Synesthesia, for a writer, is that rhetorical figure that enables him or her to “associate in a single image two words or two discursive segments referring to different sensory spheres.”
(taken from the definition in theTreccani Encyclopedia)
An example?
Fabrizio De Andrè sang“I ran to see the color of the wind,” in The Dream of Mary.
Synaesthesia is used to create correspondences among senses, thoughts, and means of expression.
In photography, synaesthesia allows the author to communicate with the audience on different levels. It appeals to the personal substratum of each of us, that famous background that defines us as people. From the books we read to the music we listen to, to the scents we recognise and can generate an emotion or a well-defined memory.
Creating correlations is one of the pleasures – and duties – of a photographer. These are connections more independent compared to those of writing. Hardly controllable in their entirety by the author, they are born in our bellies and need us to grow. In front of a photograph, you put yourself on the line completely. One gets entangled in connections that one did not even imagine and then comes out with a new awareness.
Each photograph is a piece, a commitment to evolve. But only if we are willing to take this responsibility. If we do not get involved or do not follow the synaesthesia it contains, it will be just another image in the already overcrowded landscape of these times.
