A photographic journey into the Mediterranean islands

A research project by photographer Corinna Del Bianco investigates the Mediterranean archipelagos, the architecture of the islands and the identity of the places. The theme of living mixes with that of the journey

Created by the researcher in architecture and urban studies Corinna Del Bianco, Archipelago represents her photographic journey, in progress, through the islands of the Mediterranean. The photographic documentation focuses on the living, architecture and identity of the various islands, among which those of four important Italian archipelagos stand out: Egadi (Favignana), Aeolian (Stromboli), Pelagie (Lampedusa, Linosa) and Tuscan (Elba, Giglio).

The abandoned production tradition

During the second half of the twentieth century, most of the Mediterranean islands devoted themselves to tourism, a great economic resource, that went hand in hand with an abandonment , their production, and therefore also their cof their historyultural identity. Among the most representative Italian examples, we find the Elba Island which, since the time of the Etruscans was a reference point for the steel industry, with its quarries for iron extraction, and Favignana which, thanks to fishing and the production of tuna led by the Florio family, was an important innovator worldwide.

Telling the value of the cultural identity of the archipelagos

Nowadays, the diversity of the individual islands tends to be remembered only for the landscape or for the clear waters to which thousands of people flock seasonally and in which they immerse themselves. Archipelago was born with the intention of telling the value of the cultural identity of the Italian and Mediterranean islands and archipelagos to all those who visit and experience them.

Readings and graphic maps

In addition to the photographic and artistic documentation focused on the living and the architecture of the different islands, Corinna Del Bianco offers a selection of readings and graphic maps that report not only the contour lines and the morphological information of the inhabited settlements but also the bathymetric lines that characterize their seabeds. Thanks also to the various instruments, the project contributes to the 2005 UNESCO Convention for the Protection and Promotion of Cultural Diversity with regard to forms of life in the islands of the Mediterranean Sea.