Stories Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb: imperfect rhymes Text by Alessandro Ronchi Add to bookmarks Tehunatepec Mexico, 1985 By Alex Webb After three decades of hanging out, travelling and living together, this photographer couple sorted through their individual artistic output, turned it into couplets, and made it into a book. Slant Rhymes, the title of this 2017 book, refers to the idea that these photographers’ poetics respond to one another without overlapping. If we sought to identify their individual approach, we might venture that Alex is the master of the long sequence shot, and Rebecca of Impressionism (but then we would also add that both of them work with love, and are adept at going beyond boundaries). Havana Cuba, 1993 By Alex Webb Rebecca Norris Webb’s frames – she is a poet too, combining photos and poems in her books and exhibitions – often capture an instant that is of this world yet outside of this world, an impression and a transfiguration that, as for the Impressionists, often has to do with the light or atmospheric effects; Alex’s shots, on the other hand, tend to compose a meaningful whole from multiple scenes and relationships that, unravelled, provide a trigger for a possible story, appearing as a section of a longer time span we are not privy to and yet strive to imagine. Havana, 2008 By Rebecca Norris Webb In both cases, colour triumphs: indeed, rarely will you see it as vivid in photographic grain or as extended in a pictorial background. Pennsylvania, 2010 By Alex Webb Arcahaie Haiti, 1987 By Alex Webb Stained Glass, South Dakota, 2006 By Rebecca Norris Webb Havana Cuba, 1993 By Alex Webb Havana Cuba, 2008 By Rebecca Norris Webb Giraffes, Paris, 2002 By Rebecca Norris Webb Rochester NY, 2013 By Alex Webb Rearview Mirror, South Dakota, 2009 By Rebecca Norris Webb Leogane Haiti, 2000 By Alex Webb Mute Swan, Brooklyn NY, 2016 By Rebecca Norris Webb Havana Cuba, 2001 By Alex Webb
Exhibitions Vases, carpets, plates, screens: the barometer of decoration The latest edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano confirmed the trend towards ornamentation, marking out contemporary living spaces. Celebrating its buzz in the name of expressive freedom. Giulia Zappa
Salone Selection The holiday library. 5 important books to savor tranquilly From Robert Wilson’s chairs to fables about the Castiglioni brothers. From the Compasso d’Oro to Beatrice Leanza’s thoughts and a bookazine on luxury. Essential reading for all those with a passion for the topic. Patrizia Malfatti
Exhibitions The latest outdoor furnishing, championing sustainability, material and colour Comfortable and sustainable, outdoor furnishing lends itself to many different interpretations, channelling innovation and constantly evolving aesthetics Marilena Pitino