Filippo Venturi is a documentary photographer whose recent work has captured the Far East. With a reporting trip to China planned since autumn, naturally Venturi had been following the information coming out of the country about the coronavirus for months when, in January, he decided to postpone his trip and remain in his hometown on the outskirts of Forlì, Italy. Fearing “photographer’s block” due to the nationwide lockdown, Venturi found himself with an intensified incentive and desire to continue documenting the world around him. Domestic isolation has allowed him to spend more time with his partner, and with his son Ulisse. It’s also caused him “to rediscover the importance of simple things, to reevaluate spaces and places that usually are taken for granted,” says Venturi.
Now, in a photo series called Yard Time, Venturi is sharing those photographs of his hometown taken from the windows of his home, not unlike Jimmy Stewart’s character in Rear Window. He was drawn to his neighbors’ use of living spaces that were underutilized prior to isolation, like their small home gardens and balconies, which are usually only lined with drying laundry. Scroll down to see how these spaces have come alive and taken on outsize importance for one community in Northern Italy.
