sometimes the photo knows more than we do
Hollywood director Peter Chelsom chooses the Fortino to exhibit his photographs to the public for the first time. He gave us a sneak preview of it and told us about Forte that...
Interview by Cristina Conti - Photographs Nicola Gnesi
He authored Hollywood movies like Serendipity and Shall We Dance. In 2021, he shot his first Italian film, Security, in Forte dei Marmi, a place he already knew and loved. For Peter Chelsom, a British film director and photographer, it was an opportunity to explore his relationship with the town. Taking the relationship to the next level is this summer’s exhibition dedicated to his photographs, curated by Beatrice Audrito. It awaits visitors from 22 June to 14 July at the Fortino.
“This is my first solo exhibition. Although I consider myself a photographer even before a filmmaker, I have never wanted to display or publish my photographs, except for a few in The Guardian, because they are deeply personal,” Chelsom explains. “After a day of work, some people unwind by cooking; I devote myself to editing the pictures I’ve taken.”
“My relationship with photography predates that with filmmaking: I discovered its allure at the age of fourteen when I stepped into the darkroom and saw that first image gradually emerge in the developing tray. It wasn’t just magic and amazing – it was also the discovery that there was more to this world than meets the eye beyond what we perceive. It was as if the photo saw it all clearly; it was like it knew more than I did.”
Various sections round out the exhibition at the Fortino. The one that gives the entire project its title is “Dream Role.” It features portraits of numerous movie stars that Chelsom has invited to enact the role of their dreams with great humor. The result is a series of ironic images tinged with absurdity. Such as the one chosen for the exhibition’s poster depicting Gary Oldman as Cary Grant on the run in Hitchcock’s masterpiece North by Northwest. “Too bad that Gary Oldman only shares a suit and tie with Cary Grant,” quips the director. Then, a series of photographs are devoted to Blackpool, Chelsom’s hometown, New York, and Berlin: around fifty images, all in black and white.”
“I don’t draw a line between still photography and films,” says the director. “When I’m setting up a scene to shoot, I always ask myself: “Would this still be working as a still photograph? How would it touch us?” After all, still photographs tell stories just as much as films. As in photography, there is something unexpected in the film sequence: the photo is not a documentary but a poetic experience. It is a game, but it requires a technique.”
Chelsom discovered Forte dei Marmi in the late Nineties while traveling to Fivizzano, in the Lunigiana territory, just across the Apuan Alps. Here, the filmmaker bought a house immersed in green a few years later, and Forte dei Marmi beach was a nearby luxurious oasis that he could enjoy with his children.
In 2021, Chelsom shot the movie Security, which was filmed entirely here – between Bagno Piero, Roma Imperiale and the center of town –, with a stellar cast of all Italian actors, including Marco D’Amore, Maya Sansa, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Ludovica Martino, Silvio Muccino. “The production suggested the location. It was my first film in Italy, and I was terrified but also happy to work in a place where we could go to the beach every day, eat delicious food, and feel at home. The Italian crew was astonished at how I knew Forte better than any of them.”
“It is a thriller movie, and Forte dei Marmi serves as the perfect setting for it: the story works precisely because of the appearance of calm and security that characterizes these places. It recounts a predominantly wintery, dark Versilia, but also, by contrast, the summery postcard-perfect Forte dei Marmi that everyone knows.” “Covid has prevented the film from being released in theaters, but we must acknowledge that with streaming platforms, everything has changed. What matters is that Security has reached an astounding number of viewers: within a short time, it reached number three in the world on the Netflix Movie List (only in Italy it can be seen on Sky/Now, ed.).” comments the filmmaker.
During filming, a conversation with the mayor of Forte dei Marmi Bruno Murzi gave rise to the idea of showing Chelsom’s photographs in an exhibition: a must-see event in the summer of 2024.
