And in darkness you find colors

“And in darkness you find colors” is a participatory photo project I’ve done during lockdown in Italy (5th March - 2nd June 2020) together with my two sons, Davide, 11, and Giovanni, 8.

I never had a lot of time to spend with them, before Covid-19. Life was swirling around at a hectic pace, between my job, their schools, after school activities, my social life. All of a sudden, halt, stop, don’t move. Stay home. Yes, home. We are among those lucky enough to have a big garden because we live in the countryside. I’ve always poorly endured the distance from the city. Yet, now this garden and photography have become a lifeboat.

Since the beginning of quarantine, my sons had a lot of questions about the virus, and fears and imaginary. To cope with these feelings, which sometimes could be overwhelming for young, we decided to create a universe of dreams and magic thanks to the connection with the natural environment around us. Each night, we carved our idea out of complete darkness by enlightening the scene with different sources of lights. We never knew how exactly the picture was going to be: we sketched it on a notebook but then we adapted it to the place, our bodies and our feelings. We let the momentum and our connections play roles. Every picture triggered inspirations for the following one. We used items that we found at home: old toys, sheets, masks, old stuff. Then, we discussed the photos together, creating and enforcing bonds among us. I chose a vertical orientation of the pictures to remind the idea of a door, opening onto our inner world. The title of this project both refers to the visual narrative we used and to the hope that in any situation, even the worst one, we would be able to find the positive aspects.

For me, the silver linings of this confinement is the precious long suspended time with my sons, out of the world, into our own world, where I could enjoy the last colors of their childhood.

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Colors"
i

"Colors"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Fire Tree"
i

"Fire Tree"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Fairy Tale"
i

"Fairy Tale"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Wormhole"
i

"Wormhole"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Time"
i

"Time"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "One, Nobody, A Hundred Thousand"
i

"One, Nobody, A Hundred Thousand"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Wizard"
i

"Wizard"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "The King Fish"
i

"The King Fish"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Flower"
i

"Flower"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Hunter"
i

"Hunter"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Particles"
i

"Particles"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Fox"
i

"Fox"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Storm"
i

"Storm"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Bird"
i

"Bird"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Sheltering?"
i

"Sheltering?"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Too Small or Too Big?"
i

"Too Small or Too Big?"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Alien"
i

"Alien"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Caterpillar"
i

"Caterpillar"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Rooster"
i

"Rooster"

© Elisabetta Zavoli - "Wink"
i

"Wink"

Latest Projects

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Stay in the loop


We will send you weekly news on contemporary photography. You can change your mind at any time. We will treat your data with respect. For more information please visit our privacy policy. By ticking here, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with them. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.