Let the Right One In

Let the Right One InDamiano Nava (1982) likes to use the camera as a diary. After moving to Berlin, in November 2009, he found it hard to spontaneously meet people of his generation who might be interested in being photographed. He didn't speak German, and it was hard for him to establish the kind of intimate relationship required for the project. I was like someone having problems finding a soulmate, so it seemed like a natural step to turn to the internet, he writes in

Damiano Nava (1982) likes to use the camera as a diary. After moving to Berlin, in November 2009, he found it hard to spontaneously meet people of his generation who might be interested in being photographed. He didn't speak German, and it was hard for him to establish the kind of intimate relationship required for the project. ÒI was like someone having problems finding a soulmate, so it seemed like a natural step to turn to the internetÓ, he writes in his introduction. He wrote an ad and posted it on Craigslist and Exberliner. For about two years, the ad generated new contacts. Nava received about a thousand e-mails, met around a hundred people and took pictures of the few who were comfortable with him.
This book gathers these photos, together with a selection of the emails he received, and an ÒAfterwordÓ by Italian art critic and curator Guido Bartorelli. A faithful portrait of a generation, with its narcissism and its peculiar relationship with traveling, communication, body language and image making.