Since we first appeared as a species, we have been telling our stories using the tools at our disposal: cave drawings, stone carvings, manuscripts, and then Gutenberg, right through to the increasingly refined instruments of today. Our epoch is awash with images. Information bombards us continually via our screens, and in real time we let our nearest and dearest know where we are and who we are with by means of selfies.

A photograph is worth a thousand words, and so I am delighted by this new initiative on the part of Carlo Mari, a highly accomplished professional who has already used his talent in partnership with the Arma dei Carabinieri, working with the Carabinieri in Milan on a book of photographs shot during lockdown.

I very much like the fact that the project focuses on Beauty, which is here interpreted in a way that goes beyond mere aesthetics. In the words of the ancient Greeks, who brought so much to our civilisation, kalo`s kai agatho`s (what is beautiful is also good).

The selection of images you can admire on these pages seems to echo the same concept. The posture and expressions of the Carabinieri portrayed here by the author – as well as the evident care they take over their appearance and their pride in their uniforms – all have something to say to us.

They convey emotions and feelings. They speak of a commitment that connotes absolute dedication, a love for the job, and enthusiasm about working for a nationwide organisation at the service of the population. They reflect our identity, which – as encapsulated by the subtitle of this book – has remained true to itself, albeit having been on a long journey that is still driving us tirelessly towards the future.

We are “timeless”, because our closeness to the citizens, the support that our territorial Commands – in synergy with all of the other departments of the organisation – offer the people day in, day out, cannot change.

We remain “loyal throughout the centuries” because an institutional bulwark cannot alter its own infrastructure. The fate of the column is bound up with that of the building it supports; the slightest movement would compromise the stability of the whole. What we have been for the past 207 years, and what we want to continue to be, is a solid pillar for the wonderful construction that our forefathers called Italy.

Every shot in this book is a thank you to those who perform their duties with sacrifice and diligence. And so, it falls to me, as a representative of the Institution, to respond to such a generous and highly appreciated tribute. I would like to extend my gratitude to the author, on behalf of all those featured in (and the many absent from) this collection, who every day, silently, build our safety.

Teo Luzi
General Commander of the Arma dei Carabinieri

Secret Love

“an extraordinary experience of life”

The two of us leaf through this book, one next to the other: together. From the beginning we knew that it was a work on film: “real photography”, one might say; “as it used to be”, others could say. It is certainly not nostalgia that emerges from the images, nor it is a taste of retro. We say the shot is the winner: that moment which has been thought up, sought and brought to life, even up from the abyss. Not surprisingly, at a certain point the water disappears: as an element, certainly not because of the context.

A center of attention emerges from each page, a point from which it is possible to unravel a story: one’s own, that of the observer. We close the book, place our hands on it. We look at each other and, without saying a word, we reopen it to the first page. We are not alone: the author, Carlo Mari, has accompanied us through to the last kilometer of a journey in black & white, leaving us the surprise of discovery, the intimate discovery of each of us. Because photography has to suggest, to incite, certainly not make clear, explicit revelations. Only in this way is wonder born in the beholder and, browsing the volume once again, the surprise has increased.

The details, the contexts have emerged, those elements which punctuate: almost like a counterpoint to a pressing and decisive rhythm. Yes, that’s it: an almost musical harmony emerges from the browsed pages. Serious, majestic tones alternate with a penetrating and continuous treble. Large and small, wide and narrow, vast and minute, they find their own alternation, almost indispensable. We talked about water: it is there, it is perceptible, it could not be otherwise; but it does its job. It suspends, elevates, caresses, like a veil of wind. The rest is fantasy, ours, accompanied by Carlo’s.

There were two of us browsing through the book: Gianni Berengo Gardin and I. “Bello” he said, but we knew from the beginning that this would be the verdict. Black and white was the accomplice, perhaps even the analogical source; but the narrative, the story, has won above everything else. As Steichen said: “Photography’s mission is to narrate the man to man and every man to himself.” Carlo continually, obstinately applies this principle, wherever he is, without difficulty.
It is a merit, it is photography.

Mosè Franchi

The book is available in only 100 copies, now in 3 different versions

Passage through DAR

“Give us this day, our daily bread”

A book of emotional portraits in black and white, a hymn to life, survival and work. Art photography where the subjects, workers and ordinary people, proudly show their conquest of the day. They are the fishermen and frequenters of Dar Es Saalam fish market in Tanzania, one of the most important of the Indian Ocean. About 20.000 people attend every day this extraordinary place.

“I am happy when I am able to call it a day in the very early hours of new day”, says one of the fisherman. “When I manage to go back home with good fish for my family and sometimes a little money, I thank God. I need nothing more, my life is this market.”

Hand signed by the author

Numbered copies hand signed by the author are available only on our website.

• Orange edition: 50 copies hand signed by the author with:
  • luxury box;
  • one signed fine art giclée print;
  • an insert in Italian language.
• Red edition: 10 copies hand signed by the author with:
  • luxury box;
  • special edition with silver cut;
  • two signed fine art giclée prints;
  • an insert in Italian language.

The book is available for shipping. Buy it now!

Io Milano

aprile 2020, la città vista dai Carabinieri attraverso l'occhio di un fotografo

When, with great clarity of vision, Carlo Mari proposed that I assist him in creating a photographic essay of the city of Milan at the height of its exposure to the attack by a threat as invisible as it was insidious,..I failed to appreciate, anywhere near as much as I should have, the depth of what he had in mind ...But I had got it wrong. It was necessary to bear witness....

..Today, as things have eased down, I admire the excellent work he did and I am grateful for his intuition and the skill he demonstrated in offering us a living testament to what was a very strenuous period, which his artistic shots capture better than any written commentary could ever do thanks to their flowing simplicity.

This book is unusual in that it shows how, during this extremely delicate period, the Carabinieri did not keep the city under control – rather, they accompanied it. The photos depict a city that looks empty and alone, yet it is just an “interrupted” city...These photographs indelibly portray people putting their lives on the line with ordinary courage, individuals doing their jobs, day after day, in circumstances that could not have been less ordinary.

Gaetano Angelo Maruccia
Lieutenant General
Vice Commander General of the Carabinieri