The Photo Exhibition “Perceptions:” a Reminder of Nature’s Presence in Cityscape
Little animal looking at the camera. Photo by photographer Roberto Crucitti in his series “Perceptions.”
- By Teng Yalirozy
- March 4, 2023 1:25 PM
PHNOM PENH — Buildings and Nature are interconnected, says Italian photographer Roberto Crucitti.
Although nature has kept losing ground as cities and towns have multiplied, it remains significant even among fast-growing skyscrapers in cities such as Phnom Penh, he said.
It is this link that he has attempted to reflect in his exhibition “Perceptions”—held at the Pi-Pet-Pi Gallery 282 in Phnom Penh—by mixing photos of animals and greenery with very 23rd-century images of buildings, Nature being shown in color and cityscape in black and white.
“You start with Water, you pass through the Air, the Earth and Fire,” Crucitti said, speaking of the way the photos were grouped based on the four elements of Nature by curator Vat Kimly. There are also pictures on the table so that people can pick the picture that produced the strongest impression on them and then write comments or even their story at the back. “We put these pictures together, leaving the insights,” Crucitti said, the more so that people’s emotions may vary greatly over the same image.
Kimly ended up curating the exhibition more or less as a coincidence. Currently a program manager at one innovation center in Phnom Penh, she happened to be in the gallery as the exhibition was in the process of being set up. Touring the gallery after work, she said, “I saw about 100 photos scattered on the floor, and went and arranged them. The gallery owner [Liz Heely] saw this and gave me the chance to try curating the photos,” she said.
Roberto Crucitti, left, and Vat Kimly pose for a photo while setting up the exhibition. Photo: Liz Heeley
Kimly admitted that one of her favorite photos in the exhibition is the picture of the green snake. As she explained, people in Cambodian society hold very different views when it comes to snakes.
Most photos in the exhibition were taken about seven years ago as Crucitti was travelling throughout the Asia Pacific region. In Cambodia, it was love at first sight when he saw the Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap province, he said.
Originally from Florence in Italy, Crucitti was in Cambodia as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Seeing how the country was handling the pandemic made him want to stay, he said. And today, he has no plan to leave Cambodia any time soon.
Roberto Crucitti’s exhibition “Perceptions” is held through March 5.
The Pi-Pet-Pi Gallery 282 is located at 52C Street 240 (near the corner of Norodom Boulevard) in Phnom Penh.
For more information: https://www.facebook.com/Gallery282/
Photo by photographer Roberto Crucitti in his series “Perceptions.”
