CLOROFILLA

For Dave Tavanti, photography is the bridge between the invisible and the visible.

Through a meticulous study and personal research on color treatment, “Clorofilla” brings to light images otherwise hidden from the human eye, captured using infrared photography.

It’s not merely a reproduction of reality, but an artistic interpretation that transports the viewer into a quiet, contemplative world, where light and color take on new meanings.

The philosophy that underlies this work explores the subjectivity of perception: infrared reveals a reality beyond our senses, and the artist invites us to reflect on how little we truly understand.

Each image becomes an invitation to question our certainties, stimulating our own doubts and paving the way for a more nuanced and complex view of the world.

Originally grounded in portraiture, the artist brings his expertise into the natural world with distinct vision.
His photographs go beyond simple landscape representation, offering instead a portrait-like interpretation of nature that imbues the images with both expressive depth and tangible presence.

“Clorofilla” is not just a photographic project; it is a provocation challenging the limitations/boundaries of our senses.
It is a journey that compels the viewer to question what they see and explore the unexpected in the everyday world, opening the door on a new perception of the world around us.

“Dave Tavanti succumbs to the overpowering influence of cinema,
his frames distorted by the unseen
and enchanted in their pursuit,
driven by the desire to narrate and capture it,
to transcend the limits of his senses,
with the childlike joy
of infusing mystery into a simple and familiar place.

But Predator is lost in the woods,
moving slowly, almost timidly, as if afraid to crush the leaves.
It forgets to hunt
and is spellbound by the mysterious patterns of trees,
the gentle rustles, the lace-like branches.
Messages of peace and joy reach it,
the simple joy of existence
in the eternal cycle of life,
the law of necessity
that can be both beautiful and whimsical,
obvious and incomprehensible.

Images flow before our eyes,
of us turned into extraterrestrials
witnessing things never seen in our familiar forest,
traversed so many times, walking distractedly.
Its light now astonishes us and tells stories without words,
crafted only of emotions.

And the solitary tree, so perfect and symmetrical,
becomes a symbol of beauty,
layfully entering our minds,
their structure hungry for rationality,
with the smile that Leonardo
painted on the face of the Mona Lisa,
encapsulating the same mystery.“

^{Rita Castigli}