The experience of being in a city like London is unique. A walk through its streets is extremely inspiring, with so much to see and to do, and so many different kinds of people passing by. But just as the size of the city might potentialise its wonders, it also accentuates its problems.It was not until I walked through Oxford Street one afternoon that I realized what it was like to be, in truth, in the middle of the crowd. Here it was not an option, but an imposition.

Suffocated by the rhythm of the mass, it was impossible to photograph. Now I could understand Engels, Simmel and Benjamin, talking about the human nature being suppressed in big cities. For months I tried to photograph in vain. But I wanted to, I had to, somehow, find a way of speaking of those common things rushed past in daily life, to give them a voice, a meaning.

One night, while walking by the Thames River, I found out the solution. At this time, when the streets were empty and silent, it was possible to interpret the city, to recreate it. As Morton wrote a long time ago “This is the time to see London, to love London, to make promises to London, to pray to London, to plead with London; for London now, grotesquely, seems all yours in loneliness, for once in the twenty-four hours harmless, unable to hurt or bless … lost in a dream”.

Away from the crowds and the rush that dominates everyday life, the city acquires a new life, opposite to its diurnal existence. Common places, easily ignored under the sunlight are transfigured and become full of possibilities, like empty stages waiting for something to happen. It was the best way to focus on simple things and make them special. That way, I could relate to London on another level, another time. Now it was possible to imagine a story for each face, for each scene. The dramatic light and the darkness, by giving space to imagination, transform each photograph in a bridge for a fantastic, surreal world...