Vacant Surrealism: The Photography of Francesco Romero

Francesco Romero is a former musician and producer whose current artistic output is photography. He’s based mostly in Italy where he focuses on themes of absence, decay and isolationism from a graphical and geometric point of view. A fascination with the dystopian aspect of everyday life drives him to decontextualize details, landscapes, and architecture, allowing them to stand alone as alien images. 90% of his shots are music inspired, typically from northern electronica, drone music and Detroit / German techno. He’s also massively influenced by early US hardcore-punk and Industrial.

The shots represented here are excerpts from three different series that are all linked to each other via a main theme: surrealism. Descriptions of each body of work follow.

D Y S T O P I A

D Y S T O P I A is a series of Fine Art photography intentionally arranged with the aim to highlight the dystopian aspect of contemporary urban landscapes. We often crave the future, but if we care to observe our surroundings, we probably realize the future is here, now. A personal interpretation of the cities we live in aimed to enhance the sci-fi facet of modernity. A statement on individuality over dehumanizing multitudes.

l_a_g_o — L A G O (series D Y S T O P I A) – Copyright Francesco Romero Images 2017 / Represented by Doka Photography

t_h_e_g_r_e_y_a_r_e_a_4 — T H E G R E Y A R E A 4 (series D Y S T O P I A) – Copyright Francesco Romero Images 2017 / Represented by Doka Photography

w_h_e_r_e_p_e_o_p_l_e_l_i_v_e_3 — W H E R E P E O P L E L I V E 3 (series D Y S T O P I A) – Copyright Francesco Romero Images 2017 / Represented by Doka Photography

p_a_t_t_e_r_n_2 — P A T T E R N 2 (series D Y S T O P I A) – Copyright Francesco Romero Images 2016 / Represented by Doka Photography

p_s_y_c_h_o_c_a_n_d_y — P S Y C H O C A N D Y (series D Y S T O P I A) – Copyright Francesco Romero Images 2017 / Represented by Doka Photography

V O I D / D R O N E S

V O I D / D R O N E S is all about a martial, almost pragmatic, aesthetic. A tribute to the “man-altered” made of empty spaces where men have never actually found their place. A reassignment of spaces and volumes into aseptic and primordial geometries aimed to enhance meticulous compositions and perspectives. Surreal landscapes made of tridimensional forms juxtaposed to flattened skies that often border into artificiality. A fine line between the mere representation and the total transfiguration.

c_u_t — C U T (series V O I D / D R O N E S) – Copyright Francesco Romero Images 2017 / Represented by Open Doors Gallery

v_o_i_d_3 — V O I D 3 (series V O I D / D R O N E S) – Copyright Francesco Romero Images 2017 / Represented by Open Doors Gallery

v_o_i_d_1_6 — V O I D 1 6 (series V O I D / D R O N E S) – Copyright Francesco Romero Images 2016 / Represented by Open Doors Gallery

C O N D O

C O N D O is a study on sustainable architecture in Tuscany. A tribute to forms and shapes that starts from decontextualizing details to then turn them into imaginary landscapes.”