The Rupestrian Church of St. Peter Barisano, Matera, Italy, 2016
Archival inkjet print
60 x 78 in.
Edition of 15
July 29, 2024
Luca Campigotto is a native son of northern Italy—he was born in Venice and now lives in Milan—but here we see him photographing the ancient city of Matera, one of Italy’s southernmost towns. Matera has been continuously occupied since the 10th millennium BC, having begun as a complex of habitable caves carved into the mountainous region's soft limestone.
The city is also known for its rock-cut (or "rupestrian") churches. The Rupestrian Church of St. Peter Barisano, perched on the rocky precipice that defines the city’s western boundary, is Matera’s largest rock-hewn church, with a foundation that dates back to the 12th century AD.
This photograph is an excellent example of the uniquely Italian sensibility that Campigotto brings to bear on the sites he photographs. His pictures are a dramatic study in contrasts, using the punchy contemporary feeling of digital photography to depict locations where the vast sweep of time and human history are on display, expressing the way that history lives on in the present moment.
