The mask and the mirror

Hot and nervous from the chaos and incessant traffic of an ever-expanding modern city, towards evening I took a long walk to calm down. Following the course of a river I met some married couples struggling with their photographers. I don't remember the name of that place and I couldn't identify it, but it doesn't matter. Only I found it extremely ugly as a backdrop for wedding photographs: the high voltage poles, the dirty and stagnant water, there was something sinister and "post-atomic" about it, but evidently they were fine with it!

However, my gaze fell on the pink dress of one of those brides, the most nervous one, very angry with her young photographer who showed the insecurity and awkwardness of someone who is still a beginner. Meanwhile, she, her bride, was walking up and down grumbling and even risking falling, while her new husband followed her at a safe distance, with his head down, in silence! I approached the young man with the camera hanging around his neck, who was despairing at not being able to make it work anymore. «Don't worry – I said – now I'll calm the bride down, in the meantime you find a way to get your colleagues to lend you a camera». I got busy and the couple was happy about it. I gave the first roll and even had time to take a shot just for myself, so as not to forget.

Jung states: «Whoever looks into the mirror of the waters first sees his own image, whoever goes towards himself risks an encounter with himself: the mirror does not flatter, it faithfully shows what is in it it reflects, that is, the face that we hide from the world because we veil it through the person, the actor's mask. But behind the mask there is the mirror from which the true face shines through" Now I understand, that photographer was me, a lifetime ago.


Luca Periotto
NP December 2023