“Ritratti Bestiali”, the exhibition on our pets (as we have never seen them before)

The relationship that is created between a pet and a human is a relationship that is just as (or in some cases) deeper than that between individuals of the same breed. According to many, nothing is accidental and the meeting between the two is a sign of destiny. A life partner is rarely accidental. Animals come into a human’s life when there is a need for change, guidance, a new vision of things.

The relationship with your pet is an encounter capable of creating new visions. This is what the photographer thinks Claudia Rocchini, who for years has been exploring the encounter between man and animal with his “emotional photographs”. Shots capable of telling the partnership of these friendships. They are the photos you see here, the “Bestial shots” which from Saturday 14 May will be exhibited at the Ex IAT Broletto Space in Piazza della Vittoria in Pavia. In all 30 photographs taken as part of the Fotociotola Days, a charity event born in 2020, days in which for a donation of € 25 of baby food for dogs and cats to be allocated to the animal shelters, participants have a 15-minute session available photography together with their animal and as a gift an author print offered by FotoTecnica Trentani, partner of the initiative.

But what are these photographs like? «My intent is to tell in one shot both the beauty but also the character and the specific way of being of each animal portrayed. The goal is the encounter between technique and empathy to achieve the perfect synthesis of each animal. It is an “ethological” approach to photography, a mix of emotional intelligence and technique ». And how can you not emotionally participate in the photo of an Abyssinian cat looking at the camera with a captivating attitude, or in Vito, “the bionic cat”, the first surgery in Europe to implant two prostheses instead of the hind legs. Here are some of the photos, which you see here.

Inauguration, Saturday 14 May at 6 pm, open to the public from Sunday 15 May to 25 May, from Monday to Friday from 4 to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10.30 to 12.30 and from 16 to 19. On 24 May from 4 pm to 7 pm there will also be an educational meeting offered by Sony for all those who want to understand the secrets of Claudia Rocchini’s emotional portraits. The project also sees the collaboration of Tourist Infopoint which – on Sunday 15 and 22 May at 3.30 pm – organizes two guided tours to the city monuments dedicated to people accompanied by their pet, who can freely visit the exhibition. The 2022 Antiabbandono Campaign of the Municipality of Pavia will start from the “Bestial Portraits” project, in which images taken during the Fotociotola will be used.