English version
The photographic project “26”
is an invitation to listen, participate, and embrace change.
26 is a photographic project by Stefano Giacomazzi, capturing a city’s response to a dramatic event. With 26 black-and-white photographs, the exhibition documents the extraordinary participation of Mestre in the demonstration held on September 28, 2024, in memory of Jack. The death of Giacomo Gobbato, a 26-year-old young man who “did not look the other way,” deeply shook the city’s fabric, leaving a profound wound. Ten thousand people took to the streets to demand concrete institutional action on issues of safety and social justice.
“For Jack, for us, for everyone: let’s reclaim the city”
This collective voice expresses a profound sentiment of social solidarity, echoing in the streets that the city is not just a place, but a community.
Through the power of black-and-white photography, viewers are invited to relive a moment of deep intensity and engage with themes of memory, participation, and belonging.
26 is not just a visual journey; it is a narrative that belongs to all of us. It is an invitation to participate. By restoring authenticity and depth to the images, each shot becomes a fragment of collective memory and a testament to participation and hope. Each photograph exhibited serves as a concrete example of how participation can transform into an act of resistance and hope. Through these images, everyone can find in their own experiences a reflection of that sentiment, which, crossing memory and mourning, transforms pain into positive action, uniting us and helping us look forward.
26 does not merely document a day of protest; it is an emotional journey. It is an invitation to hear the voice of a community and reflect on the possibility of transforming a tragic experience into an opportunity for growth and awareness. By focusing on the images, it becomes possible to visualize those stories of solidarity and courage that turned a tragic event into an opportunity for dialogue and renewal. Each photograph displayed serves as a call to individual responsibility in building a better future. It captures and fixes in time the emotional intensity of that day: the power of gestures, the energy of the crowd, and the clear message: Mestre does not look the other way. Alongside Jack, it acts and mobilizes.
26 is not a collection of photographs; it is a manifesto. It is an invitation to focus attention on collective action, stripping away the superfluous and concentrating on the details: faces marked by emotion, hands held tightly, signs raised to the sky, cries of pain. Black and white is not merely an aesthetic choice but also a symbolic one. The absence of color transcends time and space, transforming the images into universal testimonies: it highlights the power of contrasts and makes the tension between pain and hope, immobility and action, palpable. Through this lens, Mestre’s demonstration assumes a historical dimension, joining the struggles and protests that have defined different times and places. Spontaneous movements of the masses do not need to be labeled by colors.
26 is the testimony of a desire for change. It is an open invitation to immerse oneself in a story that belongs to all of us and to share its meaning to rediscover the value of active participation.
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stefano giacomazzi 