An Aesthetic of the Margin
There is a specific moment, along the coast of Barletta, when the Mediterranean ceases to be a postcard and becomes a border. It is here that Mariano Doronzo ’s gaze turns in his project *Lanterna Beach*. Don’t expect the soothing sunsets of tourist-friendly Puglia; here, beauty is hard-won amid the port’s cranes, industrial infrastructure, and that sense of limbo typical of border zones.
The Poetics of the Everyday
Doronzo, a professor at Daylight School, does more than simply document. His work is one of subtraction. Through a palette of soft colors and a composition that borders on geometric minimalism, he transforms the “Lanterna” area into an anthropological stage.
Watching the silhouettes of swimmers move in the shadow of the metal giants does not evoke a sense of alienation, but rather one of deep, steadfast belonging. It is the reclaiming of public space that becomes art. For those studying photography in Rome, analyzing a work like Lanterna Beach means understanding that the “subject” is often merely an excuse to talk about ourselves and our way of being in the world.
Photography as a Study of the Local Area at Daylight School
Bringing the expertise of photographers like Mariano Doronzo to our photography school in Rome is a deliberate choice. We are not interested in training mere technical executors, but rather photographers capable of interpreting their surroundings.
Doronzo’s photography teaches us that the landscape is never neutral: it is layered, gritty, and beautiful in its imperfection. This is the approach we strive to convey in our courses: learning to look where others look away.
