Desserted

“Signs of the past” is the title of a photographic research by Andy Starflinger who immortalises abandoned places with his camera. We are not talking about the ancient ruins of some long dead civilisation but about our recent past where the division between “being on the crest of a wave” and “being obsolete”, between the world that exists and that which is no more, is even more ephemeral than ever. The photographer Starflinger, who also displayed his work in various exhibitions, with his view of the world lying behind the patina of the present, portrays places where he captures the quintessential beauty inherent in degradation, change and destruction. His photographs are proof of the swift changes in our society where so much technological progress is achieved in only ten years to make what was avant-guard yesterday already in the past today. He pursues these abandoned sites with genuine pleasure. It seems almost like when children sneak through the door of an abandoned farmhouse or an old warehouse (with the added thrill of doing something forbidden) but his objective is letting us see a sort of beauty not too inferior to monuments belonging to the past, especially if we look at photographs of certain industrial architectures. The signs of the past are here, around us, regardless of those who see the beginning of our noteworthy past in ancient times - and Andy Starflinger gives these places just the dignity they need to bring them back into our memory, as an intriguing part of recent history which should not disappear too quickly