EX-RODO

EX-RODO is a photographic project on the 2021 fire in Pescara’s Pineta Dannunziana. It documents loss, memory, and resilience, tracing what vanishes and what slowly returns in a scarred landscape.

In August 2021, a devastating fire swept through the Pineta Dannunziana Natural Reserve in Pescara, Abruzzo Italy. Sector 5, a protected and ecologically vital area, was completely destroyed. Once a dense, shaded pinewood tied to the collective identity of southern Pescara, the reserve is now a scorched, unfamiliar space—a desert of dust, invasive plants, and silence.

EX-RODO is a photographic project that explores what remains—physically, culturally, and emotionally—when a place rooted in memory is erased. It documents the alien landscapes left behind, while tracing subtle signs of life’s return: rare wildflowers blooming on charred dunes, animals reappearing in riverbeds. This work is both a personal walk through grief and a collective act of witnessing.

Everyday Places, Rediscovered. The pinewood, once part of daily life, is re-seen through the lens of loss—revealing its true importance only after destruction. Popular Places, Reimagined: The fire disrupted expectations of permanence, challenging the notion of landscape as fixed and iconic. Imaginary Places, Emerging: The altered land becomes a liminal space between memory and possibility—what was, what is, and what could be. Invisible Roots, Made Visible: Beneath the ash lie the cultural and emotional roots that connect people to place, now uncovered and re-narrated.

EX-RODO makes space for a new kind of seeing—one that acknowledges absence, listens to the land, and reclaims meaning in the unfamiliar. It invites us to reflect on how we narrate place, and how deeply those narratives shape who we are.