"The culture of firearms in the United States is an absolutely cross-cutting and ancestral fact, uncoupled from political, cultural, religious, and generational categories." In the wake of yet another school shooting in America, Gabriele Galimberti's words seem more relevant than ever. The Italian photographer, who won the World Press Photo 2021 for his work
#Ameriguns, shared this insight.
As a guest at the latest edition of the International Journalism Festival, Galimberti, in conversation with journalist Alessio Jacona, explained to the audience how the
#Ameriguns project came to life—an incredible visual document that captures Americans' obsession with guns. "I have photographed the most diverse arsenals," said Galimberti. "Emblematic is that of a Google CEO in San Francisco, a gay man, an Obama supporter, officially a progressive Democrat, but with an arsenal that would make a staunch Trump supporter envious. Just as surprising was that of a Protestant pastor and social media star who alternates sermons about Jesus with discussions about rifles. The imagery of firearms in America is a deep sentiment that connects Americans to the historical experience of pioneers with stagecoaches in the old West."
#Ameriguns is divided into four chapters—Family, Freedom, Passion, Style—starting from the reasons that drive people to buy guns. "What I found is a love for firearms that, as the book explains, is tied to family traditions passed down from generation to generation," Galimberti explained in an interview with Rolling Stone last year. "Most of the subjects I photographed started shooting as children simply because their uncle or grandfather taught them: just like how, at some point, an adult teaches you to ride a bike, in the U.S. there’s almost always a family member who teaches you to shoot, almost as if it were a rite of passage. It’s so much the case that even among those who do not own guns, it's rare to find individuals who have never shot a gun; almost everyone has done it at least once, and that’s because guns are somewhat everywhere. The only time we don’t think about it when we travel is because we aren’t used to it. Even I, who have been visiting the United States for 20 years, had never realized the scope of the phenomenon: I knew it was different from Italy, of course, but I had never really stopped to consider that if you go to a theater in Texas, you will very likely sit next to someone with a gun in their pocket and half the audience will be armed. The same goes for the street or the supermarket: if you pay attention and start to notice, you see that many have a weapon on their belt, hidden in their pockets, or elsewhere."
🎥 > Gli Ameriguns: il progetto fotografico sulla cultura delle armi in USA, vincitore del World Press Photo 2021 bit.ly/3LPEuZy
Fonte Valigia Blu
