San Luca e Martina

Véronique Ellena initiated this work in Rome in 2009, following her stay at the Villa Médicis. She photographs the homeless at dawn, lying on the forecourts, under the porch of churches, at the foot of monuments: vague, even mysterious forms that seem to belong to the body of the city, to its mineral quality. These presences rest in calm and sweetness, but also in the solitude of this moment between night and day. We could initially perceive only the sublime beauty of the architecture. But this work speaks to us of something else: the place of certain men in this world, who are there but whom we do not see - or no longer see. It is about looking at what is not seen, what is unbearable, but without pathos or miserablism. Avélino Abarca, 2011.