Hidden Pearls on “Il nostro Paese”

In issue 359 of Il nostro Paese (August 2026), the Società Ticinese per l’Arte e la Natura dedicates significant space to the photographic project Perle Nascoste.

Founded in 1908, STAN has for over a century been engaged in the dissemination of knowledge about the architectural and landscape heritage of the Canton of Ticino, in educating respect for it, and in the protection of places and testimonies that risk disappearing under the pressure of territorial transformation. Through its magazine and its initiatives, it continues to draw attention to what deserves to be seen and preserved.

These pages present a selection of the photographs I took between 2017 and 2019 in the historical nuclei of the Vedeggio Valley, accompanied by texts by Ruben Rossello, Graziano Martignoni, and myself. The black-and-white images do not document monuments or spectacular architecture. Rather, they seek what remains in the ordinary: stone walls, thresholds, courtyards, proportions, traces of human presence.

It is a pause of the gaze. An attempt to restore attention to places that, although crossed every day, risk becoming invisible.

Special thanks go to Ruben Rossello and Marco Tanner, who wanted and supported this publication, and to the entire editorial team of Il nostro Paese for having welcomed and valued this work with care and respect.

, who wanted and supported this publication, and to the entire editorial team of Il nostro Paese for having welcomed and valued this work with care and respect.

Years later, these images thus find a space in which to continue speaking.