This visual exploration is a journey to another planet. Tiàwùk is a planet located in a galaxy quite close to us, it is small compared to earth and the environmental conditions are extreme but quite suitable for the growth and adaptation of human life. After hundreds of years of astronomical observation mankind has found for the first time another planet with human life and this is its visual documentation. This planet is inhabited by 4 million people and only 6% of the land is arable. The real citizens are only about 1 million and the other inhabitants are expatriates working there from other nearby planets. According to the information available to us the planet has been colonized recently and after many years a secret source of energy has been discovered: in a very short time it has become one of the richest in the universe.  

A part of the population, that only recently discovered economic wealth, according to our observations suffers from psychological disorders whose symptoms are found in a pseudo-materialistic and dystopian vision of the surrounding world. According to Gestalt psychological theories and other esoteric traditions, we know that the external world we create and experience is a reflection of our inner world, and we also know that lack of inner awareness and attachment are the sources of suffering that project the human mind away from the self.  

The work runs along the thin border between reality and fiction and wants to show the extreme consequences of these conditioning. On Tiàwùk, the extreme reception of the capitalist-liberal model in contrast with the tradition of Islam creates this inner uneasiness which, fed by economic wealth, gives shape to the concept of “economical fantasy” which reveals the construction of a distorted vision of life and reality stretched between its excesses and contradictions. 

Gabriele Cecconi is an Italian documentary photographer interested in cultural, political and environmental issues. He approached photography after a law degree and in 2015 he was selected by Camera Torino and Leica for a masterclass with Magnum photographer Alex Webb.   Since then he made several reportages until 2018 when he started working on long-term projects.  His project on the environmental impact of Rohingya migration in southern Bangladesh has received numerous international awards including the Yves Rocher Photography Award at Visa pour l’Image, POY,  Andrei Stenin Grand Prix, PX3 Photographer of the Year and the LUMIX Sustainability Award among others. His work has been exhibited internationally in museums, festivals and galleries including the Hermitage State Museum, the United Nations Headquarters, Photo Vogue Festival, Festival della Fotografia Etica and it has been published by Italian and international newspapers including L’espresso, National geographic, Internazionale, Newsweek and Courrier international. At the same time he carries out research on the relationship between culture, power and representation and on the spiritual and pedagogical aspects of the visual arts. 

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