ROAD TO BLACK

What happens when the system of investigations and information begins to falter,and unproven conspiracies and theories transform into a genuine lead?Nothing is closer to us than reality transformed, experienced, just as our eyes and our mind want it to be

What happens when the system of investigations and information begins to falter, and unproven conspiracies and theories transform into a genuine lead? Throughout history, the archetype of the Devil and the phenomenon of Satanism have been used as tools to explain events that have nothing to do with the facts, exploiting mankind’s ancestral and atavistic fear of the unknown. Thus, suspicion and doubt spread like wildfire, gradually turning into weapons. "It’s a pandemic of Satanists!" is shouted, and slowly the realm of foreboding takes on the weight of condemnations, condemnations so cruel that we are forced to ask: what if it were all true?

Like a Rorschach blot, in Road to Black, one moves between the reality of facts and fiction, reconstructing an ideal case, perhaps one that never truly existed, and exploring the profound connection that binds humanity to Evil.

Nothing has a single face, nor is it experienced in one unique way. Instead, the pieces of the puzzle can blend together, making fragments that once seemed impossible to unite fit. Images can create powerful imaginary bridges, leading us to perceive as true events that never actually happened. In Road to Black, the reader is placed at the center of a risky feedback loop (short-circuit), focusing on the potent power conveyed by images, with the aim of shedding light on lesser-known stories and urging us to take an active role in interpreting history.

The central theme of Road to Black is the Satanic Panic, which encompassed over 12,000 unproven cases of Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) that developed in the 1980s and 1990s, first in America and later around the world, and which still surface in today’s news. The research consists of an ideal mapping of global cases where Satan was used as a scapegoat, a convenient conviction aimed at individuals who were either entirely innocent or only involved in certain forms of Satanism unrelated to ritual murders. These judicial errors were so monumental they might seem fictional, yet they destroyed the lives of entire families. For nothing is more true than reality, transformed and shaped by our minds, just as our eyes want it to be. The work aims to fill an editorial gap, seeking to dismantle taboos and mental barriers that make it difficult to speak about what frightens us.

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© Giulia Madiai - Image from the ROAD TO BLACK photography project
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This is the beginning of a little waking nightmare, a nightmare that will not end when we wake up because it is completely true:When we talk about “bringing into the light,” we cannot fail to mention the phenomenon of Satanism in the world, a movement that is only talked about to frighten but is never investigated, and thus remains a short circuit just waiting to be illuminated.

© Giulia Madiai - Sudden falls that don't make noise
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Sudden falls that don't make noise

© Giulia Madiai - Image from the ROAD TO BLACK photography project
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The work aims to fill an editorial gap, seeking to dismantle taboos and mental barriers that make it difficult to discuss things that scare us.Humans have always been fascinated and attracted by evil, but curiosity or the desire for knowledge should not be exploited by social beliefs, political interests, and community fears to the point of creating such a powerful and long-lasting negative effect

© Giulia Madiai - Weapons of crime?
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Weapons of crime?

© Giulia Madiai - Car of powerful people
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Car of powerful people

© Giulia Madiai - Altar to worship?
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Altar to worship?

© Giulia Madiai - Image from the ROAD TO BLACK photography project
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Angelus Temple is a Pentecostal megachurch in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded by Aimee Semple McPherson in 1923, it is considered the first U.S. megachurch. Archive imagine

© Giulia Madiai - Image from the ROAD TO BLACK photography project
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The biteArticle from The San Francisco Examiner, February 71987, Tallahassee, Florida: Six children found dirty and mal- nourished. Satanic trail is being followed.The report came through an anonymous call, which indicated the presence of two well- dressed men around a blue van, observed overseeing a group of six children.

© Giulia Madiai - Places with a double face
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Places with a double face

© Giulia Madiai - Satanist or monk?
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Satanist or monk?

© Giulia Madiai - Detail of archive image searched in antique markets representing a first communion. The Faith
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Detail of archive image searched in antique markets representing a first communion. The Faith

© Giulia Madiai - Image from the ROAD TO BLACK photography project
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Anton LaVey (Anton Szandor Artur LaVey), born in Chicago in 1930 and died in San Francisco in 1997, was an American esotericist, musician and writer. LaVey was the founder of the Church of Satan and the author of The Satanic Bible, a book in which he clarifies his vision of satanism, or Rationalist Satanism, where the figure of Satan is purely allegorical and is understood as a symbol of rebellion

© Giulia Madiai - The Passion
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The Passion

© Giulia Madiai - Satanist or Man?
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Satanist or Man?

© Giulia Madiai - Goat’s horns
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Goat’s horns

© Giulia Madiai - Image from the ROAD TO BLACK photography project
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Michael & Lilith Aquino of The Temple Of Set.Michael Aquino formed the Temple of Set after breaking ties with LaVey and leaving the Church of Satan, as he began to believe in the real and concrete existence of the demon, which manifested in the figure of Set. The Temple of Set is part of esoteric Satanism.

© Giulia Madiai - The hole, the void.
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The hole, the void.

© Giulia Madiai - Are we sure that everything is as it seems at first glance?
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Are we sure that everything is as it seems at first glance?

© Giulia Madiai - Who comes out of the dark?
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Who comes out of the dark?

© Giulia Madiai - The sounding board of DOUBT
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The sounding board of DOUBT