Bourse du Talent 2026 : Francesco Merlini
Against the representation of alps
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Champoluc, Italy. A sick horse in a corral.
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Feissons sur Isère, France. A clock on the bell tower of the village church.
Borgata Sestriere, Italy. Sheep nibble along a ski slope in the summer period.
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Bozen Mercantile Museum, Italy. An old map of the Tyrol area.
Furka Pass, Switzerland. Marks left by backcountry skiers.
Chamois, Italy. A cross engraved on the trunk of a cut tree.
Col de l'Iseran, France. Building materials along the road leading to the pass.
Val d'Isère, France. A view of the town center.
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Bodio, Switzerland. Hay bales in a field near a residential area.
Lago Azzurro, Italy.
Breuil Cervinia, Italy. A view of a sky slope in the summer period.
Breuil Cervinia, Italy. Birds warm up on the asphalt of a parking lot.
Oulx, Italy. The unused structure of a billboard.
Museum of Nature South Tyrol, Italy. A diorama with two embalmed deer.
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Breuil Cervinia, Italy. View of a kids playground.
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Hinterrhein, Switzerland. Red paint in a construction site.
Furka Pass, Switzerland. Building on sale.
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Val d'Isère, France. A mule track built to reach a quarry.
San Bernardino, Switzerland. A detail of an adventure park near the town.
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Col de l'Iseran, France. Tourists enjoing the view from the top of the pass.
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La Bâthie, France. An abandoned gas silo.
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Crepin, Italy. Trees fallen due to a landslide in a residential complex.
Gotthard Pass, Switzerland.
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2018 – ongoing
Since they were “invented”, the Alps have never stopped being depicted, producing a powerful iconographic codification, questioned today in the face of new complexities.
Because of the consumerist model before and globalization then, the inaccessibility, once myth of the Alps, has disappeared and now a quarter of global tourism is found here. Traditional narratives have promoted a reassuring image, leaving much of the emporary complexity out of the frame. The media, instead, endorses extreme representations without deepening causes and criticalities.
By activating a conceptual parallelism with transhumanism, this research investigates the processes of transformation carried out over the last decades. In this collection of cultural landscapes, analytical research feeds on ambiguity to outline the factual and emotional complexity of this ecosystem and its precarious beauty, threatened today more than ever by climate change and by the growing economic and political instability. Parts of landscapes, usually left outside the margins, meet the elements of fascination and terror typical of the concept of “sublime” reiterated by artists and writers about this area.
Aiming for a new articulate and authentic iconographic codification but not for this reason adverse to beauty and fascination, is it possible to create new visual outcomes to better understand the present and to read the future of the Alps with greater cognition?
Larger selection and complete text: https://www.francescomerlini.com/alps
PW: alps
Francesco works mainly on long-term projects, always looking for a point of contact between his documentary background and a strong interest in visual metaphors, symbolism and ambiguity.
In 2020 Francesco was shortlisted for the Prix HSBC pour la Photographie. In 2021 he was one of the nominees for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and in 2023 he was shortlisted at the Sony World Photography Awards. His books have been recognized by Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Kraszna-Krausz Foundation, PHotoESPANA, Belfast Photo Festival and other institutions.
His photos have been published in important national and international magazines and newspapers and his projects have been exhibited around the world in solo and group exhibitions.