Italo Calvino, in his short story, The Soft Moon, imagines an alternative primordial planet earth, a hard world, made only of concrete, metal and glass that was forever tarnished by the touch of nature. It’s an image I had in mind as I photographed the industrial estates of north-east Italy for this project. Within the estates, ‘soft’ nature is limited and managed to a certain extent. But not everywhere. Around the edges and the half-developed corners there is that type of nature that you might not even notice. It is spontaneous and opportunist and there is a certain poverty to it. It could be cut down at any moment to make way for a new car park or factory building and nobody would really care. Like the industrial estate itself, it makes no effort to be pretty. But it shows a determination and an insistence that I admire. It is optimistic. It grows despite us. Despite everything.

​

[CLICK IMAGE TO EXPAND]