Stefano Benazzo’s evocative images of shipwrecks—the remains of magnificent sea cathedrals, bound to inevitable decline. Through powerful images of wrecks shot over decades on the world’s coastlines, Italian photographer Stefano Benazzo brings again to life the sailors, as well as the immigrants. The duty of memory prompts us to keep with grateful remembrance the sailors’ endeavor and traditions. Wrecks are the evidence of men who have been cornerstones of economic, social, and maritime history, as well as of their courage and suffering.
Benazzo’s images settle for future generations the features of ships that elements will destroy more and more. The distance makes it difficult to approach wrecks, and it is nearly impossible to transport them to museums.
Benazzo’s photographs lead us to pry deeply into ourselves, bringing out our richness and our diversified nature. In the author’s imagination, these wrecks seem to be miraculously ready to sail again with perseverance and to fulfill their mission: they express the hope of salvation and life.
Stefano Benazzo, photographer, artist, sculptor, and model maker, shoots photographs and reports around the world.Jean Blanchaert owns an art gallery in Milan; he is an antique dealer, a curator, a glass sculptor, and an illustrator; he works with the Italian magazine Artedossier.
