I found myself slightly overwhelmed by the gaudiness in Fiore's photographs. That's not to say I don't find some of them interesting, I do, but there is a certain amount sensationalism present in these images. This ultimately raises an intriguing question: Do photographs of lurid interior spaces rely too heavily on the hyperbole of their design? And if so, how does a photographer transcend this superficiality in favor of something more substantive? Fiore's statement explains:
"Using local materials and notions of the baroque to create replicas and pastiche resembling their homeland, the families are referencing the rich cultural history of their homeland in a country in which they have no history. In doing so, creating their ideal living space, fusing old and new, formal and personal, Italian and Canadian. In these photographs I am aiming to distill the richness of the surface and investigate this hybrid culture. Suspending moments between memory and history, my photographs represent a lifestyle and traditions that are rooted in the past, reconstructed in the present."
All photographs from the series A New Home
All Images © Stefanie Fiore
