Oppedisano visited and photographed the factory in Bologna, creating an interpretation which is both abstract yet also recognisable as the Amarena Fabbri production and packaging line. He captured graphic images with the idea of layering different exposures, using a technique which he developed while at university, using RGB filters to obtain “impressionist” photographs. [RGB = Red Green Blue, the base colours used by monitors to visualise images]. Joe’s aim is to go beyond the simple representation of reality in order to capture the synthesis of multiple moments of everyday experience and the complexity of our perception of reality.
Straz Fabbri forms part of the Strazseries (Stratificazione del tempo e dello spazio = Layering of time and space) which the artist has been working on since the beginning of the new millennium, and which stems from research conducted during the 1990s. The artist uses a particular technique, modifying his camera to make the different frames in a roll of film merge into each other. The fusion between one negative and another, created in real time, creates a new vision due to the decomposition of the whole itself.
The artist juxtaposes the sequences, expanding and fragmenting the unity of the photographed space with the idea of breaking the usual view of the shot, and achieving optical fragmentation. Joe creates an imaginary space, which is similar but also different to the real thing. The metamorphosis of space and the distortions of the bigger picture create movement at the same time as disorientation, like the images formed by the multiple reflections of a kaleidoscope or the fantastic worlds of Escher. The experiment is a way of creating new styles and visions, and an attempt to represent interior emotion. This reflects the relationship between photography and Amarena Fabbri, at the heart of the image.