The Hidden is a narrative and photographic reportage that tells the story of the Sami people and is part of a trilogy that explores the populations living in the Arctic.
The photographs focus on the Sami, a native European people divided by the borders of four states. Shot in Finnmark County, Norway, the project “The Hidden” portrays an ancient yet modern culture whose greatest strength lies in its bond with nature and strong dialogue with it. Once victims of nationalism, today the Sami face threats from climate change and green economy policies that risk conflicting with their way of life. The Sami people exist and resist, offering much to teach those who are willing and able to listen.
“There are places to which we belong. We cannot explain why, we simplyrecognize them as we encounter them. And we may well leave and never return, but a part of us will always remain there. I – the person that speaks of “not belonging”, of displacement, who has made her life a journey and forwhom travelling is the only way she knows how to live – feel the Arctic as my home. My vanishing point: in the midst of all thatwhite I am but a tiny dot. I can get lost on the horizon, I can get far away, I keep walking one step after another in an endless search. I am not afraid of the white. I am not afraid of the silence. In that absolute, I find myself again. And it is in that absolute that I met others like me. Silent travellers, explorers of worlds, men and women who managed to resist those who would have wanted to erase their existence. I went beyond the Arctic Circle, in Finnmark, to listen to the story of those who had been voiceless for too long. Today I am trying to give it back through faces, words, images, and I do not know if I will be able to do it in the best way because talking about other people’s stories is arduous, you always feel somehow inadequate. However, something makes me feel I can try: I come from a border myself, I learned early on what it means to be on the margins. I lost my grandmother’s language, Slovenian, and with that language I lost a part of me, because if you cannot say something then maybe it does not exist or never existed. I know the tearing grief of a denied identity. I know the shame and the need to lie, to hide, to omit. And then I know the relief of finallylooking in the mirror for the first time in years and realizing that there is no need for labels, there are no right places and wrong places, no belongings to flaunt and others to hide. There is only us, with our load of humanity, of life, of all that we have been, are, and will be. There is us, nd we no longer have to hide. Or at least, that is how it should be.“
Narrowed to eighty thousand souls, the Sámi are a generally nomadic people that lives on reindeerherding and freely moves in the vast Arctic landscapes between Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Valentina Tamborra reached them, took pictures and interviewed them, sharing their life during four trips in four consecutive years, and she built an unparalleled photographic and narrative reportage, showing their life and traditions, their resistance against a long process of forced integration, their daily problems connected to climate change and to its apparently unstoppable progress.
ISBN: 978-88-3389-531-4
Pages: 167
Publication date: Jan 2024
PRESS REVIEWS
Graziano Gala – Treccani Arte. Il tentativo estremo di salvezza, il sedersi dalla parte del torto e degli ultimi al fine di serbarne la memoria. Fruizioni e parole, un lettore preso per mano e chiamato a vedere, a comprendere cosa…Leggi
CULT – Radio Popolare. Intervista a Valentina Tamborra.Ascolta
Claudia Bellante – Vegolosi. I libri come quello di Valentina Tamborra che vanno lontano e in profondità, servono a mandare in frantumi pregiudizi e luoghi comuni che vogliono i popoli indigeni congelati in un passato idealizzato…Leggi
Lara Ricci – Domenica – Il Sole 24Ore. La fotogiornalista fa scoprire la misconosciuta vita odierna dei nativi dell’estremo Nord dell’Europa.Leggi
Attilio Scarpellini – Qui comincia – Rai Radio 3 Il racconto musicale e non del libro.Ascolta
Dove. Un’avventura oltre il Circolo Polare Artico.Leggi
TuttoLibri – La Stampa. Storie di resistenza. Leggi
Fabio Balocco – Il Fatto Quotidiano Blog. L’atto d’amore di Valentina Tamborra verso il popolo Sami.Leggi
Giuseppe Matarazzo – Avvenire. Nascosti, ma autentici. Fino in fondo. Nel profondo Nord.Leggi
Davide Sapienza – Limina. Un libro che soffia sul respiro della vita una brezza che viene da lontano. Una testimonianza, artistica e umana, per la quale l’aggettivo preziosa descrive al meglio ciò che evoca, indica, racconta.Leggi
La Lettura. I Nascosti in mostra al Festival I BorealiLeggi
The Italian Review. Un estratto dalla prefazione al libro scritta da William T. Vollmann Leggi
Dario Moalli – Artribune. Tra le nuove uscite in libreria da non perdere. Leggi
Benedetta Lolli – Universo Letterario. I Nascosti di Valentina Tamborra, edito da Minimum Fax, non è solo un meraviglioso libro fotografico, è molto di più: è un viaggio oltre il Circolo Polare Artico, nel Sápmi…Leggi
La Bottega di Hamlin Interessantissimo progetto di Valentina Tamborra.Leggi
Laura Pezzino – Vanity Fair Il titolo, bellissimo, deriva da una versione della Genesi secondo i sami, il popolo nativo dell’estremo Nord.Leggi
Elena Magni – Bell’Europa In Norvegia, a tu per tu con i Sami.Leggi
Andrea Staid – Elle Decor I Sami sono un popolo resiliente che ha resistito a secoli di oppressione. La loro lotta contro il cambiamento climatico è un’ulteriore dimostrazione della loro determinazione a proteggere… Leggi
