Giuseppe Gradella has a profound belief in memories and dreams.\r\nConscious that everything is layered over time, in the heart, in memory and that, sooner or\r\nlater, it finds a way back to the light, to unveil itself, he thinks of photography as holding your\r\nbreath, just under the surface, for as long as your breath lasts, then re-emerging to observe the\r\nworld from a different perspective, one that is more aware. In order for memory to speak to\r\nhim, he arms himself with a lot of patience and an excellent bait that allows him to fish even\r\nwhere life\'s flow is perceptible only to the eye, like under a sheet of ice. Physical places and\r\nthose that exist in memory, where life and dreams intertwine in a process of transfiguration\r\nand internal re-creation in which time is suspended.\r\nIn Gradella\'s photographs, which deal with fashion, architecture and fine art, there is a\r\nconstant juxtaposition between what is actually in front of the camera and what he has\r\nretained from his experiences, in a continuous study that becomes introspective self-critique.\r\nAs he himself is fond of saying, "For me, photography arrived like a storm after months of\r\ndrought, and I am still very thirsty."\r\nGradella lives and works in Mantua (Italy).