted to us - or denied - to show it.

Finally, the personal exhibition of the duo Nicholas Fols & Siermond brings on stage subjects so beautiful they seem unreal. At times disturbing, melancholy, tormented and extraordinarily perfect, they are immortalized in a ’ suspended atmosphere. A magnetic charm hovers over everything and everyone.

PhMuseum Days 2022 in Bologna

From 23 September to 2 October 2022 the international photography festival returns to Bologna PhMuseum Days. The White Space of DumBO hosts exhibitions, talks, screenings, portfolio reviews and a section dedicated to publishing independent photographic. Among the novelties, three public installations in as many places in the city.

Exhibitions, talks and initiatives from DumBo, from 23 September to 2 October

The theme of the second edition is Today Is Yesterday's Tomorrow. In balance between past, present and future, we find among others UkrzalÑ–znitsia by Ukrainian photographer Julie Poly who captured the essence of traveling on the trains of his country before the current conflict in what is now a nostalgic memory and at the same time a positive hope for the future.

Among other initiatives, Cassero LGBTI + Center will host Neuromantic, the work of the Colombian artist Ana Vallejo which combines neuroscience, psychology, images and data to investigate the theme of relationships and addiction to love.

Finally, the Portofino Dry Gin brand chose Piergiorgio Sorgetti to capture and reinterpret the Italian Riviera: Summer Glow, a photographic project that focuses on the sensations gathered in a typical summer day in Portofino, amidst the complicity of looks and gestures.